The English Language Part 51

2. The Greek forms, [Greek: hekateros]=_each or either out of two persons_; [Greek: hekastos]=_each or any out of more than two persons_.

-- 307. The more important of the specific modifications of the general idea involved in the comparison of two objects are,--

1. Contrariety; as in _inner_, _outer_, _under_, _upper_, _over_. In Latin the words for _right_ and _left_ end in _-er_,--_dexter_, _sinister_.

2. Choice in the way of an alternative; as _either_, _neither_, _whether_, _other_.

An extension of the reasoning probably explains forms like the Greek [Greek: ampho-ter-os], and the _plural_ possessive forms [Greek: noi-ter-os], [Greek: heme-ter-os], &c, which, like our own forms in _-r_, (_ou-r_, _you-r_) correspond in termination with the comparative degree ([Greek: sopho-ter-os], _wiser_). Words, also, like _hither_ and _thither_ are instances of what is probably the effect of a similar a.s.sociation of ideas.

-- 308. A confirmation of Bopp's view is afforded by the Laplandic languages. Herein the distinction between _one of two_ and _one of more than two_ is expressed by affixes; and these affixes are the signs of the comparative and superlative: _gi_=_who_; _gua-bba_=_who of two_; _gutte-mush_=_who of many_.

1. _Gi_=_who_, so that _guabba_ may be called its comparative form.

2. _Gutte_ also=_who_, so that _guttemush_ may be called its superlative.

3. Precisely as the words _guabba_ and _guttemush_ are formed, so also are the regular degrees of adjectives. {262}

_a._ _Nuorra_=_young_; _nuor-ab_=_younger_; _nuora-mush_=_youngest_.

_b._ _Bahha_=_bad_; _baha-b_=_worse_; _baha-mush_=_worst_.

The following extracts from Stockfleth's Lappish Grammar were probably written without any reference to the Sanskrit or Greek. "_Guabba_, of which the form and meaning are comparative, appears to have originated in a combination of the p.r.o.noun _gi_, and the comparative affix _-abbo_."--"_Guttemush_, of which the form and meaning are superlative, is similarly derived from the p.r.o.noun _gutte_, and the superlative affix _-mush_."--Grammatik i det Lappiske Sprog, ---- 192, 193.

-- 309. _Either_, _neither_, _other_, _whether_.--It has just been stated that the general fundamental idea common to all these forms is that of _choice between one of two objects in the way of an alternative_. Thus far the termination _-er_ in _either_, &c., is the termination _-er_ in the true comparatives, _brav-er_, _wis-er_, &c. _Either_ and _neither_ are common p.r.o.nouns. _Other_, like _one_, is a p.r.o.noun capable of taking the plural form of a substantive (_others_), and also that of the genitive case (_the other's money_, _the other's bread_). _Whether_ is a p.r.o.noun in the almost obsolete form _whether (=which) of the two do you prefer_, and a conjunction in sentences like _whether will you do this or not?_ The use of the form _others_ is recent. "_They are taken out of the way as all other._"--Job. "_And leave their riches for other._"--Psalms.

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CHAPTER X.

THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE.

-- 310. The proper preliminary to the study of the comparative and quasi-comparative forms in English is the history of the inflection or inflections by which they are expressed. There is no part of our grammar where it is more necessary to extend our view beyond the common limit of the Gothic stock of languages, than here.

In the Sanskrit language the signs of the comparative degree are two:--1.

_-tara_, as _punya_=_pure_; _punya-tara_=_purer_; 2. _-iyas_, as _k['s]ipra_=_swift_; _k['s]epiyas_=_swifter_. Of these the first is the most in use.

The same forms occur in the Zend; as _husko_=_dry_; _husko-tara_=_drier_; _-iyas_, however, is changed into _-is_.

In the cla.s.sical languages we have the same forms. 1. in _uter_, _neuter_, _alter_, [Greek: poteros], [Greek: leptoteros]. 2. In the adverb _magis_, Lat. In Bohemian and Polish, _-ssj_ and _-szy_ correspond with the Sanskrit forms _-iyas_.

Thus we collect, that, expressive of the comparative degree, there are two parallel forms; _viz._, the form in _tr_, and the form in _s_; of which one is the most in use in one language, and the other in another.

-- 311. Before we consider the Gothic forms of the comparative, it may be advisable to note two changes to which it is liable. 1. The change of _s_ into _r_; the Latin word _meliorem_ being supposed to have been originally _meliosem_, and the _s_ in _nigrius_, _firmius_, &c., being considered not so much the sign of the neuter gender as the old comparative _s_ in its oldest form. 2. The ejection of _t_, as in the Latin words _inferus_, _superus_, compared with the Greek [Greek: leptoteros] (_leptoteros_).

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-- 312. Now, of the two parallel forms, the Gothic one was the form _s_; the words _other_ and _whether_ only preserving the form _tr_. And here comes the application of the remarks that have just gone before. The vast majority of our comparatives end in _r_, and so seem to come from _tr_ rather than from _s_. This, however, is not the case. The _r_ in words like _sweeter_ is derived, not from _tar_--_t_, but from _s_, changed into _r_.

In Moeso-Gothic the comparative ended in _s_ (_z_); in Old High German the _s_ has become _r_: Moeso-Gothic _aldiza_, _batiza_, _sutiza_; Old High German, _altiro_, _betsiro_, _suatsiro_; English, _older_, _better_, _sweeter_.

The importance of a knowledge of the form in _s_ is appreciated when we learn that, even in the present English, there are vestiges of it.

-- 313. _Comparison of adverbs._--_The sun s.h.i.+nes bright._--Herein the word _bright_ means _brightly_; and although the use of the latter word would have been the more elegant, the expression is not ungrammatical; the word _bright_ being looked upon as an adjectival adverb.

_The sun s.h.i.+nes to-day brighter than it did yesterday, and to-morrow it will s.h.i.+ne brightest._--Here also the sense is adverbial; from whence we get the fact, that adverbs take degrees of comparison.

Now let the root _mag-_, as in _magnus_, [Greek: megas], and _mikil_ (Norse), give the idea of greatness. In the Latin language we have from it two comparative forms: 1. the adjectival comparative _major_=_greater_; 2.

the adverbial comparative _magis_=_more_ (_plus_). The same takes place in Moeso-Gothic: _maiza_ means _greater_, and is adjectival; _mais_ means _more_, and is adverbial. The Anglo-Saxon forms are more instructive still; _e.g._, _as e ma_=_all the more_, _as e bet_=_all the better_, have a comparative sense, but not a comparative form, the sign _r_ being absent.

Now, compared with _major_, and subject to the remarks that have gone before, the Latin _magis_ is the older form. With _ma_ and _bet_, compared with _more_ and _better_, this may or may not be the case. _Ma_ and _bet_ may each be one of two forms; 1. a positive used in a comparative sense; 2.

a true comparative, which has lost {265} its termination. The present section has been written not for the sake of exhausting the subject, but to show that in the comparative degree there were often two forms; of which one, the adverbial, was either more antiquated, or more imperfect than the other: a fact bearing upon some of the forthcoming trains of etymological reasoning.

-- 314. _Change of vowel._--By reference to Rask's Grammar, -- 128, it may be seen that in the Anglo-Saxon there were, for the comparative and superlative degrees, two forms; _viz._ _-or_ and _-re_, and _-ost_ and _-este_, respectively.

By reference to p. 159 of the present volume, it may be seen that the fulness or smallness of a vowel in a given syllable may work a change in the nature of the vowel in a syllable adjoining. In the Anglo-Saxon the following words exhibit a change of vowel.

_Positive._ _Comparative._ _Superlative._

Lang, Lengre, Lengest. _Long._ Strang, Strengre, Strengest. _Strong._ Geong, Gyngre, Gyngest. _Young._ Sceort, Scyrtre, Scyrtest. _Short._ Heah, Hyrre, Hyhst. _High._ Eald, Yldre, Yldest. _Old._

Of this change, the word last quoted is a still-existing specimen, as _old_, _elder_ and _older_, _eldest_ and _oldest_. Between the two forms there is a difference in meaning, _elder_ being used as a substantive, and having a plural form, _elders_.

-- 315. The previous section has stated that in Anglo-Saxon there were two forms for the comparative and superlative degrees, one in _-re_ and _-este_, the other in _-or_ and _-ost_, respectively. Now the first of these was the form taken by adjectives; as _se scearpre sweord_=_the sharper sword_, and _se scearpeste sweord_=_the sharpest sword_. The second, on the other hand, was the form taken by adverbs; as, _se sweord scyr scearpor_=_the sword cuts sharper_, and _se sweord scyr scearpost_=_the sword cuts sharpest_.

The adjectival form has, as seen above, a tendency to make the vowel of the preceding syllable small: _old_, _elder_. {266}

The adverbial form has a tendency to make the vowel of the preceding syllable full.

Of this effect on the part of the adverbial form the adverbial comparative _rather_ is a specimen. We p.r.o.nounce the _a_ as in _father_, or full.

Nevertheless, the positive form is small, the _a_ being p.r.o.nounced as the _a_ in _fate_.

The word _rather_ means _quick_, _easy_=the cla.s.sical root [Greek: rhad-]

in [Greek: rhadios]. What we do _quickly_ and _willingly_ we do _preferably_. Now if the word _rather_ were an adjective, the vowel of the comparative would be sounded as the _a_ in _fate_. As it is, however, it is adverbial, and as such is properly sounded as the _a_ in _father_.

The difference between the action of the small vowel in _-re_, and of the full in _-or_, effects this difference.

-- 316. _Excess of expression._--Of this two samples have already been given: 1. in words like _songstress_; 2. in words like _children_. This may be called _excess of expression_; the feminine gender, in words like _songstress_, and the plural number, in words like _children_, being expressed twice over. In the vulgarism _betterer_ for _better_, and in the antiquated forms _worser_ for _worse_, and _lesser_ for _less_, we have, in the case of the comparatives, as elsewhere, an excess of expression. In the Old High German we have the forms _betseroro_, _meroro_, _ererera_=_better_, _more_, _ere_.

-- 317. _Better._--Although in the superlative form _best_ there is a slight variation from the strict form of that degree, the word _better_ is perfectly regular. So far, then, from truth are the current statements that the comparison of the words _good_, _better_, and _best_ is irregular. The inflection is not irregular, but defective. As the statement that applies to _good_, _better_, and _best_ applies to many words besides, it will be well in this place, once for all, to exhibit it in full.

-- 318. _Difference between a sequence in logic and a sequence in etymology._--The ideas or notions of _thou_, _thy_, _thee_, are ideas between which there is a metaphysical or logical connexion. The train of such ideas may be said to form a sequence and such a sequence may be called a logical one.

The forms (or words) _thou_, _thy_, _thee_, are forms or words {267} between which there is a formal or an etymological connexion. A train of such words may be called a sequence, and such a sequence may be called an etymological one.

In the case of _thou_, _thy_, _thee_, the etymological sequence tallies with the logical one.

The ideas of _I_, _my_, and _me_ are also in a logical sequence: but the forms _I_, _my_, and _me_ are not altogether in an etymological one.