Comparative

A number of fixed expressions use a comparative form where no comparison is being asserted, such as higher education or younger generation. These comparatives can be called absolute.

Similarly, a null comparative is one in which the starting point for comparison is not stated. These comparisons are frequently found in advertising, for example, in typical assertions such as Our burgers have more flavor, Our picture is sharper or 50% more. These uses of the comparative do not mention what it is they are being compared to. In some cases it is easy to infer what the missing element in a null comparative is. In other cases, the speaker or writer has been deliberately vague, for example "Glasgow's miles better".

Scientific classification, taxonomy, and geographical categorization conventionally include the adjectives greater and lesser, when a large or small variety of an item is meant, as in the greater celandine as opposed to the lesser celandine. These adjectives may at first sight appear as a kind of null comparative, when as is usual, they are cited without their opposite counterpart. It should be apparent, however, that an entirely different variety of animal, scientific, or geographical object is intended. Thus it may be found, for example, that the lesser panda entails a giant panda variety, and a gazetteer would establish that there are the Lesser Antilles as well as the Greater Antilles. It is in the nature of grammatical conventions evolving over time that it is difficult to establish when they first became widely accepted, but both greater and lesser in these instances have over time become mere adjectives (or adverbial constructs), so losing their comparative connotation. Further, Greater indicates the inclusion adjacent areas when referring to metropolitan areas, such as when suburbs are intended. Although it implies a comparison with a narrower definition that refers to a central city only, such as Greater London versus the City of London, or Greater New York versus New York City, it is not part of the "comparative" in the grammatical sense of this article. A comparative always compares something directly with something else.Comparativ

At times the syntax of comparatives matches the syntax of coordination, and at other times, it must be characterized in terms of subordination.

There are two types of ellipsis that are unique to the than-clauses of comparatives: comparative deletion and comparative subdeletion. The existence of comparative deletion as an ellipsis mechanism is widely acknowledged,[5] whereas the status of comparative subdeletion as an ellipsis mechanism is more controversial.[6]

There are a number of independent ellipsis mechanisms that occur in the than-clauses of comparative constructions: gapping, pseudogapping, null complement anaphora, stripping, and verb phrase ellipsis. These mechanisms are independent of comparative clauses because they also occur when the comparative is not involved. The presence of these ellipsis mechanisms in than-clauses complicates the analysis considerably, since they render it difficult to discern which aspects of the syntax of comparatives are unique to comparatives.

a. You should visit me on Tuesday, and I ___ you on Wednesday. - Gapping without the comparative

b. You visited me on Tuesdays more than I ___ you on Wednesdays. - Gapping with the comparative

a. He will say it twice before she has ___ once. - Pseudogapping without the comparative

b. More people will say it twice than ___ will ___ just once. - Pseudogapping with the comparative; comparative deletion also present

a. He did it as I expected ___ . - Null complement anaphora without the comparative

b. He did it more than I expected ___ . - Null complement anaphora with the comparative

a. Men did it, and women ___ too. - Stripping without the comparative

b. More men did it than women ___ . - Stripping analysis possible here

a. Susan has helped when you have ___ . - Verb phrase ellipsis without the comparative

b. Susan has helped more than you have ___ . - Verb phrase ellipsis with the comparative

The fact that the five independent ellipsis mechanisms (and possibly others) can occur in the than-clauses of comparatives has rendered the study of the syntax of comparatives particularly difficult. One is often not sure which ellipsis mechanisms are involved in a given than-clause. One thing is clear, however: the five ellipsis mechanisms illustrated here are distinct from the two ellipsis mechanisms that are unique to comparatives mentioned above (comparative deletion and comparative subdeletion).

If an adjective has two comparative markers, it is known as a double comparative (e.g. more louder, worser). The use of double comparatives is generally associated with Appalachian English and African American Vernacular English, though they were common in Early Modern English and were used by Shakespeare.[9][10]

"The Duke of Milan / and his more braver daughter could controul thee."—Shakespeare, The Tempest

Russell Ultan (1972) surveyed 20 languages and observed that the comparative and superlative are inflected forms of (near-)identical bases with respective to the positive and equative. Jonathan D. Bobaljik (2012) contends that Ultan’s generalization is a strong contender for a linguistic universal. Bobaljik formulates the Comparative-Superlative Generalization: With respect to the positive, if any adjective’s comparative degree were suppletive, so would its superlative; vice versa, if any adjective’s superlative degree were suppletive, then so would its comparative.

Bobaljik phrases the Containment Hypothesis thus: "The representation of the superlative properly contains that of the comparative (in all languages that have a morphological superlative)". Indeed:

• in many languages (Persian, Ubykh, Cherokee, Chukchi, etc.) the superlative transparently contains the comparative;
• in Celtic languages, Arabic, Klon, Totnac, etc. the comparatives and the superlatives are formally similar;
• in Romance languages, Greek, Maltese, etc. the superlatives are derived from the comparatives by means of the addition of definite articles.

Additionally, Bobaljik asserts that Universal Grammar lacks the superlative morpheme.