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. աւելի գեղեցիկ/aweli geġecʼik “more beautiful”, աւելի արագ/aweli arag “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. նուազագոյնը/nowazagoynë “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 տղայ/xelacʼi tġay “a clever boy”
- լավ լուր/lav lowr “good news”
- նոր երգեր/nor erger “new songs”
- արագ դուրս կ՚ելլեմ/arag dowrs k՚ellem “I go out quickly.”
Cmp: comparative, second degree
The quality of one object is compared to the same quality of another object.
Examples
- աւելի խելացի տղայ/aweli xelacʼi tġay “a cleverer boy”
- Այս տղան ինձմէ աւելի խելացի է։/Ays tġan injnicʼ aweli xelacʼi ē. “The boy is cleverer than me.”
- աւելի լաւ լուր/aveli law lowr “better news”
- աւելի նոր երգեր/aweli nor erger “newer songs”
- աւելի արագ դուրս կ՚ելլեմ/aweli arag dowrs k՚ellem “I go out 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 pronoun ամէնէն/amēnēn “most of all”.
Examples
- Նա մեր խումբի ամէնախելացի / ամէնէն խելացի տղան է։/Na mer xumbi amēnaxelacʼi / amenēn xelacʼi tġan ē. “He/She is the cleverest boy in our group.”
- Նա մեր խումբի լաւագոյն / ամենէն լաւ երաժիշտն է։/Na mer xowmbi lawagoyn / amenēn law eražištn ē. “He/She is the best musician in our group.”
- Ասիկա ամէնանոր / ամենէն նոր նմուշն է։/Asika amēnanor / amenēn nor nmowšn ē. “This is the newest example.”
- Ան ամէնաարագը / ամէնէն արագը կը քալէ։/An amēnaaragë / amēnēn aragë kë kʼalē. “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
- հզօր/hzòr “powerful”; գերհզօր/gerhzòr “super powerful”
- զգայուն/zgayown “sensitive”; գերզգայուն/gerzgayown “hypersensitive”
Degree in other languages: [ae] [af] [axm] [bej] [bg] [cs] [cy] [el] [en] [es] [et] [fi] [ga] [grc] [gub] [hu] [hy] [hyw] [it] [ka] [ky] [la] [lij] [naq] [oge] [pal] [pcm] [pt] [qpm] [quc] [ru] [sl] [sv] [tr] [tt] [u] [uk] [urj] [uz] [xmf]