The hinge element in comparative clauses

Introduction

An interesting function of using a superlative + than is that than accepts a comparative object, such as a noun/noun phrase or a wh- interrogative clause the way a preposition normally accepts an object, even though it is NOT a preposition. It can also accept a verb clause, and when it does, that clause is called a comparative subclause.

In a sentence with a superlative + than (this indicates that a comparison is being made), this subclause may be called the hinge element of the comparison. Leech & Svartvik^[1]Leech, G. N., & Svartvik, J. (2002). A communicative grammar of English. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. describes the hinge element as follows:

The hinge element is the phrase that contains the comparative word. The following than-clause modifies the hinge element. It is called a “hinge” because it belongs, in terms of meaning, both to the main clause and to the comparative subclause.

(p. 270)

A noun/noun phrase (comparative-phrase object)

The hinge element can be modified by a nominal relative clause that has been reduced via Whiz-deletion^[2]According to John Lawler, a Whiz-deletion “is one of the most common and important types of ellipsis in English.” (the complementizer that + to be have both been deleted). It is this reduced structure that is now the comparative phrase (coloured):

• And yet they ([the houses]) probably cost a fortune more than the ones in the more modern parts of the city.*
• They could not find anyone more reverential or virtuous than his father.

*A head-determiner noun phrase (the ones) with an appositive phrase (in the more modern parts of the city): the complementizer (that) + the verb (to be) have both been deleted: the ones [that were] in the more modern parts of the city.

Wh- interrogative clause (comparative-clause object)

The subordinate clause contains a complementizer (a relative pronoun, such as that, or a wh- interrogative pronoun) that functions as an object that modifies the hinge element:

• It cannot be worse than what you must feel.

• He loved her more than what she could reciprocate.

NOTE: The verbs in each example is transitive. Each proposition implies a question, in that the speaker does not know what what is.

Comparative subclause (verb clause)

A subordinate clause begins with a subject followed by a verb modifies the hinge element:

• She suddenly suspected that Dell-Dell and she had more in common than she had even thought it was possible.
• A man can’t change his name, what he is, any more than a lizard can’t change its spots.

SUMMARY/OBSERVATIONS: When superlative + than is followed by a comparative object (noun/noun phrase or a wh- interrogative clause) or a verb clause (comparative subclause), each modifies the hinge element (“the phrase that contains the comparative word,” i.e., more than, less than).

NOTE: While a noun/noun phrase can be an object of than, a comparative subclause, by contrast, must be a verb clause (namely, the wh- interrogative clause or comparative subclause). That a subclause must contain a subject and a verb is reinforced by the fact that the suffix “-clause” appears in the name: a “phrase,” conversely, never contains a subject or a lexical (tensed) verb.