Both Latin and English change the morphology of the
adjective to express degrees of comparison. Here's an example:
The "positive" is the simple adjective (as it would be found in the dictionary) vir fortis est, "the man is brave"; no direct comparison is being made between the man and other people who might be brave. The "comparative" is often used when one thing is being compared directly to another: vir fortior est quam filius, "the man is braver than his son"; here, the man is being compared directly to his son, so the comparative form of the adjective is used, "fortior" The "superlative" is often used to compare the noun it modifies with all other of a kind in relation to that adjective: vir fortissimus omium est, "the man is bravest of all"; the man is being compared to all others in the area of bravery and has been found to be the bravest. When a comparative or superlative is used without making a direct comparison, it often is simply expressing degree relative to a general whole: fortior vir est, "the man is quite brave"; i.e. he is braver than the norm. fortissimus vir est, "the man is extremely brave", i.e. he is very much braver than the norm. For regular adjectives, the comparative form is created by dropping the ending (-us, -a, -um) from the positive and adding -ior (-ius neuter) making it a third declension adjective declined thus:
The superlative is a simple 1st/2nd declension adjective (e.g. fortissimus , -a, -um). Adjectives with irregular comparisons:
plus in the singular is a neuter noun (plus, pluris, pluri, plus, plure), but in the plural it is a third declension adjective (plures, plurium, pluribus, plures, pluribus) |
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Last Updated March 18, 2003 Questions, comments and corrections should be sent to Brian K. Harvey, Kent State University |
