Jeanne,
 
I believe the answer to your question hinges on your theory of syntax.  If the
grammarian makes a distinction between surface structure and "deep structure" it
seems that the "than" would have to be a preposition in the phrase, "than
sedans."  In my paraphrastic grammar I translate such comparative structures
into sentences that express two propositions; thus there are two corresponding
assertions:
 
2a) So many sedans are sold in some areas of California
 
and
 
2b) More pickup trucks are sold in those areas of California
 
that might be made in expressing the propostional content of your sentence. 
(Notice that the areas of California being referred to must be the same.) 
Preserving these expressions in a compound sentence might result in:
 
2) More pickup trucks are sold in some areas of California than are sedans in
those areas.  
 
This is unusually awkward (partly because of the reference to the same area, as
mentioned above), especially when the reduced form with "than" as a preposition
is available, as in your sentence.  Ellipsis is useful as an explanation, if
your theory allows you to relate the propositional meaning expressed in the
assertion of a sentence to the  formal logical argument of a proposition
expressed in the object of a preposition.  In my mind this is a question of
"rank."  But it requires a replacement (transformation) that is anathema to some
theories.  (The formal device of "transformation" can often be avoided by
generating a null element.)  I dare say that Reed & Kellogg and the grammarians
of their age were not averse to appealing to ellipsis, if other explanations or
other ways of understanding the structure were not available.  There was no
theory (or model of syntax) in their day in terms of which to seek an answer. 
Even today there are grammarians who must remain satisfied with descriptions of
surface structure (dependency grammar, etc.).  I believe that there would be no
place for them to relate the two distinct functions of "than" as two
manifestations of the same word.  I do not see how that can avoid being forced
to allow two very different grammatical structures as objects of the same word. 

 
Notice that the clausal structure associated with "than" is very much like a
"relative clause," the adjective clause that is introduced by a relative pronoun
such as "who."  The conjunction "who" acts as subject (or object) in the clause
as well as the connective for the clause.  The same sort of thing is the
function of "than" in (2); it relates to the comparative -er as a complement to
the adjective.  The connective "than" introduces an adverb (modifier of an
adjective) clause.  In this sense it is expressive of the "so" of (2a), and
correlates (is co-"relative") to the -er comparative of "more" in (2b).  
 
I think these arguments help to support a theory that allows for the ellipsis
of a deep structure.  These considerations can also be very helpful
pedagogically, in that the student can exercise the various possibilities of
expresssion in the logically related paraphrases, and possibly better understand
why one structure can be preferred over another. 

Bruce

>>> "Jeanne Rodgers" <[log in to unmask]> 04/24/06 5:17 PM >>>

How is "than" functioning in the following sentence, as a subordinating
conjunction introducing an unconventionally placed  ellipitical clause or as a
preposition?

More pickup trucks than sedans are sold in some areas of California.

Jeanne Rodgers
CSU, Sacramento

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