Typology.Comparison #
@cite{stassen-2013} @cite{wals-2013} @cite{beck-2009} @cite{haspelmath-2001}
Per-language typological substrate for comparative-construction typology
(Stassen's WALS Ch 121 framework + Beck-Crisma-Krasikova degree-word
typology + superlative strategies). Fragment-importable; mirrors the
Linglib/Typology/{Possession,Negation,Question}.lean pattern.
What lives here #
ComparativeType(5-way Stassen 2013 / WALS Ch 121A:locational | exceed | conjoined | particle | mixed).DegreeWordType(@cite{beck-2009} 3-way:hasDegreeWord | morphological | noDegreeMarking).SuperlativeStrategy(6-way: morphological, definiteComparative, elative, exceedAll, comparativeUniversal, none).ComparativeProfile— Fragment-side joint with comparative type, degree word type, superlative strategy, and optional standardMarker / degreeMarker / basicOrder / illustrative form.ofWALS121Aconverter from WALS Ch 121A.- WALS Ch 121A aggregate sample-size + corpus-only generalisations
(
locational_most_common,particle_rarest,locational_and_particle_dominant). - Helper predicates (
hasType,hasDegWord,noDegree,isSOV,isSVO).
Theory-laden caveats #
ComparativeTypeis the WALS 2013 5-way typology. Stassen's original 1985 6-way typology (separative | allative | locative | exceed | conjoined | particle) lives inPhenomena/Comparison/Studies/Stassen1985.leanbecause the 3-way adverbial split is paper-distinctive — the WALS update collapses it into a singlelocationalfor cross-linguistic indexing.DegreeWordTypeis Beck et al. 2009's three-way classification. Other approaches (Kennedy 1999, Beck 2011, Bochnak 2013) refine the typology with scale-structure and degree-argument parameters; those live inTheories/Semantics/Degree/.
Out of scope #
Stassen's 1985 fine-grained adverbial typology (ComparativeType1985,
caseAssignment, fixedEncoding, spatialCase) and the 1985-↔-2013
consistency theorems live in Studies/Stassen1985.lean (paper-anchored).
Cross-linguistic theorems consuming Fragment per-language data live in
Studies/Stassen2013.lean.
WALS Ch 121: how a language expresses comparison of inequality.
Stassen's classification is based on how the standard of comparison (the Y in "X is more Adj than Y") is encoded. Five types are cross-cutting; a single language may use more than one productively (classified as "mixed").
- locational : ComparativeType
Locational: the standard is marked with a locational/ablative case or adposition. Example: Japanese
Y yori X tall'Y from/than X tall'. Also Turkish (ablative), Hindi-Urdu (se), Latin (ablative). - exceed : ComparativeType
Exceed: a verb meaning 'exceed/surpass' encodes comparison. Example: Yoruba
Ade ga ju Bola lo. Common in Niger-Congo + SE Asian. - conjoined : ComparativeType
Conjoined: two juxtaposed clauses, one attributing the property to X and the other denying / contrasting it for Y. Rarest type.
- particle : ComparativeType
Particle: a dedicated comparative particle marks the standard (e.g. English
than, Germanals). Standard Average European pattern. - mixed : ComparativeType
Mixed: more than one type is productive without a clear dominant.
Instances For
Equations
- Typology.Comparison.instDecidableEqComparativeType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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- Typology.Comparison.instBEqComparativeType.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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@cite{beck-2009}: presence of degree words in comparison constructions.
- hasDegreeWord : DegreeWordType
Free degree word (English
more, Frenchplus, Mandaringeng). - morphological : DegreeWordType
Bound comparative morphology, no free degree word (English
-erfor short adjectives, Turkish-rak). - noDegreeMarking : DegreeWordType
No overt degree marking (exceed-verb, juxtaposition, pragmatic).
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- Typology.Comparison.instDecidableEqDegreeWordType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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- Typology.Comparison.instBEqDegreeWordType.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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How a language forms superlatives. Partially independent of comparative type; some languages lack a dedicated superlative entirely.
- morphological : SuperlativeStrategy
Dedicated superlative morphology (English
-est, Latin-issimus). - definiteComparative : SuperlativeStrategy
Definite article + comparative (French
le plus grand). - elative : SuperlativeStrategy
Elative pattern without comparison class (Arabic
ʔafʕal). - exceedAll : SuperlativeStrategy
Exceed verb + universal quantifier ("X exceeds all").
- comparativeUniversal : SuperlativeStrategy
Comparative + universal standard (Japanese
dare yori mo takai). - none : SuperlativeStrategy
No dedicated superlative strategy.
Instances For
Equations
- Typology.Comparison.instDecidableEqSuperlativeStrategy x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯
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- Typology.Comparison.instBEqSuperlativeStrategy.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)
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A language's comparative construction profile. Fragment-side joint:
every Fragments/{Lang}/Comparison.lean exposes
def comparison : ComparativeProfile.
- language : String
Language name.
- iso : String
ISO 639-3 code.
- comparativeType : ComparativeType
WALS Ch 121 comparative type.
- degreeWord : DegreeWordType
Degree word typology.
- superlative : SuperlativeStrategy
Primary superlative strategy.
- comparativeForm : String
Illustrative comparative form.
- standardMarker : String
Standard marker (the "than" equivalent), if applicable.
- degreeMarker : String
Degree marker ("more" equivalent), if applicable.
- basicOrder : String
Dominant basic word order (for word-order correlations).
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WALS Ch 121A → ComparativeType. The generated WALS data uses four
categories; mixed is not a separate WALS value (languages are assigned
to whichever single type best characterises them).
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- Typology.Comparison.ofWALS121A Data.WALS.F121A.ComparativeType.locational = Typology.Comparison.ComparativeType.locational
- Typology.Comparison.ofWALS121A Data.WALS.F121A.ComparativeType.exceed = Typology.Comparison.ComparativeType.exceed
- Typology.Comparison.ofWALS121A Data.WALS.F121A.ComparativeType.conjoined = Typology.Comparison.ComparativeType.conjoined
- Typology.Comparison.ofWALS121A Data.WALS.F121A.ComparativeType.particle = Typology.Comparison.ComparativeType.particle
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Does a language have a given comparative type?
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- p.hasType t = (p.comparativeType == t)
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Does a language have a free degree word?
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Does a language have bound comparative morphology?
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Does a language lack overt degree marking entirely?
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Does a language have a morphological superlative?
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Is this an SVO language?
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- p.isSVO = (p.basicOrder == "SVO" || p.basicOrder == "SVO/V2")
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Count of languages in a sample with a given comparative type.
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- Typology.Comparison.countByType langs t = (List.filter (fun (x : Typology.Comparison.ComparativeProfile) => x.hasType t) langs).length
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Count of languages in a sample by degree word type.
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- Typology.Comparison.countByDegree langs d = (List.filter (fun (p : Typology.Comparison.ComparativeProfile) => p.degreeWord == d) langs).length
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Count of languages in a sample by superlative strategy.
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- Typology.Comparison.countBySuperlative langs s = (List.filter (fun (p : Typology.Comparison.ComparativeProfile) => p.superlative == s) langs).length
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Per-type counts sum to sample total.
Locational comparatives are the most common single type in WALS Ch 121.
Particle comparatives are the rarest single type in the WALS data.
Locational + particle together account for more than half the sample.