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Remarks On Irregular Adjectives - Good/Evil/Little/Much/Elder/Far/Last /Hinder - Parts Of Speech-ESL/Learn English Grammar

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Remarks on Irregular Adjectives



[Sidenote: _List I._]



164. (1) The word good has no comparative or superlative, but takes

the place of a positive to _better_ and _best_. There was an old

comparative _bet_, which has gone out of use; as in the sentence (14th

century), "Ich singe _bet_ than thu dest" (I sing better than thou

dost). The superlative I form was _betst_, which has softened to the

modern _best_.


(2) In Old English, evil was the positive to _worse_, _worst_; but

later _bad_ and _ill_ were borrowed from the Norse, and used as

positives to the same comparative and superlative. _Worser_ was once

used, a double comparative; as in Shakespeare,--


O, throw away the _worser_ part of it.--HAMLET.


(3) Little is used as positive to _less_, _least_, though from a

different root. A double comparative, _lesser_, is often used; as,--


We have it in a much _lesser_ degree.--MATTHEW ARNOLD.


Thrust the _lesser_ half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti.

--LAMB.


(4) The words much and many now express quantity; but in former

times _much_ was used in the sense of _large_, _great_, and was the

same word that is found in the proverb, "Many a little makes _a

mickle_." Its spelling has been _micel_, _muchel_, _moche_, _much_,

the parallel form _mickle_ being rarely used.


The meanings _greater_, _greatest_, are shown in such phrases as,--


The _more_ part being of one mind, to England we

sailed.--KINGSLEY.


The _most_ part kept a stolid indifference.--_Id._


The latter, meaning _the largest part_, is quite common.


(5) The forms elder, eldest, are earlier than _older_, _oldest_. A

few other words with the vowel _o_ had similar change in the

comparative and superlative, as _long_, _strong_, etc.; but these have

followed _old_ by keeping the same vowel _o_ in all the forms, instead

of _lenger_, _strenger_, etc., the old forms.


(6) and (7) Both nigh and near seem regular in Modern English,

except the form _next_; but originally the comparison was _nigh_,

_near_, _next_. In the same way the word high had in Middle English

the superlative _hexte_.


By and by the comparative _near_ was regarded as a positive form, and

on it were built a double comparative _nearer_, and the superlative

_nearest_, which adds _-est_ to what is really a comparative instead

of a simple adjective.


(8) These words also show confusion and consequent modification,

coming about as follows: further really belongs to another

series,--_forth_, _further_, _first_. First became entirely

detached from the series, and _furthest_ began to be used to follow

the comparative _further_; then these were used as comparative and

superlative of _far_.


The word far had formerly the comparative and superlative _farrer_,

_farrest_. In imitation of _further_, _furthest_, _th_ came into the

others, making the modern _farther_, _farthest_. Between the two sets

as they now stand, there is scarcely any distinction, except perhaps

_further_ is more used than _farther_ in the sense of _additional_;

as, for example,--


When that evil principle was left with no _further_ material to

support it.--HAWTHORNE.


(9) Latter and last are the older forms. Since _later_, _latest_,

came into use, a distinction has grown up between the two series.

_Later_ and _latest_ have the true comparative and superlative force,

and refer to time; _latter_ and _last_ are used in speaking of

succession, or series, and are hardly thought of as connected in

meaning with the word _late_.


(10) Hinder is comparative in form, but not in meaning. The form

_hindmost_ is really a double superlative, since the _m_ is for _-ma_,

an old superlative ending, to which is added _-ost_, doubling the

inflection. _Hind-er-m-ost_ presents the combination comparative +

superlative + superlative.






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