Distinguishing between 'on' and 'above'


> 世界のルールで、島は水 **より上に** 出ていなければならないと決まっています。  
>  World rules determine that an island must stick out above the water.

In this sentence 水より上 clearly means 'above the water', but when I look in
bilingual dictionaries they just translate 'above' as 上. I wonder how this
sentence would sound if より was omitted?

Supposing I had the sentence:

> 時計はテーブルの上にある。

Without further context would this be interpreted as "The clock is **on** the
table" or "The clock is (on the wall) **above** the table"? Or is there
ambiguity?

Would the ambiguity be removed if I wrote 時計はテーブルより上にある to mean **above** the
table?

In summary, I'm just trying to understand the difference between の上に and より上に.
Also, I wonder if より下 is used. There seems to be no need to distinguish
between below and under.




> 世界のルールで、島は水より上に出ていなければならないと決まっています。  
>  I wonder how this sentence would sound if より was omitted?

「世界のルールで、島は水の上に出ていなければならないと決まっています。」 would probably be okay but I think 水より上に～
is more natural and clear. 水より上に here means 水面/海面より上に or 水面/海面より高い位置に, "above
/ higher than the surface of the water/sea".

> 時計はテーブルの上にある。

It would usually be interpreted as "The clock is on the table", but it can
also mean "The clock is (on the wall) above the table".

> Would the ambiguity be removed if I wrote 時計はテーブルより上にある to mean above the
> table?

It wouldn't sound natural. I think this is because ～の上にある is talking about
位置関係 (positional relationship of two things/objects), while ～より上にある is talking
about 比較してどちらが上にあるか (which is in a higher position).

> In summary, I'm just trying to understand the difference between の上に and
> より上に. Also, I wonder if より下 is used. There seems to be no need to
> distinguish between below and under.

I think we use ～の上に to talk about the location of something, like one thing
lies / is located on or above another, and ～より上に to say or emphasize one thing
is in a higher position in comparison to another. And I think this also
applies to ～の下に and ～より下に; I would say ～の下にある to mean "something lies / is
located under/below something else", and ～より下にある, "something is in a lower
position than something else".




> 世界のルールで、島は水より上に出ていなければならないと決まっています。  
>  I wonder how this sentence would sound if より was omitted?

「世界のルールで、島は水の上に出ていなければならないと決まっています。」 would probably be okay but I think 水より上に～
is more natural and clear. 水より上に here means 水面/海面より上に or 水面/海面より高い位置に, "above
/ higher than the surface of the water/sea".

> 時計はテーブルの上にある。

It would usually be interpreted as "The clock is on the table", but it can
also mean "The clock is (on the wall) above the table".

> Would the ambiguity be removed if I wrote 時計はテーブルより上にある to mean above the
> table?

It wouldn't sound natural. I think this is because ～の上にある is talking about
位置関係 (positional relationship of two things/objects), while ～より上にある is talking
about 比較してどちらが上にあるか (which is in a higher position).

> In summary, I'm just trying to understand the difference between の上に and
> より上に. Also, I wonder if より下 is used. There seems to be no need to
> distinguish between below and under.

I think we use ～の上に to talk about the location of something, like one thing
lies / is located on or above another, and ～より上に to say or emphasize one thing
is in a higher position in comparison to another. And I think this also
applies to ～の下に and ～より下に; I would say ～の下にある to mean "something lies / is
located under/below something else", and ～より下にある, "something is in a lower
position than something else".

