.: Grade and comparison
I Comparative and superlative grade 195
2 More and most 197
3 Less and least 198
4 Comparison of equality 199
5 Non-scalar comparison 200
6 Comparative clauses 201
1 Comparative and superlative grade
As we have seen in Ch. 6, § 1.1, many adjectives inflect for grade: they
have plain, comparative and superlative forms. This inflectional system applies
also to a small number of other lexemes, most importantly certain determinatives
and adverbs. Examples are given in [1]:
[ 1] ADJECTIVE DETERMINATIVE ADVERB
PLAIN tall many soon
11 COMPARATIVE taller more sooner
iii SUPERLATIVE tallest most soonest
The inflected forms of tall and soon are regular (i.e., they are formed by general
rules). The forms for many, however, are irregular.
Although 'comparative' is the standard name for just one ofthe forms, the seman
tic concept of comparison is relevant to the whole system of grade. All the differ
ences between the forms in the columns in [1] have to do with comparison.
The superlative and set comparison
In the case of the superlative we are concerned with set comparison. In these exam
ples, it is comparison between the members of some set with respect to their posi
tion on the scale denoted by the lexeme: one member (or one subset) is located
at a higher position on that scale than the others. Consider such examples as the
following:
[2] Max was the tallest boy in the class.
ii A prize will be given to whoever scores the most points.
III I chose the life policy that will mature the soonest
195