Degree: degree of comparison
| Values: | Abs | Cmp | Dim | Sup |
Degree of comparison is an inflectional feature of some adverbs in Spanish.
In Spanish, comparative and superlative degrees are often constructed syntactically rather than through inflection. The comparative is typically formed by placing “más” (more) or “menos” (less) before the adjective or adverb, and “que” (than) after it. The superlative, on the other hand, is formed by placing “el/la/los/las más” (the most) or “el/la/los/las menos” (the least) before the adjective or adverb. However, the Universal Dependencies scheme does not tag these constructions.
Instead, only four specific adverbs — “más”, “menos”, “máximo”, and “mínimo” — receive the Degree feature in the UD scheme. These are standalone adverbs that can express degree without additional context, hence their categorization. In this case the UD scheme prioritizes tagging words that inherently carry comparative or superlative meaning, rather than syntactic constructions that create these meanings.
Cmp: comparative
Comparative degree in Spanish is used to compare two entities. The adverbs más “more” and menos “less” are tagged
with the degree value Cmp.
Example:
- Más rápido que yo. “More quickly than me.”
- Menos rápido que yo. “Less quickly than me.”
Sup: superlative
Superlative degree in Spanish is used to express the highest or lowest degree of a quality within a set or group. The
adverbs máximo “most” and mínimo “least” are tagged with the degree value Sup.
Example:
- Corre al máximo. “Runs at the most.”
- Corre al mínimo. “Runs at the least.”
Abs: absolute superlative
The absolutive degree expresses morphologically that the studied quality of the given object is so strong that there is hardly any other object exceeding it. The quality is not actually compared to any particular set of objects.
Example:
- guapo “handsome”; guapísimo “indescribably handsome”
Dim: diminutive
The diminutive degree in Spanish is used to express a lesser degree or a smaller version of something, either physically or in intensity. It often conveys feelings of affection, tenderness, or endearment. In nouns and adjectives this is commonly achieved by adding suffixes like -ito, -ita, -illo, -illa. Additional regional suffixes also used for creating diminutive forms are -ico, -ica, -ín, and -ino. These suffixes can also be used in adverbs and verbs, especially in Latin American varieties and with various semantic implications.
Example:
- casa “house”; casita “little house”
- triste “sad”; tristecito “slightly sad”
Degree in other languages: [af] [bej] [bg] [cs] [cy] [el] [en] [es] [et] [fi] [ga] [grc] [gub] [hu] [hy] [it] [ka] [ky] [la] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [quc] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urj] [uz]