PACLIC 28!368 A Unified Analysis to Surpass Comparative and Experiential Aspect

This study compares two constructions in Cantonese which shares similar features in their syntax and semantics. Previous works observe that comparatives often appear after experiential aspect in the verbal domain his-torically. This study builds upon this obser-vation and argues that the similarities between two constructions, comparatives and experien-tials, are of formal nature and that the simi-larities originate from the semantics of these constructions. This formal account means that there is a deep connection between the two constructions and therefore explains the pat-tern observed by typologists (Stassen, 1985; Ansaldo, 2010). The homomorphic approach also means a simpler syntax-semantics that applies to both event-denoting (‘verbs’) and property-denoting (‘adjectives’) predicates