Pullum_geoffrey_k_a_student_s_introduction

relativised element.

1. Underline the finite subordinate clauses in the following examples and say whether they are (a) relative clauses; (b) declara­ tive content clauses; or (c) ambiguous between the two. Give evidence in support of your answers.

iShe ridiculed the idea that he hadpro­ posed.

iiThefact that it's illegal didn't seem to bother them.

iiiI've lost the map that you lent me.

ivHe was motivated by the conviction

that he had been seriously wronged. v They are spreading a rumour that is

causing her great distress.

2. All the following examples contain a finite subordinate clause: underline those that are relative, and for each of them identify the antecedent and the function of the (overt or covert)

I wonder who they have in mindfor thejob.

11I made a mistake I'll neverforget. III Go back the way you came.

ivThe prize was awarded to the girl who spokefirst.

v He's not the man he used to be.

viIt's the best movie I've seen all year.

viiThefact that they are cousins is irrelevant.

viiiShe started a shelterfor women whose husbands beat them.

ixShe goes to the same school that her mother went to.

xWhich is the one you said you liked best?

3.Convert any non-wh relatives in the fol­ lowing examples into their wh relative counterparts.

The reason he gave was that he wanted to spend more time with hisfamily.

ii The reason he resigned was that he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Exercises 193

iiiThe one that impressed me most was your sister.

ivDo you remember the time wefirst went out together?

v The concept that the agency came up with is really insulting.

viThe notion that he came up with was really ingenious.

viiThat's aperson I wouldn't want to cross a river with.

viiiDo you have a socket wrench I could borrow?

ixThey said that the one that I wanted was sold out.

x That car made the one that I was driving look crummy.

4.The following examples are presented without the usual internal punctuation so as to avoid giving any clues as to whether the relative clauses are integrated or sup­ plementary. Identify the relative clauses,

and for each say whether it could be inter­ preted in either way (with corresponding differences in meaning and punctuation) or in only one way. In the latter case, specify which interpretation is required and explain why the other is excluded.

Thisyear we're going to Majorca which is where we spent our honeymoon.

11The necklace which Elvis gave her is in the safe.

mUsa hasjust gone down withflu which means that the wedding will be post­ poned.

ivThe only thing I can't understand is why you appointed him in thefirst place.

v They're interviewing the neighbours who saw her leave.

viShe was deeply offended by the letter which accused her of racism.

viiNo one who has studied the evidence couldpossibly doubt her innocence.

194 Chapter 1 1 Relative clauses

viiiHe's going to resign which is exactly the right course of action.

ixItook with me anyfiles that Iwas responsiblefor.

x This is Pat who Iam working with.

5.Determine whether the underlined expres­ sions below are: (a) fused relatives;

(b)open interrogative content clauses; or

(c)ambiguous between the two. Give

evidence to support your answer.

Idon 't know who caused the accident.

ii You can do whatever you like.

iiiWhat she wrote is completely illegible.

ivThey've already spent what Igave them

yesterday.

v Iwon't be resigning, whatever the report says.

viItold them what you told me to tell them.

viiIasked what else I could do.

viiiWhat Frankenstein has created will one day destroy him.

ixWhat Frankenstein has created is sofar unknown.

x We mustfind whoever did this.

.:Grade and comparison

I Comparative and superlative grade 1 95

2	More and most	1 97
3	Less and least	1 98
4	Comparison of equality		1 99
5	Non-scalar comparison		200

6 Comparative clauses 201

1Comparative and superlative grade

As we have seen in Ch. 6, § 1 . 1 , many adjectives inflect for grade: they have plain, comparative and superlative forms. This inflectional system applies also to a small number of other lexemes, most importantly certain determinatives and adverbs. Examples are given in [ 1 ] :

[1 ]		ADJECTIVE	DETERMINATIVE	ADVERB
	PLAIN	tall	many	soon
11	COMPARATIVE	taller	more	sooner
iii	SUPERLATIVE	tallest	most	soonest

The inflected forms of tall and soon are regular (i.e., they are formed by general rules). The forms for many, however, are irregular.

Although 'comparative' is the standard name forjust one of the forms, the seman­ tic concept of comparison is relevant to the whole system of grade. All the differ­ ences between the forms in the columns in [ 1 ] have to do with comparison.

The superlative and set comparison

In the case of the superlative we are concerned with set comparison. In these exam­ ples, it is comparison between the members of some set with respect to their posi­ tion on the scale denoted by the lexeme: one member (or one subset) is located at a higher position on that scale than the others. Consider such examples as the following:

[2]	Max was the tallest boy in the class.

iiA prize will be given to whoever scores the most points. III I chose the life policy that will mature the soonest

1 95

196 Chapter 1 2 Grade and comparison

In [i], the comparison is between the set of boys in the class with respect to height: Max occupies a higher position on this scale than all the others.

In [ii], the set is not expressed in the sentence itself but it is implicit: it consists of those participating in some competition in which points are scored. The scale is the number of points scored. The prize will be given to the participant who ranks top on this scale.

In [iii], the comparison is between a set of life insurance policies, ranked by date of maturing. I chose the one that matures before all the others.

The comparative and term comparison

The comparative form, by contrast, is predominantly used in term comparison - comparison between a primary term and a secondary term, as in [3] :

[3] Max is taller than Tom.

iiSue scoredmore runs than I did.

iiiThis policy will mature sooner than that one.

In [i] the comparison is between Max's height and Tom's height. The sentence does­ n't say how tall either of them is absolutely, but expresses the relation between them. We can describe the meaning by using variables, as in algebra: "Max is x tall; Tom is y tall; x > y (i.e. x exceeds y)". This format enables us to handle the distinc­ tion between this type of term comparison and that illustrated in [4] :

[4]The aerial is taller than 100feet.

Here the comparison is between the height of the aerial and a specific height, 1 00 feet. In this case there is only one variable: "The aerial is x tall; x > 1 00 feet".

The primary term in [3i] is "Max is x tall", and the secondary one is "Tom is y tall".

In [ii] , "Sue scored x many runs" is primary and "I scored y many runs" is secondary.

In [iii], "this policy matures x soon" is primary and "that policy matures y soon" is secondary.

The secondary term can be left unexpressed if it is recoverable from the context, as for example in [5] :

[5]Tim is quite tall, but [Max is taller].

iiThat's better. [Imagine this being said after you have opened a window.]

In [i], we understand "Max is taller than Tim", recovering "Tim" from the first clause.

In [ii] (where better is an irregular form of gooQ), we understand "That is better than it was before you opened the window"; the secondary term is recovered from the situation.

§2 More and most

1 97

Set comparison with comparatives

Comparative grade is also used in set comparison when the set has just two members:

[6]	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
a.	Kim is the taller of the two.	b. Kim is the tallest of the three.

The comparative form taller is inadmissible in [b] .

Usage manuals commonly say that the superlative is incorrect when the set has only two members (the tallest of the twin towers). However, the superlative is the default for set comparison, and it's fairly common as an informal variant of the comparative with two­

member sets. It is relatively unlikely when the two-member status of the set is explicitly given in an of phrase, as in [6a], but sentences like KimandPat were the only candidates, and Kim was clearly the best are certainly grammatical.

Non-inflectional marking of grade

As we noted in Ch. 6, § 1 . 1 , comparative and superlative grade may be marked by a separate word, more or most, rather than by inflection. Examples are given in [7] :

[7]

		ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
	PLAIN	useful	rashly
ii	COMPARATIVE	more useful	more rashly
III	SUPERLATIVE	most useful	most rashly

The choice between the two ways of marking comparative and superlative grade - by inflection or by a separate word - is discussed in Ch. 1 6, §5.

2More and most

The two words more and most figure in both the tables given as [ 1 ] and [7] : they can be either inflectional forms of the determinatives many and much or they can be adverbs marking non-inflectional comparatives and superlatives of adjectives and adverbs.

(a)More as determinative

[8]PLAIN GRADE

a.He didn't make many mistakes. 11 a. We don't have much time.

111 a. I didn't enjoy it much.

COMPARATIVE GRADE

b. He made more mistakes thanyou did. b. We have more time than we need.

b. I enjoyed it more than last time.

The more of the [b] examples here is a determinative, the comparative counterpart of plain many and much in the corresponding [a] examples. The determinative is

198 Chapter 1 2 Grade and comparison

functioning as determiner in NP structure in [i] and [ii], and as an adjunct of degree in the clause in [iii].

Correspondence between the grades is complicated by the fact that the plain forms much (and to a lesser extent many) are non-affirmative items. This is why negative clauses are used in the [a] examples of [8] ; it is not normal in present-day English to say, for example, *We have much time or *We enjoyed it much (see Ch. 8, §4).

(b) More as adverb

[9]	i	a.	It's expensive.	b.	It's more expensive than I expected.
	ii	a.	She behaved tactfully.	b.	She behaved more tactfully than her son.

Here more is an adverb. In [i] it modifies the adjective expensive; in [ii] it modifies the adverb tactfully. It is a marker of the comparative grade. The crucial difference between [9] and [8] is that there is no much or many in the plain grade version in [9] .

Most

The same distinction applies with most, though here we have an additional, non­ superlative, sense of the adverb (shown in [ l OiiibD, where it means "extremely" or "very":

[10]

11

1Il

a. He didn't make many mistakes.

a.It's expensive.

a. Ifound her helolul.

b. He made the most mistakes.

b. It's the most expensive of them all. b. Ifound her most helpful.

In rib], most is a determinative - the superlative form of many.

In [iib], it is an adverb, marking the superlative grade of expensive.

In [iiib], again it's an adverb, but it isn't a marker of superlative grade. There's no explicit comparison between members of a set: mostjust indicates a high degree.

3Less and least

The words less and least similarly belong to both the determinative and adverb classes. As determinatives they are inflectional forms of little; as adverbs they function as degree modifiers. These examples illustrate for the comparative:

[1 1]

i a. It has little value.

b. It has less value than he claimed.

iia. It's expensive. b. It's less expensive than I expected.

iiia. She behaved tactfully. b. She behaved less tactfully than her son.

In rib] the determinative less has the same function, determiner, as little in [ia] . In [iib-iiib] the degree adverb less is added as modifier to an adjective or adverb.

(a) The determinative less

As a determinative, less is syntactically quite similar to its opposite more, but there are also significant differences. More is the comparative form of both many and

§4 Comparison of equality

1 99

much, which occur with plural and non-count singular nouns respectively. The opposites of many and much are few and little, and these have distinct comparative formsfewer and less. Compare:

[ 1 2]	PLURAL		NON-COUNT SINGULAR
a.	He's had more jobs than me.	b.	He's hadmore experience than me.
n a.	He's had fewer jobs than me.	b.	He's had less exoerience than me.

Matters are complicated, however, by the fact that less (unlike little) is often used with plurals:

[1 3]

i It costs less than twenty dollars.

iiLess/Fewer than twenty people attended the meeting.

iiiHe's had fewer/%lessjobs than me.

In [i] twentydollars is construed as a sum of money, rather than a set of individ­ ual dollars; jewer than twenty dollars would be unusual.

In [ii], where we again have a numeral after than, both forms are possible, with fewer less common and somewhat formal.

In [iii], the determinative is followed immediately by a plural noun. This use of less is informal; it is avoided by many speakers, and generally condemned by usage manuals.

(b) The adverb less

As an adverb, less also contrasts with more - the adverb more that marks compara­ tive grade. More marks superiority (a higher degree on the relevant scale), while less marks inferiority (a lower degree). Superiority, however, can also be marked inflec­ tionally, whereas there is no inflection corresponding to less. So we have this pattern:

[ 14]	COMPARISON OF SUPERIORITY		COMPARISON OF INFERIORITY
a.	Kim is tallerthan Pat.	b.	Kim is less tall than Pat.
ii a.	Kim is more energetic than Pat.	b.	Kim is less energetic than Pat.

4Comparison of equality

Superiority and inferiority represent two kinds of inequality, but there are also comparisons of equality. This, like inferiority, is always marked by a mod­ ifying adverb, rather than by inflection:

[ 1 5] 1 Kim is as tall as Pat.

ii Kim is as energetic as Pat.

We use the standard term 'equality' to contrast this construction with those in [ 1 4], but it is important to emphasise that it is not a matter of EXACT equality.

Example [ 1 Si] says that Kim's height is AT LEAST equal to Pat's, not that it is identical. We can say, without contradiction: Kim is as tall as Pat, infact slightly

200 Chapter 1 2 Grade and comparison

taller. And the negative Kim isn't as tall as Pat entails that Kim is SHORTER than Pat, not simply that Kim's height is different (either lower or higher on the height scale).

Similarly in [ 1 5ii] : Kim is at least as high on the energetic scale as Pat. As nor­ mally understood, energetic does not denote a quality that can be precisely measured, as height can, so the issue of whether Kim and Pat are exactly equal on this scale doesn't really arise.

Each of the examples in [ 1 5] contains two occurrences of as.

The first as is an adverb of degree, like more and less except that it can modify determinatives: I had as much cash as you (contrast *1 had more much cash than you).

The second as is a preposition, like than. As is used for equality, and than for inequality.

In some contexts, primarily negatives, the adverb as is replaceable by so, and in some familiar phrases it is omitted altogether:

[16]i It wasn't so straii-htforward as I'd been led to expect.

iiThe sea wasf1gI as a pancake.

5Non-scalar comparison

All the comparisons considered so far have been concerned with relative positions on some scale - with relative degrees of some gradable property. There is also a type of comparison where the issue is not a matter of relative degree but sim­ ply of identity or similarity. We call this non-scalar comparison. The prepositions as and than are found here too, so we can generalise the contrast between equality (marked by as) and inequality (marked by than):

[17] i	EQUALITY	We	wentby the same route as we usually take.
ii	INEQUALITY	%We	went by a different route than we usually take.

The first expresses identity, the second non-identity, between the route we took (on the occasion in question) and the route we usually take.

The % annotation indicates, as usual, that not all speakers use this construction (it is somewhat more frequent in AmE). Some speakers would use a more complex construction withfrom and an NP here: We went by a different routefrom the one we usually take.

There are two items, however, that license a than complement for all speakers, namely other and else:

[18]i There must be some other way of doing it than this.

iiAnyone else than you would have complained.

We only chose different in [ 1 7ii] because it permits a more direct contrast with same.

§6 Comparative clauses

201

6Comparative clauses

The prepositions than and as often take as complement a distinctive type of subordinate clause called a comparative clause:

[ 1 9]	She did better in the exam than we'd thought she would.	[superiority]
ii	The treatment was lesspainful than it was last time.	[inferiority]
iii	Thepool is nearly as wide as it is long.	[scalar equality]
iv	They comefrom the same part of Britain as I come from.	[non-scalar equality]

There are two points about the terminology used here that should be noted.

First, 'comparative' has a broader sense in 'comparative clause' than elsewhere. Comparative forms are always associated with comparisons of superiority, whereas comparative clauses are found in all the types of comparison considered above, as indicated in the annotations on the right.

Second, 'comparative clause' applies to the subordinate clause expressing the secondary term in the comparison, not to the matrix clause that expresses the comparison as a whole.

Comparative clauses constitute one of the three major kinds of finite subordinate clause that we introduced in Ch. 1 0, § 1 . What distinguishes them from relative and content clauses is that they are obligatorily reduced in certain ways relative to the structure of main clauses.

In [ 1 9i] the complement of would is left understood. We could add do, but there would still be a missing adjunct. The meaning can be given as "She did x well in the exam; we'd thought she would do y well; x > y"; but the "y well" part cannot be syntactically overt.

Similarly in [ 1 9ii] there is an obligatorily missing predicative complement; it's understood as "y painful".

It is not so obvious that we have reduction in [ l9iii], since it is long can occur as an unreduced main clause. Nevertheless, in this comparative construction there is a missing degree modifier corresponding to the variable y: "The pool is nearly x wide; it is y long; x = y". The implicit presence of a degree modifier of long makes it impossible to add an overt one: *The pool is nearly as wide as it is very long.

Finally, in [ l 9iv] the preposition from occurs without a complement. This can't happen in canonical clauses. Again, a complement is understood ("She comes from x part of the country; I come from y part of the country; x = y"), but it can­ not be syntactically expressed. This represents a somewhat different case of preposition stranding from that discussed in Ch. 7, §5, since there is no corre­ sponding construction in which the preposition is fronted.

A further case of as in non-scalar comparison of equality

In the examples of preposition as + comparative clause given so far, the as is in con­ struction with the adverb as marking scalar equality (as in [ 1 9iii]) or with the

202 Chapter 1 2 Grade and comparison

adjective same marking non-scalar equality (as in [ 1 9iv] or [ 1 7i]). As can also occur in non-scalar comparison without any such preceding item to license it:

[20]	i	As we'd expected, he refusedto compromise.
	ii	He didn't behave as he usually does.

In [i] the comparison is between what we'd expected to happen and what did in fact happen. We can gloss as "We'd expected x; y (i.e. he refused to compromise); x = y". Here the y corresponds to a whole clause rather than to just a part of a clause.

In [ii] we are comparing his behaviour on a particular occasion with his usual

behaviour. We understand: "He didn't behave in x manner; he usually behaves in y manner; x = y".

Comparative clauses as complement to like

In non-scalar comparison of equality we also find comparative clauses after the preposition like - though like takes content clauses as well. Compare, then:

[21]	i	They don'tget on like they used to.	[comparative clause]
	ii	It looks like it's going to rain.	[content clause]

In [i] we have the familiar kind of comparison between the way they get on (now) and the way they used to get on.

The content clause construction in [ii] most often occurs after look or sound, and the meaning is similar to that with appear + content clause: It appears that it's going to rain. Unlike they used to in [i], it's going to rain is not reduced.

Conservative usage manuals tend to disapprove of both constructions in [2 1], where like takes a finite clause as complement. They would recommend replacing like by as in [i] and by as if(or as though) in [ii]. The versions with like are relatively informal, but they are very well established, especially in AmE.