A comparative relation of the form ‘S↴ comparative_relator ↴S’ holds between superordinate proposition S↴ and subordinate proposition ↴S both of which designate a situation some component of which can vary on some parameter. The value taken by the respective component of ↴S is taken for granted and serves as a reference point for the assessment of the value taken by the respective component of S↴. The subordinate clause ↴S is a comparative clause.

Kinds of comparative constructions

The following possibilities obtain for comparative constructions:

  1. The parameter of variation is the same in S↴ and ↴S (), or else they are distinct, but taken as parallel ().
  2. The parameter of comparison is specified by a component of S↴ which may be coded in different syntactic categories and functions. It may be an adjective, typically in predicate function () or an adverbial, where the rest of the clause is the same () or different ().
  3. The value occupied on the parameter by the compared component of ↴S is the same as in S↴ (.a) or is different (.b). Accordingly, it is a comparison of equality or of inequality, resp. This distinction is often coded by the comparative relator.
  4. If the value in S↴ is the same as in ↴S, it is either a fixed value or the value taken by S↴ varies in dependency on the value taken in ↴S. In the latter case, it is a proportional comparison ().
.a.Linda is as efficient as her mother was.
b.Linda is more efficient than her mother was.
.Linda is more industrious than she is smart.
.Linda solved the problem faster than Irvin did.
.Linda solved the problem faster than Irvin could even analyze it.
.The faster Linda drove, the more Irvin began to shiver.

Manner and comparison

It is often hard to distinguish manner clauses from comparative clauses. Some languages use the same conjunction for either construction, like wie in German. In other languages, speakers confound the conjunctions dedicated to either purpose, like like and as, resp., in English. In principle, manner and comparison are two independent notions which combine in constructions as follows:

.a.Linda solved the problem like her mother had solved it before.
b.Linda solved the problem as she had been taught to.

A faithful paraphrase of .a may use in the same way as, while a paraphrase of #b may use the way (that). In .a, the comparison relates to the predicate.

The same goes for comparisons of inequality:

.a.Linda solved the problem differently than her mother had solved it before.
b.Linda didn't solve the problem as she had been taught to.

The cases that are hard to classify are found in .a and .a. Now .a obviously involves a comparative clause. By analogy, cases like .a are treated as comparative constructions, too.

Reduced comparative constructions

Comparison typically involves two entities that share most of their properties. Therefore, if S↴ and ↴S are in a comparative relation, ↴S is typically a variant of S↴ which only differs from S↴ in one component. f are variants of .a and , resp., illustrating what is meant.

.Linda solved the problem like a professional.
.Linda solved the problem faster than Irvin.

Such comparative constructions code the following kind of idea: S↴ – with all its components – is the case in some way or to some extent, where this way or extent is a value on some suitable parameter. The same parameter applies to ↴S. ↴S is, in fact, just a variant of S↴, differing from it only in one of the components; that component is the agent both in and in . The construction then only says that the value reached on the parameter by ↴S is either the same as that reached in S↴ () or higher than the latter (). In this configuration, the comparative sentence commonly – though certainly not always – reduces to a simple clause comprising S↴ and a comparative phrase – the so-called standard of comparison (secundum comparationis) –, which only contains one constitutent of ↴S, viz. the different component.

Comparative constructions like and thus represent the functional domain of junction although they do not contain a complex sentence.