Comparison in TungusManchu languages (Based on the Orok language)

The article analyzes the structure and semantics of syntactic patterns expressing comparison of one object or process with another or similarity of one object or process to another according to a certain parameter by 92 grammatical, lexical or syntactic means. The material included comparative patterns selected by continuous sampling from T. I. Petrova’s monograph and field materials collected by K. A. Novikova and L. V. Ozolinya. The description is designed using comparative analysis, distributive and transformational methods. As a result, 5 structural types of the Orok comparative constructions have been identified and described. Their structure manifesting qualityobject relations is formed by an object of comparison and the standard for comparison through a certain feature (comparison parameter) functioning as a criterion for a change. Both comparison standard and comparison parameter are grammatically marked, the former represented by a word case form, the latter expressed by comparative or superlative degree of the adjective. The structure of the comparative pattern requires a strict order of components: the subject of comparison – the standard of comparison – the comparison parameter. Comparative patterns in the TungusicManchu languages in general and Orok in particular express the relations of equality and inequality. In Orok, equative relations imply complete likeness of the compared units while similative relations imply incomplete likeness or resemblance to a certain extent. Pure comparative relations reflecting inequality are based on superiority of one object over another, and superlative relations are based on the prevalence of an object among objects of the same class based on its superiority.