Universal #1537

Legacy number: 1537

 Number  1533
 Original  In verb-initial languages the comparative form precedes the standard.
 Standardized  IF word order is verb-initial, THEN the comparative form precedes the standard.
 Formula  verb-initial ⇒ Comp Stand
 Keywords  order, verb-initial, adjective, comparison
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  unknown
 Source  unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D.Payne 1990: 11

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Notes
The comparative marker is commonly a verbal form or an adposition. Thus ‘John is taller than Bill’ may be expressed as ‘Tall John from-Bill’ or as ‘Tall John exceed Bill’.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
The comparative marker is commonly a verbal form or an adposition. Thus 'John is taller than Bill' may be expressed as 'Tall John from-Bill' or as 'Tall John exceed Bill'.