Unit 9: More About Clauses
9.7 Comparative clauses
Another place where indirect subordination occurs is in COMPARATIVE CLAUSES (CCl). These are easy to recognise because they always express some sort of comparison, but they come in a variety of different forms and are often subject to ellipsis. They often contain comparative adjectives or adverbs:
20a.
Se{
MCl [
S
NP
NP
H
(He)
pn
(He)
pn
P
VP
VP
H
(is)
V
(is)
V
C
AjP
AjP
H
(taller
Aj
(taller
Aj
M
SCl [
CCl
SCl [
CCl
x
than
c
than
c
S
NP
NP
H
(you)
pn
(you)
pn
P
VP
VP
H
(are)
V
(are)
V
]
)
] }
Compare:
20b.
Se{
MCl [
S
NP
NP
H
(He)
pn
(He)
pn
P
VP
VP
H
(is)
V
(is)
V
C
AjP
AjP
H
(taller
Aj
(taller
Aj
M
PP
PP
x
(than
pr
(than
pr
H
you)
pn
you)
pn
)
] }
