Directed Scale Segments

Abstract

If Jack is taller than Jill, there is scale in which entities are ordered by height and which has a segment running from Jack down to Jill. Call that a directed scale-segment. A comparative characterizes a directed scale segment by describing the two ends, the type of scale and optionally the length of the segment. This paper explores the possibility of isolating these descriptions in distinct expressions in the clause tied together by quantification over directed scale segments. Data from Hindi and Navajo are used to motivate this arrangement and then to probe its limits. The resulting discussion is an argument for cross linguistic diversity in the semantics of comparatives.