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In:All Things Morphology: Its independence and its interfaces
Edited by Sedigheh Moradi, Marcia Haag, Janie Rees-Miller and Andrija Petrovic
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 353] 2021
► pp. 199–214

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Chapter 11
Competition in comparatives

A look at Romance scenarios

ORCiD logo with link | Università dell’Aquila
Published online: 25 August 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.353.11tho
Abstract
This chapter provides an initial exploration of the phenomenon of competition in comparatives in Romance languages. Latin had both synthetic and periphrastic comparatives, whose distribution was phonologically conditioned. Romance languages have generalized the periphrastic construction to all adjectives, but have also often inherited continuants of all or some of the four synthetic suppletive comparatives melior “better”, peior “worse”, māior “bigger”, minor “smaller”. Therefore, in the evolution from Latin to Romance languages, the stage is set for competition between synthetic and analytic constructions, such as Italian migliore vs. più buono “better”. This chapter discusses the solutions found in different Romance languages, as explained in descriptive grammars and other works. These solutions span from extinction of the synthetic suppletive forms altogether, to blocking of the analytic construction when the synthetic one is available, to overabundance between synthetic and analytic forms, to the creation of niches in which the two constructions distribute differentially. A corpus-based pilot study of Italian suggests a fruitful way to uncover such niches.
Article outline
  • 1.Comparatives from Latin to Romance
  • 2.Synthetic and analytic expression of ‘better’, ‘worse’, ‘bigger’ and ‘smaller’ in Romance: Theoretical possibilities and descriptions in grammars
    • 2.1Scenario 1: The analytic construction blocks the synthetic construction
    • 2.2Scenario 2: The synthetic construction blocks the analytic construction
    • 2.3Scenario 3: Both constructions exist, and are used interchangeably
    • 2.4Scenario 4: Both constructions exist, and are used in different contexts
      • 2.4.1Concrete vs. abstract meaning
      • 2.4.2Elevated vs. informal register
      • 2.4.3Specific senses of the base adjective
        • 2.4.3.1‘Younger’ and ‘older’
        • 2.4.3.2‘Smaller in size’ and ‘bigger in size’
        • 2.4.3.3‘Good-natured, kind’
      • 2.4.4Set phrases
    • 2.5Interim conclusions
  • 3.Più buono vs. migliore in Italian: Niches
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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