The present monograph defends a new, semantically transparent account of the comparative construction, which incorporates novel analyses of various phenomena related to the complex interdependencies between word-order, ellipsis and interpretation. In particular, the study discusses the implications of two central hypotheses: (i) Comparative Deletion and Comparative Ellipsis do not represent construction specific operations, but can be subsumed under standardly sanctioned movement and deletion processes. (ii) Phrasal comparatives are not-base-generated, but derive from a clausal source.