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
)
] }
