Understanding comparative alternation iny-adjectives: What else might we need?

This paper investigates the contribution of lexical spreads (or type counts) of English comparativemoreand -erconstructions to an understanding of comparative alternation in the$y$-adjectives, that is adjectives ending in an orthographic${<}\text{y}>$and an /i/ sound, e.g.lazy. Comparative$y$-adjective constructions from seven corpora of stage plays spanning from the 17th to the 20th century were analysed with mixed-effects modelling and correlations drawn between the comparatives of$y$-adjectives and those of other adjectives. The findings indicate that while morphological complexity in$y$-adjectives biases them towardsmore,moreoccurrences with$y$-adjectives may also be related to the lexical spread ofmorein disyllabic adjectives that are not$y$-ones. The findings suggest moreover that predictions of comparative forms based on the syntactic positioning of$y$-adjectives and the [±voiced] nature of their penultimate segments may make sense only with respect to the lexical spread ofmorein other English adjectives. To understand why$y$-adjectives seem divided between -erregularisation and adherence to the trend in English comparisons of amorebias, this paper proposes a need to supplement accounts of comparative alternation focused on the characteristics of$y$-adjectives with considerations related to the lexical spread of comparative constructions.