Degree: degree of comparison
| Values: | Abs | Cmp | Pos | Sup |
Degree of comparison is a grammatical feature of qualitative adjectives and some adverbs.
The comparative (second) degree is formed periphrastically with the adverb ավելի “more” e.g. ավելի գեղեցիկ “more beautiful”, ավելի արագ “more quickly”. We annotate this adverb with the second degree feature.
Note that the superlative degree of adverbs in Armenian is constructed with the definite article (e.g. Նվազագույնը/nvazagowynë “at least”), but it is not annotated with the feature Definite.
Pos: positive, first degree
This is the base form that merely states a quality of something, without comparing it to qualities of others. Note that although this degree is traditionally called “positive”, negative properties can be compared, too.
Examples
- խելացի մարդ/xelacʼi mard “a clever man”
- լավ երաժիշտ/lav eražišt “a good musician”
- նոր նմուշ/nor nmowš “a new specimen”
- Նա արագ է քայլում։/Na arag ē kʼaylowm. “He walks quickly.”
Cmp: comparative, second degree
The quality of one object is compared to the same quality of another object.
Examples
- ավելի խելացի մարդ/aveli xelacʼi mard “a cleverer man”
- Այս մարդն ինձնից (ավելի) խելացի է։/Ays mardn injnicʼ (aveli) xelacʼi ē. “The man is cleverer than me.”
- ավելի լավ երաժիշտ/aveli lav eražišt “a better musician”
- ավելի նոր նմուշ/aveli nor nmowš “a newer example”
- Նա ավելի արագ է քայլում։/Na aveli arag ē kʼaylowm. “He/She walks more quickly.”
Sup: superlative, third degree
The quality of one object is compared to the same quality of all other objects within a set. Most Armenian qualitative adjectives and adverbs have both morphological and periphrastic superlative forms, modified through the inflected pronouns ամենից or բոլորից “most of all”.
Examples
- Նա մեր խմբի ամենախելացի / ամենից խելացի / բոլորից խելացի մարդն է։/Na mer xmbi amenaxelacʼi / amenicʼ xelacʼi / boloricʼ xelacʼi mardn ē. “He/She is the cleverest man in our group.”
- Նա մեր խմբի լավագույն / ամենից լավ / բոլորից լավ երաժիշտն է։/Na mer xmbi lavagowyn / amenicʼ lav / boloricʼ lav eražištn ē. “He/She is the best musician in our group.”
- Սա ամենանորագույն / ամենից նոր / բոլորից նոր նմուշն է։/Sa amenanoragowyn / amenicʼ nor / boloricʼ nor nmowšn ē. “This is the newest example.”
- Նա ամենաարագն / ամենից արագն / բոլորից արագն է քայլում։/Na amenaaragn / amenicʼ aragn / boloricʼ aragn ē kʼaylowm. “He/She walks the fastest.”
Abs: absolute superlative
The 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.
Examples
- հզոր/hzor “powerful”; գերհզոր/gerhzor “indescribably, super powerful”
- մարդկային/mardkayin “human”; գերմարդկային/germardkayin “superhuman”
Degree in other languages: [af] [axm] [bej] [bg] [cs] [cy] [el] [en] [es] [et] [fi] [ga] [grc] [gub] [hu] [hy] [it] [ka] [ky] [la] [naq] [oge] [pal] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [quc] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urj] [uz] [xmf]