Deletion phenomena in comparative constructions: English comparatives in a cross-linguistic perspective

Julia Bacskai-Atkari

Synopsis

This book provides a new analysis for the syntax of comparatives, focusing on various deletion phenomena affecting the subclause. In particular, the proposed account shows that Comparative Deletion is merely a surface phenomenon that can be drawn back to the overtness of the comparative operator and the availability of lower copies of a movement chain, and it is thus subject to both language-internal and cross-linguistic variation. The main focus of the book is on English, yet other languages are also discussed for comparative purposes, with the aim of showing what the idiosyncratic properties of English comparatives are.

Julia Bacskai-Atkari, University of Potsdam

Julia Bacskai-Atkari received her PhD in general linguistics in 2014 at the University of Potsdam, where she later also carried out a research project on the syntax of functional left peripheries as principal investigator. Her research focuses on clause typing and the syntactic properties of the CP-domain in various finite subordinate clauses, including degree clauses such as canonical comparative constructions. Her work is mainly devoted to the study of West-Germanic languages, but her cross-linguistic investigations include many other languages.