01/10/93


CHAPTER 26

"Comparison of Adjectives; Declension
of Comparatives"


DEGREES OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words which attribute a quality to nouns, and in
Latin adjectives must agree in number, gender and case they are
modifying.  You have learned adjectives which decline in the first
and second declensions, and those which decline in the third.  But
up to this chapter the adjectives you've studied attribute
qualities to nouns in what is called the positive degree only.
That is, they simply attach the quality to the noun.  But
adjectives can also attribute the quality in way that compares the
noun with other nouns by indicating that the noun has more of the
quality than another noun, or that it has the most of the quality
than at least two other nouns.  We call these two other degrees the
comparative (more of the quality) and the superlative (most of the
quality) degrees.

     In English, we form the comparative and superlative degrees of
adjectives in two different ways.  We use the adverbs "more" and
"most", and we use the suffixes "-er" and "-est" added to the base
of the adjectives.  For example,

 POSITIVE DEGREE      COMPARATIVE DEGREE       SUPERLATIVE DEGREE

  blue skies           bluer skies             bluest skies
  difficult book       more difficult book     most difficult book

     For your concerns now, there is only one way to form the
comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives in Latin, and
that is by adding suffixes to the base of the adjectives.  Since
adjectives are listed in the dictionary under their base forms --
the nominative singular of the positive degree -- and don't have
separate listings for inflected (or derived) forms, you're going to
have to do some more work as you read to simplify adjectives in the
comparative and superlative degrees down to their dictionary forms
so that you can look them up.

THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE OF ADJECTIVES

To form the comparative degree of an adjective, you add the ending
"-ior", "-ius" to its stem.  Let's have a look at this suffix.
Because the word is still an adjective, it's still going to have to
decline.  The comparative suffix is a third declension ending and
declines just like a normal noun of the third declension.  This is
a little odd, since you might expect the comparative suffix to
decline like a third declension adjective, and third declension
adjectives are all i-stems.  (Look at Chapter 16 if you're not sure
what I'm talking about.)  Let's look at the declension of this
suffix.  The masculine and feminine nominatives are "-ior", and the
neuter nominative is "-ius".  The stem of the ending is "-ior-".
Decline the comparative adjectival suffix.  The comparative ending
"-ior, -ius" essentially tells you that it is a third declension
adjective of two terminations.  Simply attach the proper third
declension case endings to the stem "-ior-".  Don't forget the
rules of the neuter. (Check your work in Wheelock.)

          MASCULINE AND FEMININE            NEUTER

N/V.               -ior                      -ius

Gen.          _______________           _______________

Dat.          _______________           _______________

Acc.          _______________           _______________

Abl.          _______________           _______________


N/V.          _______________           _______________

Gen.          _______________           _______________

Dat.          _______________           _______________

Acc.          _______________           _______________

Abl.          _______________           _______________

     How did you do?  Do you see the patterns at work?  The stem
"-ior-" plus the cases endings from the third declension non
i-stem.  These are the inflected endings you then attach to the
stem of the adjectives.  So to make any adjective comparative,
regardless of its original declension -- 1st and 2nd, or 3rd -- you
attach these endings to the stem of the adjective and then decline
the adjective in the third declension.  This is important to
remember.  As soon as an adjective is put into the comparative
degree, it gets its case endings from the third declension, because
that's how the comparative suffix declines.  Let's look at some
examples of this.

      ADJECTIVE                 STEM         COMPARATIVE DEGREE

     beatus, -a, -um            beat-          beatior, -ius
     fortis, -e                 fort-          fortior, -ius
     potens, potentis           potent-        potentior, -ius

DRILL

Decline the following expressions:

          wiser plan                   more powerful city

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________


_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________

_____________    ____________      ____________    ____________


THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF ADJECTIVES

The superlative degree of adjectives is even easier to form.  It's
simply the stem of the adjective plus the suffix "-issim-" plus the
first and second declension adjectival endings "-us, -a, -um".
Hence all adjectives in the superlative degree decline like the
simpliest adjectives you know: the first and second declension
types, just like "magnus, -a, -um".  The only trick is to use the
proper stem.  For example:

     ADJECTIVE                  STEMSUPERLATIVE DEGREE

     beatus, -a, -um            beat-       beatissimus, -a, -um
     fortis, -e                 fort-       fortissimus, -a, -um
     potens, potentis           potent-     potentissimus, -a, -um

TRANSLATIONS OF THE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE DEGREES

You may well wonder why we need to bother with how the degrees of
the adjectives are translated.  It's obvious that the comparative
will be translated "more X" or "X-er" and that the superlative will
be translated "most X" or "X-est".  And, in fact these are common
ways of translating them into English.  But often, very often, the
comparative and superlative degrees are used "absolutely"; that is,
without anything being direct compared to the quality depicted in
the adjective.  Latin can use the comparative degree to say "A is
X-er than B", but it can also use the comparative degree to say "A
is rather X".  Similarly, Latin can use the superlative degree to
say "A is most X of all", or to say "A is very X".  Hence the
adjective "longior, -ius" can mean "longer", if there's something
being compared, or it can mean just "rather long", if there isn't
anything being compared.  Similarly, "longissimus, -a, -um", can
mean "longest", or it can mean "very long".  If there is nothing
being compared to the noun with respect to the quality designed in
the adjective, then use "rather" or "very" instead of "more" or
"most".

THE USE OF THE ADVERB QUAM

The adverb "quam" is used like our word "than" in a comparison to
link the two terms of the comparison.  "They are more happy than
we".  Although we tend to slop over it in English, you must
remember that in Latin the two things being compared must be in the
same case.  In the example I just gave, we might be tempted to say
"They are happier than us", and we probably should say "us" if
we're in a situation when erudition might be the cause of some
scorn or suspicion.  But technically, because "they" is the point
of comparison, and because "they" is in the nominative case, we
should use "we" and not "us".  And so also, "They are happier than
she [is]".  In Latin, the "quam" is like an equal sign: it requires
the same case on each side of the comparison.  Study these
examples.

1.   Sunt beatiores quam ego.  (They are happier than I).
2.   Ille est beatior quam hic. (That man is happier than this
     man.)
3.   Puto illos esse beatiores quam hos.  (I think that those men
     are happier than these men.)
4.   Nemo est stultior quam ei qui libros numquam legunt.  (No one
     is more foolish than those who never read books.)

"Quam" can also be used with an adjective in the superlative degree
to mean "as X as possible".  In fact, sometimes the whole
construction is written out like this: "quam potest longissimus":
"as long as is possible".

THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUN

There is one other issue I'd like to take up even though it's not
in Wheelock.  It causes students some confusion.  Consider this
sentence. "Our city is more illustrious than yours".  The final
word in the sentence, "yours" is standing in for "your city":  "Our
city is more illustrious than your city".  But English has a way of
simplifying the full construction by using a "possessive pronoun".
Check both words here: "pronoun", meaning a word which stands in
for another, and "possessive", meaning a word that shows
possession.  The possessive pronouns in English for the different
numbers and persons are: "mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its,
theirs".

     Latin has no equivalent of the possessive pronoun, which we
find so useful.  Instead, Latin uses the possessive adjective in
the number and gender of the noun which has been omitted, and in
the case required by the construction of the sentence.  Like this.

1.   "Veni cum amicis meis; venit cum suis".  (I came with my
     friends; he came with his.)
2.   "Nostra civitas est clarior quam vestra". (Our city is more
     illustrious than yours.)
3.   "Mea mater est sapientior quam tua". (My mother is wiser than
     yours.)

DRILLS

Translate the following sentences into Latin.

1.   Your city is rather shameful.


     ____________________________________________________________

2.   They said that this [woman] is happier than that [woman].


     ____________________________________________________________

3.   Their friends are wiser than ours.


     ____________________________________________________________

4.   The tyrant was very harsh. ("acerbus, -a, -um")


     ____________________________________________________________


5.   This road was as long as possible.


     ____________________________________________________________


VOCABULARY PUZZLES

quidam, quaedam, quiddam or quoddam

                Obviously this word is an inflected form of the
                relative pronoun "qui, quae, quod" with an
                indeclinable suffix "-dam" attached.  It has a set
                of closely related meanings which make its
                translation a little slippery at first.  When used
                as an adjective, it means "a certain" or "some":
                "quidam auctor" (some author); "quaedam terrae"
                (some lands), etc.  When it is used as a pronoun,
                it means "somebody", "something", "some people",
                "somethings".  "Quidam putant eum stultum esse"
                (Some people think he is foolish.)  "Quiddam" is
                the neuter form used when the word is being used as
                an adjective; "quoddam" when it's being used as a
                pronoun.  "Fecit quiddam consilium" (He made some
                plan); "Fecit quoddam" (He made something).  You'll
                have to work some to keep this word distinct from
                "quidem" (indeed).  I remembered the difference
                this way. "Quidem" has "-e-", like "indeed".
                "Quidam" has an "-a-" as when you're saying "ah.".
                because you can't come up with the name for
                something.

quam            You've see this before, meaning "how", as in "Quam
                dulce est beatam vitam agere" (How sweet it is to
                live a happy life).  In this chapter, you learned
                that it is the adverb of comparison "than", and
                that it can also be used with a superlative degree
                of the adjective to mean "as X as possible", where
                X is the meaning of the adjective.

vito (1)        Students always confuse this with "vivo" (to live).
                Try to remember this: when you see the verb "vito",
                it's inevitable (unavoidable) that you'll confuse
                it with something else.

