On the Syntax and Semantics of the Japanese Comparative*

要旨

This chapter investigates a comparative construction in Japanese formed with the marker yori. The discussion contributes to recent debates about the cross-linguistic semantics of comparison, particularly those concerning the distinction between so-called ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’ comparison that arise in connection with Japanese in Beck, Oda, and Sugisaki and Kennedy. In implicit comparison constructions, the standard of comparison is supplied contextually rather than compositionally, as in Compared to Mary, John is tall. Following Pearson, the chapter argues for the existence of an intermediate mode of comparison, ‘weak implicit comparison’. This is a species of contextual comparison with overt comparative morphology, as in Compared to Mary, John is taller, and Of John and Mary, John is taller. The chapter argues that the Japanese yori-comparative falls into this category, using a series of diagnostics to establish the presence of covert comparative morphology. This result is compared with evidence from Sawada that the equivalent of the compared to comparative in Japanese is formed without such a covert morpheme. An account is developed of why the two constructions should differ in this way that has consequences for our understanding of the subtle distinctions between the various modes of comparison, and for the cross-linguistic syntax and semantics of comparison more generally.

主題