Chapter 2 Previous Analyses and Their Problems
2.4 The guo-comparative (X A-guo1 Y (D) comparative)
2.4.3 The comparison between a guo-comparative and a chu-comparative
C.-M. Liu (2010) compares the guo-comparative and the chu-comparative with explicit examples and tree diagrams. The typical examples of the guo-comparative and the
chu-comparative can be seen in (75a) and (75b) below.
(75) a. The guo-comparative
約翰 高過 瑪莉 (五 公分)
Yuehan gao-guo Mali (wu gongfen)
John tall-VSUR Mary five centimeter
“John is (5-cm) taller than Mary.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. The chu-comparative
約翰 高出 瑪莉 *(五 公分)
Yuehan gao-chu Mali *(wu gongfen) John tall-VEXC Mary five centimeter
“John is taller than Mary by 5-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
10 The term, chu-comparative is defined by C.-M. Liu (2010). In my research, I do not classify chu-comparative as a type of comparative constructions. This is because chu ‘surpass’ is only compatible with Chinese
comparatives, whereas it is incompatible with TSM comparatives. Therefore, I regard chu-comparative as the
Both the guo-comparative and the chu-comparative have the obvious comparative markers guo ‘exceed’ and chu ‘surpass’. The difference between these two comparative constructions lies in the presence of the differential measure phrase. To make it explicit, a differential measure phrase is optional in the guo-comparative but obligatory in the
chu-comparative.
In fact, the meanings of these two comparatives are different. The differences in
meaning can be seen in (76a) and (76b).The differential measure phrase Yi bai gongfen ‘100
centimeters’ in (76a) is the differential value, while it is a comparison standard in (76b). Chu
‘surpass’ in (76a) chooses the differential value yi bai gongfen ‘100 centimeters’ as an
argument, whereas guo ‘exceed’ in (76b) selects a comparison standard yi bai gongfen ‘100 centimeters’ as an argument.
(76) a. 約翰 高出 一百 公分
Yuehan gao-chu yibai gongfen John tall-VEXC 100 centimeter
“John is taller than someone/something by 100-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. 約翰 高過 一百 公分
Yuehan gao-guo yibai gongfen John tall-VSUR 100 centimeter
“John is taller than 100 centimeters.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
The fact that chu ‘surpass’ selects the differential value as its argument will lead to the ungrammaticality of (77b) which contains no differential value. In contrast, (77a) is
grammatical because guo ‘exceed’ chooses the comparison standard shei ‘who’ as its argument.
(77) a. 約翰 高過 誰?
Yuehan gao-guo shei?
John tall-VSUR who
“Whom is John taller than?” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. *約翰 高出 誰?
*Yuehan gao-chu shei?
John tall-VEXC who
“Whom is John taller than?” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
Likewise, (78a) is ungrammatical in that a comparison standard, the argument required by guo ‘exceed’, can not be found in the sentence. On the other hand, (78b) is grammatical because chu ‘surpass’ selects the differential measure phrase duoshao ‘how-much’.
(78) a. *約翰 高過 多少?
*Yuehan gao-guo duoshao?
John tall-VSUR how-much
“Intended reading: How much is the difference between John and someone
else in height?” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. 約翰 高出 多少?
Yuehan gao-chu duoshao?
John tall-VEXC how-much
“Intended reading: How much is the difference between John and someone else in
height?” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
C.-M. Liu (2010) bases on the above arguments to provide the structure of the transitive comparative as (79) illustrates.
(79) a. 約翰 高 瑪莉 五 公分
Yuehan gao Mali wu gongfen
John tall Mary five centimeter
“John is taller than Mary by 5-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. …VoiceP
John Voice’
Voice VP
gaoi Mary V’
VSUR VP
5-cm V’
VEXC AP
A
ti (C.-M. Liu 2010)
C.-M. Liu proposes that the differential measure phrase and the comparison standard are not arguments of the adjective such as gao ‘tall’ in the transitive comparative construction.
Instead, the differential measure phrase and comparison standard are the arguments of VEXC
and VSUR, which are respectively occupied by chu ‘surpass’ and guo ‘exceed’. Due to the affixal features of VEXC and VSUR, adjective must be raised to the head of the VoiceP.
chu-comparative with tree diagrams. In the guo-comparative, the differential measure phrase
such as wu gongfen ‘five centimeters’ in (80b) is not an argument but an adjunct which is adjoined to V-bar. Also, the adjective gao ‘tall’ in (80b) is moved to VSUR and combines with
guo ‘exceed’ to form gao-guo ‘tall-exceed’, which is subsequently raised to Voice head.
(80) a. 約翰 高過 瑪莉 (五 公分)
Yuehan gao-guo Mali (wu gongfen)
John tall-VSUR Mary five centimeter
“John is (5-cm) taller than Mary.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. …VoiceP
John Voice’
Voice VP
gaoi+guoj Mary V’
NP V’
5 cm VSUR AP
tj A
ti (C.-M. Liu 2010)
The structure of the chu-comparative is similar to that of the guo-comparative. The only
in the chu-comparative. The structure of the chu-comparative is presented as follows.
(81) a. 約翰 高出 瑪莉 五 公分
Yuehan gao-chu Mali wu gongfen
John tall-VEXC Mary five centimeter
“John is taller than Mary by 5-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. …VoiceP
John Voice’
Voice VP
gaoi+chuj Mary V’
VSUR VP
5-cm V’
VEXC AP
tj A
ti
(C.-M. Liu 2010)
In addition, C.-M. Liu mentions that the adjectives of the transitive comparative, the
chu-comparative and the guo-comparative will always be raised to the higher position to
combine with the head with verbal status. The following instances can provide persuasive
evidence.
(82) a. 約翰 高了 瑪莉 五 公分
Yuehan gao-le Mali wu gongfen
John tall-PERF Mary five centimeter
“John is taller than Mary by 5-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
b. 約翰 高出了 瑪莉 五 公分
Yuehan gao-chu-le Mali wu gongfen John tall-VEXC-PERF Mary five centimeter
“John is taller than Mary by 5-cm.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
c. 約翰 高過了 瑪莉
Yuehan gao-guo-le Mali
John tall-VSUR-PERF Mary
“John is taller than Mary.” (C.-M. Liu 2010)
In the above examples, le ‘PERF’ combines with gao-chu ‘tall-surpass’ and gao-guo
‘tall-exceed’. Due to the fact that Mandarin le can only combine with verb, gao ‘tall’ in this
place must bear the verbal status. In other words, gao ‘tall’ originally is an adjective and becomes a verb after the movement.