Идентификация на сравнението в английския и българския език

This is an attempt to identify comparison in contrast with similar language phenomena. A set of sentences defined traditionally as ‘comparative’ have been analysed and reconsidered for this purpose. The syntactic and semantic procedures employed uncovered the fact that apparent resemblance conceals different semantic relations: graded comparison, similitude and quantitative specification. Some factors determining the occurrence of the comparative syntagm as a whole and of its various components have been discussed. In conclusion the analysis has shown that the term ‘comparison’ ought to be specified to avoid any inconsistent use in the literature.