ER is used in the construction "the X-er..., the Y-er...":
+------ER----------+
+-DG-+ +-DG-+
| | | |
The better it is, the more people will use it
The more people use it, the better it is
Such constructions always use comparative adjectives or
adverbs. They consist essentially of two similar phrases,
attached together by an
ER
link. (Any phrase that can occur in
the first half can occur in the second, as the above examples
suggest.) The comparative adjective is always the "head" of
each phrase. Each comparative adjective must have the capacity
to serve as either the first or second half of the
expression. The complement links (i.e., those that connect
within the phrase) are the same, whether the adjective is
serving as a "first-half" or a "second-half". Such adjectives
therefore have:
bigger: ( complement ) & DG- & ((Wd- & Xc+ & ER+) or ER-)
---------------- ^
for first-half for second-half
phrase phrase
The DG- connects to the
definite article "the"; the
Xc+
connects to a comma; the
Wd-
to the wall; and the
ER
from one phrase to the other.
The connectors used within the phrase are mostly those discussed elsewhere:
The bigger it is AF+ The more you run Cs+ The more you earn B+ The more money you earn Dm*w+An exception is the following construction:
+-TR--+--U---+
| | |
The better the computer , the faster the program
For such constructions, the word "the" has
"TR- & U+".
Nouns have U-;
this special connector is disjoined with
all other optional and mandatory connectors on nouns
(except
AN-
and
A-).