Finnic comparative constructions in an areal context

Abstract

This paper discusses comparative constructions in the Finnic languages. The main focus is on the southern Finnic languages with separate attention paid to dialect variation. By including a maximally complete micro­areal dataset, the article reviews already identified patterns and their spread, while also introducing some (later) developments that have received less attention or gone unnoticed. The results are viewed in the context of neighbouring non­cognate contact languages (Latvian, Latgalian, and Russian); some parallels are also drawn with Lithuanian. As appears, due to being at the crossroads of Finnic and Baltic, it is in the southernmost Finnic languages where the genuine separative comparative construction meets various other patterns, including those borrowed from the Baltic languages. In general, the results enable us to shed more light on the outcomes of more ancient as well as more recent contact situations. The linguistic data originate from text collections, language corpora, example sentences in dictionaries and grammar books, and our own field work data.