LINGUIST List 3.540

Tue 30 Jun 1992

Qs: Karlgren, Arabic, Comparatives

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Robert J Kuhns, Hans Karlgren's Address
2. , Arabic
3. Allan C. Wechsler, 3.510 Comparatives

Does anyone have Hans Karlgren's (KVAL Research Institute, Stockholm)
current email address?

Thank you,

Bob Kuhns (kuhnsworld.std.com)

Dear Sir/Ma'am:

I wonder if there is anybody out there who knows if there is a
discussion group for Arabic language specialists? Eager for news.

Respectfully,

Paul Roochnik

 Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1992 09:19:01 GMT
 From: jcjextro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Jason Johnston)
 Subject: Re: 3.502 Predicates, Comparatives

 Re Allan C. Wechsler's posting regarding the following "lovely sentence"
 which he shares "without further comment":

 (1) I think this is rarer than Allan does.

 Am I missing the joke, or is this a dialectal thing? To me the sentence
 seems neither ungrammatical nor unacceptable, nor even particularly
 infelicitous. It is on a par with (2)-(4):

 (2) I think this is rarer than Allan thinks it is.
 (3) I think this is rarer than I used to believe [it is].
 (4) I think this is rarer than people generally admit [it is].

I agree that these sentences are all acceptable. But if this is true,
what derivation explains (1)? I haven't studied enough syntax to know
how to say this technically, but there is something here that needs
to be explained. Perhaps a few more examples:

Moroccans think cheese is more acceptable than Algerians do.
Moroccans think cheese is more acceptable than Algerians are.
Moroccans think Libyans work harder than Algerians do. (Ambiguous.)
I think Mary believes John to be more intelligent than I do.