An English Grammar Part 30

_What a_ piece of work is man!--SHAKESPEARE.

And yet, alas, the making of it right, _what a_ business for long time to come!--CARLYLE

Through _what_ hards.h.i.+ps it may attain to bear a sweet fruit!--Th.o.r.eAU.

Exercise.--Find ten sentences containing p.r.o.nominal adjectives.

INFLECTIONS OF ADJECTIVES.

153 .Adjectives have two inflections,--number and comparison.

NUMBER.--_This_, _That_.

[Sidenote: _History of_ this--these _and_ that--those.]

154. The only adjectives having a plural form are _this_ and _that_ (plural _these_, _those_).

_This_ is the old demonstrative; _that_ being borrowed from the forms of the definite article, which was fully inflected in Old English. The article _that_ was used with neuter nouns.

In Middle English the plural of _this_ was _this_ or _thise_, which changed its spelling to the modern form _these_.

[Sidenote: Those _borrowed from_ this.]

But _this_ had also another plural, _thas_ (modern _those_). The old plural of _that_ was _tha_ (Middle English _tho_ or _thow_): consequently _tho_ (plural of _that_) and _those_ (plural of _this_) became confused, and it was forgotten that _those_ was really the plural of _this_; and in Modern English we speak of _these_ as the plural of _this_, and _those_ as the plural of _that_.

COMPARISON.

155. Comparison is an inflection not possessed by nouns and p.r.o.nouns: it belongs to adjectives and adverbs.

[Sidenote: _Meaning of comparison._]

When we place two objects side by side, we notice some differences between them as to size, weight, color, etc. Thus, it is said that a cow is _larger_ than a sheep, gold is _heavier_ than iron, a sapphire is _bluer_ than the sky. All these have certain qualities; and when we compare the objects, we do so by means of their qualities,--cow and sheep by the quality of largeness, or size; gold and iron by the quality of heaviness, or weight, etc.,--but not the same degree, or amount, of the quality.

The degrees belong to any beings or ideas that may be known or conceived of as possessing quality; as, "untamed thought, great, giant-like, enormous;" "the commonest speech;" "It is a n.o.bler valor;"

"the largest soul."

Also words of quant.i.ty may be compared: for example, "more matter, with less wit;" "no fewer than a hundred."

[Sidenote: _Words that cannot be compared._]

156. There are some descriptive words whose meaning is such as not to admit of comparison; for example,--

His company became very agreeable to the brave old professor of arms, whose _favorite_ pupil he was.--THACKERAY.

A _main_ difference betwixt men is, whether they attend their own affair or not.--EMERSON

It was his business to administer the law in its _final_ and closest application to the offender--HAWTHORNE.

Freedom is a _perpetual, organic, universal_ inst.i.tution, in harmony with the Const.i.tution of the United States.--SEWARD.

So with the words _sole_, _sufficient_, _infinite_, _immemorial_, _indefatigable_, _indomitable_, _supreme_, and many others.

It is true that words of comparison are sometimes prefixed to them, but, strictly considered, they are not compared.

[Sidenote: _Definition._]

157. Comparison means the changes that words undergo to express degrees in quality, or amounts in quant.i.ty.

[Sidenote: _The two forms._]

158. There are two forms for this inflection: the comparative, expressing a greater degree of quality; and the superlative, expressing the greatest degree of quality.

These are called degrees of comparison.

These are properly the only degrees, though the simple, uninflected form is usually called the positive degree.

159. The comparative is formed by adding _-er_, and the superlative by adding _-est_, to the simple form; as, _red_, _redder_, _reddest_; _blue_, _bluer_, _bluest_; _easy_, _easier_, _easiest_.

[Sidenote: _Subst.i.tute for inflection in comparison._]

160. Side by side with these inflected forms are found comparative and superlative expressions making use of the adverbs more and most. These are often useful as alternative with the inflected forms, but in most cases are used before adjectives that are never inflected.

They came into use about the thirteenth century, but were not common until a century later.

[Sidenote: _Which rule_,-- -er _and_ -est _or_ more _and_ most?]

161. The English is somewhat capricious in choosing between the inflected forms and those with _more_ and _most_, so that no inflexible rule can be given as to the formation of the comparative and the superlative.

The general rule is, that monosyllables and easily p.r.o.nounced words of two syllables add _-er_ and _-est_; and other words are preceded by _more_ and _most_.

But room must be left in such a rule for pleasantness of sound and for variety of expression.

To see how literary English overrides any rule that could be given, examine the following taken at random:--

From Thackeray: "The _handsomest_ wives;" "the _immensest_ quant.i.ty of thras.h.i.+ng;" "the _wonderfulest_ little shoes;" "_more odd, strange_, and yet familiar;" "_more austere_ and _holy_."