170 Chapter 6 Clause types
The reduplication serves to emphasize the command of the speaker as well as to
indicate that the prohibition is to continue indefinitely (or at least some consi-
derable time into the future), an imperfective meaning.
8. Comparative and superlative clauses
There are multiple constructions available for comparing two or more objects
with respect to a particular property. In one, the adjectival verb takes both the a-
prefix and the -an suffix simultaneously. The subject of the clause is the entity
which is ascribed the greater degree of some property than the comparison set
or entity, which occurs as the object of a preposition, as in (120) and (121).
(120) Rudi a-kowad-an bi' Deni.
Rudi AV-strong-AN with Deni
‘Rudi is stronger than Deni.’
(121) Dini a-senneng-ngan katembang Lukfi.
Dini AV-happy-AN than Lukfi
‘Dini is happier than Lukfi.’
There are a number of prepositional elements that marked the object of compar-
ison, including ban and bi' which both mean ‘with’, dhari ‘from’, katembang or
simply tembang, and banding. Tembang and banding are verbal roots that mean
‘compare’, and katembang is the abilitive form of tembang. As discussed in
Chapter 7 section 2, there are a number of inflected verbal forms that take the
role of prepositions in Madurese. They are likely best considered prepositional
or preposition-like words as the order of the element and the object is fixed,
whereas clausal elements usually allow for more fluid word order. Some speak-
ers show a marked preference for the subject to follow the verb in comparative
clauses, as in (122) and (123).
(122) A-kowad-an Rudi banding Deni.
AV-strong-AN Rudi than Deni
‘Rudi is stronger than Deni.’
(123) A-sennengng-an Dini katembang Lukfi.
AV-happy-AN Dini than Lukfi
‘Dini is happier than Lukfi.’
For many speakers, the a- prefix can be omitted with no degradation in gram-
maticality.