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1、ComparativeconstructionsAcross-linguistictypology*R.M.W.DixonResearchCentreforLinguisticTypology,LaTrobeUniversityAtypologyofcomparativeconstructionsispresented,withmajorattentiontotheprototypicalschemeinwhichtwoparticipantsarecomparedintermsofthedegreeofsomegrada
2、blepropertyassociatedwiththem(asinJohnismorehand-somethanFelix).Inamono-clausalcomparativeconstruction,theParameter(whichismodifiedbytheIndexofcomparison)maybecopulacomplement,headofanintransitivepredicate,oraverbwithinaserialverbconstruction.Therearealsobi-clausa
3、lcomparativeconstructions,and—forlanguageswithnocomparativeconstructionperse—comparativestrategies.Anon-prototypi-calschemeinvolvesthecomparisonoftwopropertiesinrelationtoonepartici-pant(asinJohnismoreloyalthanintelligent).Thereisalsobriefdiscussionofdirectionsofo
4、rigin,diffusionandspread,andnon-linguisticcorrelations.1.IntroductionComparison,ingeneralterms,involvesexaminingtwoormoreitemsinordertonotesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthem.Theprototypicalcomparativeschemeinhumanlanguagesinvolvescompar-ingtwoparticipantsinterm
5、softhedegreeofsomegradablepropertyrelatingtothem,asintheEnglishsentenceJohnismorehandsomethanFelix.Thepropertyistypicallyexpressedbyanadjective,inalanguagewithalargeopenclassofadjec-tives;orelsebyastativeverb(withanadjective-likemeaning).Ibegin,in§2,byexaminingthe
6、prototypicalscheme.Then§3examinesotherkindsofcomparison—thatinvolvingoneparticipantandtwoproperties(asinThisboxislongerthanitiswide,inEnglish),oracomparisonoftwosetsofpar-ticipant-plus-property(asinThisboxislongerthanthecariswide).§4brieflydis-cussesgrammaticalmar
7、kersofdegree,andenquiresastothepossiblediachronicoriginofcomparativeconstructions.§5mentionshowcomparativeconstruc-tiontypesandtheirformalmarkersareparticularlyliabletobeborrowed,andtoStudiesinLanguage32:4(2008),787–817.doi10.1075/sl.32.4.02dixissn0378–4177/e-issn
8、1569–9978©JohnBenjaminsPublishingCompany788R.M.W.Dixondiffuse.Finally,§6introducesspeculationconcerningacorrelationbetweenthecomplexityofcomparativecons
