Journal articles: 'Comparative constructions'

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Dixon, R. M. W. "Comparative constructions." Studies in Language 32, no. 4 (September 12, 2008): 787–817. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.32.4.02dix.

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A typology of comparative constructions is presented, with major attention to the prototypical scheme in which two participants are compared in terms of the degree of some gradable property associated with them (as in John is more handsome than Felix). In a mono-clausal comparative construction, the Parameter (which is modified by the Index of comparison) may be copula complement, head of an intransitive predicate, or a verb within a serial verb construction. There are also bi-clausal comparative constructions, and — for languages with no comparative construction per se — comparative strategies. A non-prototypical scheme involves the comparison of two properties in relation to one participant (as in John is more loyal than intelligent). There is also brief discussion of directions of origin, diffusion and spread, and non-linguistic correlations.

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CHUA, DEBORAH. "Comparative alternation in y-adjectives: insights from self-paced reading." Language and Cognition 11, no. 3 (July 30, 2019): 373–402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2019.22.

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abstractY-adjectives are English adjectives that end in an orthographic <y> and a /i/ sound, for example lazy. Deriving its hypotheses from previous corpus findings and construction-based principles to language study, the experiment here reported validates the benefit a comparative alternation account of y-adjectives will accrue from a consideration of more and -er constructions across disyllabic adjectives that are not y-ones (called the HANDSOME adjectives). Reading times related to the comparative constructions of morphologically complex and simple y-adjectives were collected before and after native speaker exposure to one of three treatments – a dialogue comprising multiple HANDSOME more constructions, a dialogue comprising multiple HANDSOME-er constructions, or a control condition. Processing of y-adjective more constructions was found eased with exposure to HANDSOME more constructions. This exposure moreover overrode an anticipated processing ease for simple y-adjective -er constructions, while an exposure to HANDSOME -er constructions overrode an anticipated processing ease for complex y-adjective more constructions. The findings support the value of a constructional approach to understanding y-adjective comparatives.

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Schapper, Antoinette, and Lourens de Vries. "Comparatives in Melanesia: Concentric circles of convergence." Linguistic Typology 22, no. 3 (October 25, 2018): 437–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2018-0015.

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Abstract Using a sample of 116 languages, this article investigates the typology of comparative constructions and their distribution in Melanesia, one of the world’s least-understood linguistic areas. We present a rigorous definition of a comparative construction as a “comparative concept”, thereby excluding many constructions which have been considered functionally comparatives in Melanesia. Conjoined comparatives are shown to dominate at the core of the area on the island of New Guinea, while (monoclausal) exceed comparatives are found in the maritime regions around New Guinea. Outside of Melanesia adpositional and other comparative constructions including particle comparatives are most frequent in Austronesian languages. The unity of the conjoined comparative type in the core Melanesian area illustrates that, while morpho-syntactic profiles of Melanesian languages are heterogenous, significant convergence in the “ways of saying things” can be found across the region. Additionally, we find no cases of clause chaining constructions being used for encoding comparatives, even in canonical clause chaining languages of central New Guinea. Our findings thus offer no support for Stassen’s claim of a correlation between temporal chaining type and comparative construction type. Instead we suggest that an areal preference for mini-clauses may explain the dominance of the conjoined comparative in Melanesia.

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Ostrowski, Norbert. "Old Latvian Comparative Constructions." Baltu Filoloģija 30, no. 1/2 (2021): 93–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.22364/bf.30.05.

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What functioned as the primary comparative construction in seventeenth-century Latvian was a construction with the conjunction nekā ‘than’ (literally: ‘not like’), which typologically represents the so-called conjoined comparative in Stassen’s terminology (Stassen 1985). This is consistent with the state of affairs evidenced in sixteenth-century Lithuanian, where, as primary comparative constructions of inequality (COI), we find constructions with conjunctions comprising negation: neg(i), nei(gi), neng, nekaip, net, nent ‘than’ (Ostrowski 2018).

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Dikken, Marcel den. "Comparative Correlatives Comparatively." Linguistic Inquiry 36, no. 4 (October 2005): 497–532. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/002438905774464377.

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The comparative correlative construction (The more you eat, the fatter you get) has received sporadic attention in the literature, with few concrete results when it comes to our understanding of the syntax of the construction. This article analyzes comparative correlatives as well-behaved, crosslinguistically consistent correlative constructions whose initial clause is a relative clause adjoined to the second clause, which functions as the root of the construction. Examining comparative correlative data from a variety of languages, the article subjects the internal structure of the construction's two clauses to careful scrutiny, as well as the microscopic structure of the comparative-headed constituents introducing the two clauses.

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Horsch, Jakob. "Slovak comparative correlatives." Constructions and Frames 13, no. 2 (December 21, 2021): 193–229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/cf.00051.hor.

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Abstract Comparative Correlatives (CCs) are biclausal constructions (e.g. The harder you work, the more you earn) that have complex semantics and form. This is the first construction grammar-based corpus study to investigate Slovak CCs, based on a 500-token sample. I argue that intra-clausal word-order phenomena can be explained through processing efficiency, based on Hawkins’ principle of Early Immediate Constituents (2004), and I use covarying-collexeme analysis (Stefanowitsch & Gries 2005) to provide evidence for the existence of meso-constructions. The findings of this study contribute to construction grammar’s “aspirations toward universal applicability” (Fried 2017: 249), proving that the theory is also suitable for analysis of syntactic patterns in Slavic languages.

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Bobuafor, Mercy. "Comparative constructions in Tafi." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 42, no. 2 (October 1, 2021): 163–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2022-2025.

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Abstract This paper describes the constructions and strategies available in Tafi, a KA-Ghana-Togo-Mountain language, for indicating relations of similarity, equality or superiority among two or more entities or events with respect to a property. Drawing on typological studies of comparison, I demonstrate that Tafi’s dedicated comparative constructions, that is, equivalents of English sentences like The pig is more dirty than the duck involve serial verb construction (SVC) subtypes. For superiority, the parameter (or property, ‘dirty’) of the comparison is expressed by the V1 in the SVC while V2 is the ‘exceed’ verb. For equality, the parameter is the V1 and the V2 is the ‘be.equal’ verb. The V2s in these SVCs co-lexicalise both the mark (e.g. ‘than’) and index (e.g. ‘more’) of the comparison. The paper discusses the contact-driven influences from areal grammar and from Ewe, the dominant lingua franca for Tafi speakers, on the linguistic expression of comparison. The ‘exceed’ comparative structure found in African languages has been attributed to areal grammaticalisation. I further argue that the operator verb sɔ/sɔ̃ ‘be.equal’ in the Tafi equality SVC is borrowed from Ewe. Similarity constructions involve the semblative nâsí. Similarity is also signalled through the verb yi ‘resemble’. I also explore the ordinal verb bhusó ‘do.first’ as a lexical comparative. Furthermore, I argue that Tafi, like many other Kwa languages, does not formally code a superlative. Superlative readings are inferred from the context and from non-dedicated linguistic indicators such as intensifiers.

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Jong-Bok Kim. "English Comparative Correlative Construction: Interactions between Lexicon and Constructions." Korean Journal of Linguistics 36, no. 2 (June 2011): 307–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.18855/lisoko.2011.36.2.001.

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Marten, Lutz. "preverbal position(s) in Bantu inversion constructions: theoretical and comparative considerations." ZAS Papers in Linguistics 57 (January 1, 2014): 136–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.57.2014.423.

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Inversion constructions in Bantu have been discussed from a variety of perspectives over the last decades. Well-known construction types include locative inversion and subject-object reversal, while more recently semantic locative inversion and instrument inversion have been described. Theoretical studies of Bantu inversion constructions have focused on different aspects of the construction, including the licensing and grammatical function, information structure properties and the formal characteristics of pre- and postverbal NPs. With respect to the status of preverbal NPs in inversion constructions, different analyses have probed the status of the NP as subject or topic, or, more recently, as the subject of a Predication relation. The present paper summarises and compares different analyses of the preverbal domain in inversion constructions and brings out empirical and conceptual similarities and differences. In addition, different analyses are related to comparative studies of Bantu inversion constructions, so as to probe how attested variation across Bantu relates to findings of different formal accounts. The paper aims to summarise current research on the preverbal domain in inversion constructions and to indicate directions for future work.

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Lee, Seunghun J., and Xiao Li. "The acquisition of comparative constructions by English learners of Chinese: An explorative study from a college Chinese language classroom." Chinese as a Second Language Research 3, no. 1 (May 1, 2014): 53–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/caslar-2014-0003.

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AbstractThis explorative study reports how three types of comparative constructions in Mandarin Chinese, namely adjectival, adverbial and differential comparatives, are acquired by English learners in a college Chinese-language classroom. We start with a hypothesis that the syntactic structures of the adverbial comparative and the differential comparative will be a potential challenge to learners because these two constructions are neutralized in English comparatives. However, the results of the three in-class tests we conducted indicate that learners have more difficulty with the adjectival comparative and the adverbial comparative than the differential comparative. Based on these results, we discuss effects of L1 transfer, difficulties in acquiring structures that involve optional components, and differences between heritage and non-heritage learners in learning Chinese as a second language.

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HASEGAWA, HIROSHI. "STRUCTURAL PROPERTIES OF COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS." ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 4 (1987): 126–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.9793/elsj1984.4.126.

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Reglero, Lara. "On Spanish comparative subdeletion constructions." Studia Linguistica 61, no. 2 (August 2007): 130–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9582.2007.00133.x.

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13

CARMAN, Christopher P. "Personal Pronouns in Comparative Constructions." Journal of UOEH 11, no. 1 (1989): 7–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.7888/juoeh.11.7.

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Burnett, Heather. "Penumbral connections in comparative constructions." Journal of Applied Non-Classical Logics 24, no. 1-2 (January 2, 2014): 35–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11663081.2014.911519.

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Michaelis, Susanne Maria. "World-Wide Comparative Evidence for Calquing of Valency Patterns in Creoles." Journal of Language Contact 12, no. 1 (February 27, 2019): 191–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19552629-20190001.

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Creole languages consistently show valency patterns that cannot be traced back to their lexifier languages, but derive from their substrate languages. In this paper, I start out from the observation that a convincing case for substrate influence can be made by adopting a world-wide comparative approach. If there are recurrent matches between substrate and creole structures in a given construction type, in creoles of different world regions and with different substrates, then we can exclude the possibility of an accident, and substrate influence is the only explanation. The construction types that I will look at are ditransitive constructions (Section 3), weather constructions (Section 4), experiencer constructions (Section 5), and motion constructions (Section 6). I will draw on the unique typological data source from the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (Michaelis et al., 2013a; 2013b). My conclusion is that the data provided in AP i CS support the claim that during creolization, valency patterns have been systematically calqued into the nascent creoles.

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O’Neal, George. "Systematicity in linguistic feature selection: Repair sequences and subsequent accommodation." Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 8, no. 2 (November 18, 2019): 211–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2019-2025.

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Abstract This study examines linguistic feature selection and its relationship with repair sequences in a longitudinal corpus of Japanese–Filipino business ELF interactions. In the corpus, Japanese employees communicate once a month with Filipino employees via computer software to confirm infrastructure status at a Filipino company’s factories. Comparative constructions frequently appear in the corpus because of the nature of the interactions, but the kinds and frequencies of comparative constructions change month to month. This study demonstrates that early in the corpus, the speakers utilized a multitude of comparative constructions, but after 12 months, the speakers have settled on one preferred comparative construction. Furthermore, the preferred construction emerged from repair sequences, which suggests that repair is significantly related to linguistic feature selection. Accordingly, this study hypothesizes that repair sequences do far more than just resolve an interactional problem; repaired linguistic features are more likely to be selected again the next time a similar linguistic feature is relevant to the progression of the interaction.

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Stage, Lilian. "Les constructions siamoises en français et dans cinq autres langues européennes. Étude sur la comparative corrélative." HERMES - Journal of Language and Communication in Business 22, no. 43 (August 30, 2017): 251. http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v22i43.96883.

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This article discusses the comparative correlative constructions in French and ﬁve other European languages. A comparative correlative construction is a binary structure whose two parts are conjoined as Siamese twins (to use the ﬁne metaphor invented by Savelli, a French linguist). The most striking feature of this construction is the fronting of the comparatives in two clauses which are interdependent and inseparable, though at ﬁrst glance no clear relation can be seen, neither in French nor in English. It is hoped that this study of six European languages will contribute to an elucidation of the structuring of the two clauses and the relation between the two parts as well as the meaning they convey.

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Ding, Hongdi. "A cross-dialectal analysis of Nuosu adjectival comparative constructions." Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 41, no. 1 (July 20, 2018): 45–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ltba.16023.din.

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Abstract Current analyses (Hu 2005; Gerner 2013; Liu et al. 2013) of Nuosu adjectival comparative constructions are not observationally adequate because they are only based on the semantic distinction between dimensional adjectives and other adjectives. A better analysis should make a further morphological consideration by dividing the Nuosu adjectives into root-sharing prefixed adjectives, non-root-sharing prefixed adjectives and simplex adjectives. Moreover, the existing analyses are not consistent. Some unacceptable comparative sentences in Hu (2005) are acceptable in Gerner (2013) and Liu et al. (2013). I have found out that the inconsistency results from different rigorousness to adjectival morphosyntactic restrictions among different varieties or dialects of Nuosu. After a cross-dialectal investigation with three major dialects of Nuosu, i.e. Shynra, Yynuo and Suondi, it is concluded that Nuosu comparative constructions have a restricted form and a general form for superiority, inferiority and equality respectively. Different dialects or varieties have varying rigorousness to Nuosu adjectival morphosyntax, thus resulting in different choices of the forms for comparison. Accordingly, the available Nuosu varieties are classified into three types: varieties with more morphosyntactic rigorousness, transitional varieties and varieties with less morphosyntactic rigorousness. It is found that Shynra Nuosu is morphosyntactically less rigorous than Yynuo and Suondi Nuosu. I will also address the relationship between the two structural forms of comparative constructions. To conclude, a prediction is made on the development of Nuosu adjectival comparatives.

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Hoffmann, Thomas, Thomas Brunner, and Jakob Horsch. "English comparative correlative constructions: A usage-based account." Open Linguistics 6, no. 1 (June 4, 2020): 196–215. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/opli-2020-0012.

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AbstractEnglish Comparative Correlatives (CCs) consist of two clauses, C1 and C2:[The more we get together,]C1 [the happier we’ll be.]C2Recently, large corpus studies based on the Corpus of Contemporary American English have unearthed various meso-constructions in English CCs using covarying–collexeme analysis. The present study tests these findings against data from the British National Corpus (BNC), aiming to replicate previous results against data from another standard variety of English (British English) and a corpus that is sampled from a wider range of registers. Over 2,000 CC tokens from the BNC were analyzed with regard to hypotactic features, filler types encountered as comparative elements, and deletion phenomena. Moreover, in contrast to earlier corpus studies (such as Hoffmann, Thomas, Jakob Horsch, and Thomas Brunner. 2019. “The more data, the better: a usage-based account of the English comparative correlative construction.” Cognitive Linguistics 30(1): 1–36), the present study also investigates the frequency of the semantically related C2C1 construction (You will be the happierC2, the more we get togetherC1) that previously has been found to be considerably less frequent than its counterpart. The results of the present analysis confirm that English CCs possess more paratactic than hypotactic features and, supporting most of the findings of Hoffmann, Horsch, and Brunner (2019) provide even stronger evidence for the existence of several symmetric meso-constructions.

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Krisch, Thomas. "PRESUPPOSITION IN OLD NORSE COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS." Transactions of the Philological Society 86, no. 1 (May 1988): 44–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-968x.1988.tb00392.x.

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Lehmann, Winfred P. "Word order typology and comparative constructions." Lingua 70, no. 2-3 (November 1986): 200–205. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0024-3841(86)90041-0.

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Hohaus, Vera, and M. Ryan Bochnak. "The Grammar of Degree: Gradability Across Languages." Annual Review of Linguistics 6, no. 1 (January 14, 2020): 235–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011718-012009.

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In this review, we discuss the empirical landscape of degree constructions cross-linguistically as well as the major analytical avenues that have been pursued to account for individual languages and cross-linguistic variation. We first focus on comparatives and outline various compositional strategies for different types of comparative sentences as well as points of cross-linguistic variation in the lexicalization of comparative operators and gradable predicates. We then expand the discussion to superlatives, equatives, and other degree constructions. Finally, we turn to constructions beyond the prototypical degree constructions but where degree-based analyses have been pursued; we focus on change-of-state verbs and exclamatives. This is an area that is especially ripe for future cross-linguistic research. We conclude by mentioning connections to other subfields of linguistics, such as language acquisition, historical linguistics, and language processing.

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Velde, Mark L. O. Van de. "Concernee-Concern constructions." Studies in Language 44, no. 1 (May 6, 2020): 70–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.18059.vel.

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Abstract This paper provides an analysis of the phenomenon commonly known as external possession in the Bantu languages. On the basis of comparative data, I argue for a prototype approach to the intricate problem of determining the conditions of use of such constructions, which I rename Concernee-Concern constructions, introducing two new terms for the thematic roles involved. Situations can be expressed by means of Concernee-Concern construction if they correspond to the prototypical situation that involves somebody’s body part being affected by an action, or if they show a family resemblance to this situation. I argue against the relevance of alienability. The paper also provides a formal typology of Concernee-Concern constructions in the Bantu languages.

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Grodzinsky, Yosef, Galit Agmon, Kedem Snir, Isabelle Deschamps, and Yonatan Loewenstein. "processing cost of Downward Entailingness: the representation and verification of comparative constructions." ZAS Papers in Linguistics 60 (January 1, 2018): 435–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.60.2018.475.

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We bring experimental considerations to bear on the structure of comparatives and on ourunderstanding of how quantifiers are processed. At issue are mismatches between thestandard view of quantifier processing cost and results from speeded verification experimentswith comparative quantifiers. We build our case in several steps: 1. We show that thestandard view, which attributes processing cost to the verification process, accounts for someaspects of the data, but fails to cover the main effect of monotonicity on measured behavior.We derive a prediction of this view for comparatives, and show that it is not borne out. 2. Weconsider potential reasons – experimental and theoretical – for this theory-data mismatch. 3.We describe a new processing experiment with comparative quantifiers, designed to addressthe experimental concerns. Its results still point to the inadequacy of the standard view. 4. Wereview the semantics of comparative constructions and their potential processingimplications. 5. We revise the definition of quantifier processing cost and tie it to the numberof Downward Entailing (DE) operators at Logical Form (LF). We show how this definitionsuccessfully reconciles the theory-data mismatch. 6. The emerging picture calls for adistinction between the complexity of verified representations and the complexity of theverification process itself.Keywords: quantification, monotonicity, negation, comparative constructions, Logical Form,adjectival antonyms, decomposition, quantifier processing, speeded verification, reactiontime.

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I. Khasanzyanova, Gulnara, Ramziya M. Bolgarova, Elvira A. Islamova, and Ilsever Rami. "Comparative Constructions in Tatar and Their Translation Methods." Journal of Social Sciences Research, SPI 1 (November 13, 2018): 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.32861/jssr.spi1.1.4.

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This article discussed the specifics of the translation of comparative constructions in literature from Tatar into Russian. It also suggested methods for the full-fledged translation of such constructions according to semantics and functional features of conjunctions. Postpositions were the main method to represent comparative constructions in simple and complex sentences in Tatar. Conjunctions, the instrumental case of the noun and other means, could further express the meanings of such postpositions when translated into Russian. The analysis of translation of comparative constructions helped to identify the integral and the differential in the semantics and functioning of the conjunctions, which not only connected the components of the comparative constructions, but also created imagery. Using comparative constructions, writers and translators could refer both to the general concepts inherent in their native culture, and to their personal worldview. This seemed possible only with a preliminary comparative analysis of the semantics and the structure of lexical units. Analyzing the translations of literary texts, some functional and semantic correspondences were revealed: comparative postpositions such as kebek, syman, kuk, etc. and Russian comparative conjunctions such as As if for sure, etc. (Eng. like, as if, kind of); relative pair words in Tatar and correlative pairs in Russian; affixes of adverbs such as -cha/-che, -day/- dey in Tatar and the instrumental case of the noun in Russian.

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Carmen, Mellado Blanco. "Phrasem-Konstruktionen kontrastiv Deutsch–Spanisch: ein korpusbasiertes Beschreibungsmodell anhand ironischer Vergleiche." Yearbook of Phraseology 10, no. 1 (December 18, 2019): 65–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/phras-2019-0005.

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Abstract In the persistently sparse interlingual studies in the field of Construction Grammar, grammatical constructions are the main concern of research (Koch 2016; Boas and Ziem 2018), while constructional idioms, defined as form–meaning pairings with lexically fixed constituents and free lexical slots, have been analyzed mainly monolingually, with very few exceptions.See, amongst others, Dobrovol’skij and Pöppel (2017), Mollica and Schafroth (2018) and Mellado Blanco et al. (forthcoming). This lack of studies from a contrastive point of view may be related to the lexical underspecification of constructional idioms and to the difficulties in assessing their often high pragmatic potential. Against this background, the present paper aims to give impetus to the contrastive studies in the field of constructional idioms and Construction Grammar by means of the language pair German–Spanish. In order to achieve this goal, a multi-level corpus-based description method for the determination and analysis of interlingual equivalent constructional idioms at the lexicographical level was developed using five comparison parameters. The contrastive description model was successfully implemented on the comparative constructional idiom [von A so viel verstehen/Ahnung haben/sich auskennen wie X von/vom Y] (‘von A absolut nichts verstehen’) ([from A V to have as much understanding / knowledge as X from Y] (‘to understand absolutely nothing from A’)) and on its functionally equivalent construction in Spanish [Ventender/saber de A lo (mismo) que/como yo de X]. Both comparative constructions are characterized by their negation value and a pronounced ironic meaning, respectively. Their intralingual description from a constructional grammatical point of view represents a further goal of this paper.

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Ostrowski, Norbert. "Grammaticalization of the Lithuanian comparative -jau(s)." Indogermanische Forschungen 123, no. 1 (August 1, 2018): 273–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/if-2018-0010.

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Abstract When analysing Old Lithuanian texts from the 16th and the first half of the 17th century, one can notice that comparatives with the -jaussuffix tend to appear in comparative constructions with connectives containing negation, e.g. Bet eschdaugiaus dirbau / neig kursai isch yũ‘but I laboured more abundantly than they all’ (VEE 102: 16-17; 1 Corinthians 15: 10). This is the “particle comparative” in Stassen’s terms (1985; 2001). On the other hand, authors avoided comparatives with the -jaus suffix in other types of comparative constructions (with the preposition užand the genitive). Philological and etymological analysis of neg(i)and nei(gi)‘than’ shows that these connectives developed out of former sentence negations. This sheds some light on the syntactic environment in which the grammaticalization of the comparative suffix -jausoccurred. The Lithuanian comparative suffix -jaũ (OLith. -jau-s, e.g. geriaus‘better’) goes back to the postposed focus particle -jaũ, which functions as a marker of emphatic assertion of identity (König 1991). The primary contrastive function of the ‑jau-ssuffix can be compared to Ancient Greek -τερος (Sanskrit -taraḥ) in such usages as δεξίτερος ‘right(-hand)’. The grammaticalization of the focus marker jau(s)has occurred in sentences consisting of juxtaposed and contrasted clauses - the “conjoined comparative” in Stassen’s terms (1985: 38, 44), and in these sentences, -jausfilled the role of pragmatic marker and focalizer, emphasizing one of two compared, oppositional items.

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Baďurová, Silvia, and Radoslav Ponechal. "The Comparative Analysis of External Walls in a Passive House with Respect to Environment and Energy." Advanced Materials Research 649 (January 2013): 258–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.649.258.

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The term "passive house" refers to rigorous and voluntary standards for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. There are many ways how to build a passive house successfully. These designs as well as construction techniques vary from ordinary timber constructions using packs of straw or constructions of clay. This paper aims to quantify environmental quality of external walls in a passive house, which are made of a timber frame, lightweight concrete blocks and sand-lime bricks in order to determine whether this constructional form provides improved environmental performance. Furthermore, this paper assesses potential benefit of energy savings at heating of houses in which their external walls are made of these three material alternatives. A two-storey residential passive house, with floorage of 170.6 m2, was evaluated. Some measurements of air and surface temperatures were done as a calibration etalon for a method of simulation.

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Syzonenko, N. M. "Semantic structure of comparative constructions by the object of comparison (as exemplified in the collection of short stories „Bread and chocolate” by M. Dochynets)." Bulletin of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, no. 4 (335) (2020): 76–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.12958/2227-2844-2020-4(335)-76-85.

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For a literary text, the use of comparative constructions is extremely important, because, in such a way, a writer shows his own worldview, subjective and evaluative attitude to the facts and phenomena of objective reality, figuratively and expressively specifying the distinctive features of a particular image. The topicality of the research is determined by the fact that comparative constructions are widely represented in the collection of short stories by M. Dochynets „Bread and Chocolate”, that is why they have become the subject of scientific research. The aim of the article is to analyze the semantic structure of comparative constructions by the object of comparison as a manifestation of the writer’s individual style. The factual material made it possible to divide the comparative constructions into seven lexical-semantic fields (LSF): „man”, „animate nature”, „man-made objects”, „inanimate nature”, „sensory feelings”, „time”, „demoniac creatures”. The structure of the LSF „man” includes the following constituents: names of personalities, somatisms, biblical expressions, features of the object; the LSF „animate nature” is represented by three lexical-semantic groups (LSG) – names of flora, zoonyms, ornithonyms. The components of the LSF „man-made objects” are the following LSGs: names of everyday objects, names of the parts of a building, the materials for construction, names of transport; the LSF „inanimate nature” – names of substances and materials, names of natural phenomena, locatives, hydronyms. The LSF „sensory feelings” includes three LSG – sounds, smells, taste. The LSF „time” and „demoniac creatures” are homogeneous in their structure and do not require differentiation into LSG. The distinguished comparative constructions by the object of comparison are interpreted as individually author’s ones and require further research. The analysis of comparative constructions by the subject and feature of comparison, the determination of their stylistic function in the author’s literary texts, in particular in the collection of short stories „Bread and Chocolate” are considered as an advanced research direction.

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Michaelis, Laura A. "A Case of Constructional Polysemy in Latin." Studies in Language 18, no. 1 (January 1, 1994): 45–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.18.1.04mic.

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In this paper, I will examine the syntactic and semantic properties of a Latin correlative construction, the so-called comparative conditional. I will investigate the extent to which this construction inherits its formal and interpretive features from constructions needed independently in the grammar. While the syntactic properties of the comparative conditional are highly motivated, the semantics of the construction is idiosyncratic: there is evidence to indicate that the construction is polysemous, having two related scalar interpretations.

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Rich, Patrick Leslie. "What Is n’t Doing There?: French Expletive Negation in Comparative Clauses." LSA Annual Meeting Extended Abstracts 1 (May 2, 2010): 54. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/exabs.v0i0.534.

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This paper explores expletive ne in subordinate comparative clauses in French. I limit the discussion to (reduced) clausal comparatives, since expletive negation does not occur in (direct) phrasal comparatives. I show that expletive ne is favored in all comparative clauses, and argue that this provides direct evidence that it is still a part of synchronic French grammar. I propose that French comparatives should be analyzed as A-not-A constructions, and that expletive ne is a formally negative head that is licensed by a truth-value operator. Expletive ne thus functions concordally to mark the comparative subordinate clause as containing a negation.

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LEE SORIM. "A Comparative Study on Chinese "得" Causitive Constructions and Korean Causitive Constructions." JOURNAL OF CHINESE STUDIES ll, no. 48 (May 2015): 63–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.26585/chlab.2015..48.003.

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Price, Glanville, and Susan Price. "Comparative Constructions in Spanish and French Syntax." Modern Language Review 87, no. 3 (July 1992): 665. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3732929.

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Bustamente, Isabel, and Susan Price. "Comparative Constructions in Spanish and French Syntax." Modern Language Journal 76, no. 2 (1992): 260. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/329812.

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Diaz, Marta Gomez, and Susan Price. "Comparative Constructions in Spanish and French Syntax." Language 69, no. 2 (June 1993): 431. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/416578.

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Tsimashenka, N. "THE USE OF COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE LANGUAGE OF BELARUSIAN PROVERBS AND SAYINGS." Comparative studies of Slavic languages and literatures. In memory of Academician Leonid Bulakhovsky, no. 35 (2019): 139–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.17721/2075-437x.2019.35.14.

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The author of the article explores the use of comparative constructions in the language of Belarusian proverbs and sayings, which are the soul of the Belarusian people, the basis of their culture. Comparative constructions are characterized on the morphological and syntactic level. Within the framework of morphology, comparative forms are considered as a variant of the all-union introduction of comparison into the composition of a sentence. This can be an adjective, adverb word or impersonal predicative word in the degree of comparison, or the word form in the instrumental case, which conveys a comparative meaning. At the syntactic level, the system of comparative constructions in paremic texts is represented by various groups: comparisons that are part of the predicate, actual comparisons, comparative expressions and comparative parts of a complex sentence. The author concludes that comparative constructions are characterized by their brightness, depth, and capacity of artistic generalization; therefore, the comparison has a great emotional impact.

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Sansò, Andrea. "Where do antipassive constructions come from?" Diachronica 34, no. 2 (July 14, 2017): 175–218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/dia.34.2.02san.

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Abstract The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the main sources of antipassive constructions based on a 120-language sample. The sample includes the 48 languages with an antipassive in the WALS (Polinsky 2013) + 72 further languages in which an antipassive or a functionally equivalent construction is attested (e.g., deobjective constructions, unspecified object constructions, etc.). The diachronic sources of antipassives are identified drawing on two kinds of evidence: (i) etymological reconstructions based on the comparative method; (ii) synchronic resemblance between (some features of) the source construction and (some features of) the target construction. Four main diachronic sources are recurrent in the sample: (i) agent nominalizations; (ii) generic/indefinite items filling the object position (e.g., “person” for animate objects, “(some)thing” for inanimate objects); (iii) action nominalizations, sometimes accompanied by a light verb like “do”; and (iv) morphemes encoding reflexive/reciprocal actions. For each of these sources, a diachronic scenario is proposed through which the antipassive construction might have come into existence. The article also explores the hypothesis that at least some of the functional and structural differences among antipassive constructions across languages may be explained by taking into account the diachronic sources of these constructions.

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Abunya, Levina Nyameye, Edward Owusu, and Faustina Marius Naapane. "A Comparative Study of the Simple Clause in Akan, Dagaare and English." Education and Linguistics Research 7, no. 1 (May 15, 2021): 62. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/elr.v7i1.18353.

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The paper compares how the simple clause is expressed in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo), Dagaare (Gur, Niger-Congo) and English. It examines the simple clause in relation to noun phrase, verbal phrases, adpositional phrases, basic word order in declarative and focus constructions, and the basic locative construction. Basically, the study reveals that despite the differences, Akan and Dagaare have a lot in common as compared to English. This of course shows how distant English is from the two African languages. Certain linguistic features such as serial verb construction and focus constructions were unique to Akan and Dagaare and this, is not surprising since languages within the same language family (Niger Congo) tend to share certain lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic features. The significant variation between these languages shows where Akan and Dagaare languages diverge into other sub-family groups: Kwa and Gur, respectively.

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Biondi, Roberto Zariquiey. "Ditransitive constructions in Kashibo-Kakataibo and the non-distinguishable objects analysis." Studies in Language 36, no. 4 (December 31, 2012): 882–905. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.36.4.05bio.

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The present paper offers a description of ditransitive constructions in Kashibo-Kakataibo (Panoan, Peru). While doing so, this paper challenges what can be called the “non-distinguishable objects analysis”, which stipulates that, in some Panoan languages, the two objects of ditransitive constructions cannot be syntactically distinguished. I not only argue that this analysis cannot be applied to Kashibo-Kakataibo, but also that it invokes important methodological problems. In contrast, this paper argues for a constructional approach, which looks at different grammatical properties independently. This approach allows us to explain the distribution of alignments found in Kashibo-Kakataibo’s ditransitive constructions: the neutral alignment type dominates according to a principle of coding-behavior harmony, while the indirective alignment type is limited to reflexive constructions, which have an intrinsic bias to T-based constructions. This constructional approach can also be applied to other Panoan languages and, therefore, offers a solid comparative basis for future studies on ditransitive constructions from a Panoan perspective.

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Guimier, Claude. "L’adverbe tout en construction comparative." Les structures comparatives du français: Des bases de données aux corpus 31, no. 1 (June 6, 2008): 62–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/li.31.1.04gui.

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Tout has many different adverbial uses. This paper deals with one of them, which is hardly ever taken into account, or even mentioned, in grammar books: tout can be used as a premodifier of the subordinator comme in comparative constructions. Comme is the only qu-word that can be premodified by tout. However, there are heavy constraints on the premodification of comme by tout and the presence of tout, very often, prevents the actualization of meanings (time or cause for instance) which would be possible otherwise. The paper aims to show that, in comparative constructions, it is sometimes compulsory, sometimes optional or sometimes impossible to insert tout. These variations are a consequence of the basic meaning of tout, which is defined, after Franckel 1989, as a sign marking the absence of any form of otherness. The article ends with a few remarks on tout comme (with no constituent after comme).

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Piot, Mireille. "Analogies entre marqueurs de degré comparatif et exclamatif." Actes du «27e colloque international sur le lexique et la grammaire» (L'Aquila, 10-13 septembre 2008). Première partie 32, no. 2 (December 15, 2009): 265–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/li.32.2.09pio.

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In the present paper “Similarities between Comparative and Exclamative Degree Markers: French ce and Spanish lo”, we first analyse the so-called pseudo-relativized phrasal comparative construction X que ce que P in French and X de lo que P in Spanish. We after compare the pseudo-relativized phrasal comparative construction properties with the properties of the exclamative French construction Ce que P! and of the Spanish one ¡Lo X que P ! whose form, degree reading, and some syntactic and semantic features are similar. We eventually conclude about the nature of que/que, introducing both subordinate constructions, as a complementizer (and not a Wh- item).

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Vlahović, Ljubica, and Snežana Gudurić. "Negative Words in Comparative Structures in French and Their Equivalents in Serbian." Journal for Foreign Languages 9, no. 1 (December 28, 2017): 9–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/vestnik.9.9-24.

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In French and Serbian comparative constructions of equality and inequality, negative words are distributed according to their forms, meanings and functions.French negative words - ne most frequently complemented by a particle pas or some other negative word, a double particle ni…ni, as well as negative ne and a double particle ni…ni in Serbian appear in the main clause (but not in the dependent clause) of comparative constructions of equality and inequality. In comparative constructions of inequality with a positive main clause, French expletive ne appears in the dependent clause with the verb, while its equivalent in Serbian nego or no occurs as a connector at the beginning of the dependent clause.Negative words in the main clause of comparative constructions of equality make the French antecedents flexible: the reduced form si alternates with aussi, as well as reduced tant with autant, and Serbian ones stable: reduced tako (from isto tako) and reduced toliko (from isto toliko) are mandatory.The autonomous word isto (easily detachable) serves to enhance the meaning of equality.The French comparative constructions of inequality with a negative main clause may have a dependent clause without or with an expletive ne, while the equivalent Serbian constructions always have a dependent clause with nego or no containing an expletive ne.There is a semantic and a functional equivalence between the French and Serbian constructions, with some syntactic differences due to the systems of two languages.

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CHUA, DEBORAH. "Understanding comparative alternation iny-adjectives: What else might we need?" Journal of Linguistics 54, no. 3 (November 9, 2017): 459–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022226717000275.

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This paper investigates the contribution of lexical spreads (or type counts) of English comparativemoreand -erconstructions to an understanding of comparative alternation in the$y$-adjectives, that is adjectives ending in an orthographic${<}\text{y}>$and an /i/ sound, e.g.lazy. Comparative$y$-adjective constructions from seven corpora of stage plays spanning from the 17th to the 20th century were analysed with mixed-effects modelling and correlations drawn between the comparatives of$y$-adjectives and those of other adjectives. The findings indicate that while morphological complexity in$y$-adjectives biases them towardsmore,moreoccurrences with$y$-adjectives may also be related to the lexical spread ofmorein disyllabic adjectives that are not$y$-ones. The findings suggest moreover that predictions of comparative forms based on the syntactic positioning of$y$-adjectives and the [±voiced] nature of their penultimate segments may make sense only with respect to the lexical spread ofmorein other English adjectives. To understand why$y$-adjectives seem divided between -erregularisation and adherence to the trend in English comparisons of amorebias, this paper proposes a need to supplement accounts of comparative alternation focused on the characteristics of$y$-adjectives with considerations related to the lexical spread of comparative constructions.

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Hubers, Ferdy, and Helen de Hoop. "The effect of prescriptivism on comparative markers in spoken Dutch." Linguistics in the Netherlands 2013 30 (November 18, 2013): 89–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/avt.30.07hub.

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Dutch prescriptive grammar rules dictate that the complementizer dan ‘than’ should be used in comparative constructions of inequality. This has been an issue for grammarians from the sixteenth century onwards when als ‘as’ started to be used as an alternative form in this type of context. In order to find out why and when people choose one comparative marker over the other, we examined the use of these markers in the Spoken Dutch Corpus (CGN). We found that the use of dan is overall more common than als in comparative constructions of inequality, even though from a linguistic point of view als might be favoured. The choice between als and dan turns out to be strongly correlated with the level of education. Although this factor has been assumed to be of influence for a long time, as far as we know it has never been quantitatively tested before. We conclude that the effect of the level of education we found reflects the strong influence of the prescriptive rule taught in schools, repressing the use of als in comparatives of inequality.

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Krasikova, Sveta. "Sufficiency inference in anankastic conditionals." Semantics and Linguistic Theory, no. 20 (April 3, 2015): 91. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/salt.v0i20.2576.

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The minimal sufficiency reading of anankastic conditionals, discussed in connection with Heim's (2001) ambiguities in comparative constructions and von Fintel & Iatridou's (2007) 'Prejacent Problem' in the sufficiency modal construction, is argued to stem from the kind of ordering associated with anankastic modals.

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Krasikova, Sveta. "Sufficiency inference in anankastic conditionals." Semantics and Linguistic Theory 20 (August 14, 2010): 91. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/salt.v20i0.2576.

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The minimal sufficiency reading of anankastic conditionals, discussed in connection with Heim's (2001) ambiguities in comparative constructions and von Fintel & Iatridou's (2007) 'Prejacent Problem' in the sufficiency modal construction, is argued to stem from the kind of ordering associated with anankastic modals.

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Pavlov, Sergey, Valeria Polyakova, Maria Zhukova, and Elena Matys. "Septic tanks for residential houses: comparative constructional requirements." MATEC Web of Conferences 265 (2019): 05022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201926505022.

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In this work the main terms and conceptions are defined. There are a short description of operating principle of anaerobic septic tank, its application conditions, advantages, and disadvantages. This article also introduces requirements for anaerobic septic tank’s construction as one of the autonomic systems of sewage water treatment. Article contains the list of documents, which should be delivered with anaerobic septic tank. Article represents descriptions of septic tanks’ constructions, which are popular in Russia, with their cost, sizes and value of purification rates of grey water. This research includes conformance review of construction and documents, with the conclusion about the real opportunities and advantages of septic tanks, which are declared by its manufacturers.

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이경진. "A Study of the Mandarin 'bi' Comparative Constructions." Journal of Chinese Language and Literature ll, no. 50 (September 2011): 183–212. http://dx.doi.org/10.26586/chls.2011..50.008.

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Manin, Yu I. "Three constructions of Frobenius manifolds: A comparative study." Surveys in Differential Geometry 7, no. 1 (2002): 497–554. http://dx.doi.org/10.4310/sdg.2002.v7.n1.a16.

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Kuznetsova, Nadežda, and Eleonora Usenkova. "Comparative constructions of similarity in Northern Samoyedic languages." Acta Linguistica Hungarica 61, no. 2 (June 2014): 177–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/aling.61.2014.2.3.

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Journal articles on the topic 'Comparative constructions'

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