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Adjectives allowing stranded prepositions on their left and on their right in the positive degree only allow them to their right in the comparative degree.

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The comparative morpheme -er just seems to modify the adjective, not the Adjective Phrase (AP) as a whole. That may be morphologically true, but there is evidence that, syntactically, it modifies the AP as a whole. It turns out that adjectives allowing stranded prepositions on their left and on their right in the positive degree only allow them to their right in the comparative degree, as shown by the following sentences:

1
a. Positive degree, right and left placement
Dêr is er mei tefreden
there is he with content
He is content with that
Dêr is er tefreden mei
there is he content with
He is content with that
b. Comparative degree, only right placement
*Dêr is er mei tefredener
there is he with content
He is more content with that
Dêr is er tefreden-er mei
there is he content-er with
He is more content with that

Such facts can be construed as evidence that the comparative construction involves leftward movement of the adjective in order to pick up the comparative morpheme, with the result that it occurs to the left of the stranded preposition. Similarly, other complex adjectival constructions also display the phenomenon that the complex adjective is found to the left of the stranded preposition, as shown in the examples below.

2
a. *Dêr is er mei sa tefreden mooglik
there is he with so content possible
He is as content as possible with that
b. Dêr is er sa tefreden mooglik mei
there is he so content possible with
He is as content as possible with that
c. *Dêr is er mei tefreden genôch
there is he with content enough
He is content enough with that
d. Dêr is er tefreden genôch mei
there is he content enough with
He is content enough with that

Such facts also indicate that the comparative construction is a special case of a group of constructions in which the adjective is modified by another element.

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