Conjoined Comparison and Variation in Degree Semantics

Abstract

Conjoined comparisons, consisting of two clauses containing antonymous or positive-negative predicate pairs, are among the most common comparison construction types in the world's languages. As research on degree constructions from a cross-linguistic perspective has increased, so too has the number of studies focused on conjoined comparisons. Although the number of languages that have received in-depth treatment is still fairly small, this growing body of research has already uncovered important aspects of cross-linguistic variation, to the point where we can now begin to hypothesize about the typology of conjoined comparisons. This article summarizes these findings, and takes the first steps towards developing a typology of conjoined comparison constructions, taking into account not only differences between conjoined comparisons, but also the overall degree-behaviour of the languages. It will be emphasized that the existence of conjoined comparison is not diagnostic of the absence of degrees in a language more generally.