Part of
Variations on Polysynthesis: The Eskaleut languagesEdited by Marc-Antoine Mahieu and Nicole Tersis
[Typological Studies in Language 86] 2009
► pp. 81–94
Eskimo comparative constructions include both comparative (’be more __ than’ as well as the superlative ‘be the most __’) and equalitive clauses (‘be as __ as’). In Central Alaskan Yupik at least, a number of typologically interesting features of these constructions have to my knowledge thus far received no attention, in particular the fact that both comparative and equalitive clauses (the ingressive ‘become more __ than’ as well as the stative) may be either transitive or intransitive. The morphological devices employed for this purpose may provide us with a glimpse into the properties of Eskimo-type polysynthesis, among them perhaps, the recursive reverbalisation of deverbalised clauses.