Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Ambo both, and duo two, are nouns adjective, and

are thus declined, in the plural number only:

[blocks in formation]

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives have three degrees of signification, or comparison:

I. The positive; which denotes the quality of a thing absolutely; as, doctus learned, brevis short.

II. The comparative; which increases, or lessens the quality; as doctior more learned, brevior shorter, or more short:

And it is formed of the first case of the positive that endeth in i, by adding thereto or, in the masculine and feminine genders, and us in the neuter; as, of

Doctus, gen. docti, is formed doctior, more learned: of

Brevis, dat. brevi, is formed brevior, shorter, or more short.

III. The superlative; which increases, or diminishes the signification, or comparison, to the greatest degree; as, doctissimus most learned, or very learned; brevissimus shortest, most short, or very short:

And it is formed also of the first case of the positive that endeth in i, by adding thereto ssimus; as, of

Gen. docti, is formed doctissimus, most learned. Dat. brevi, is formed brevissimus, shortest, or most short.

Note. Many Adjectives vary from these general rules, and form their comparisons irregularly: as,

Bonus, good; mělior, better; optimus, best.

Mălus, bad; pejor,

Magnus, great; major,
Parvus, little;

worse;

pessimus, worst.

[blocks in formation]

minor,

less;

minimus, least.

more;

plūrimus, most.

more rich; dwitis

Multus, much; plus,

Dives, rich;

divitior, sync. ditior, simus, sync. ditissimus, most rich. Nequam, wicked; nequior, more wicked; nēquissimus, most wicked.

Exterus, outward; exterior, more outward; extremus, and extimus, uttermost, or most outward.

Inferus, low; inferior, lower, or more low; infimus, and imus, lowest, or most low.

Supĕrus, high; superior, higher, or more high; sūprēmus, or summus, highest, or most high.

Postěrus, subsequent ; posterior, later; postremus, last. Dexter, on the right hand; dexterior, dextimus, both in nearly the same sense as the positive.

Juvenis, young; junior, younger, or more young.
Senex, old; senior, older, or more old.

Some adjectives in the comparative and superlative degree are formed from prepositions; as, from

Intra, within ; interior, inner; intimus, inmost.

Ultra, beyond;

ulterior, further; ultimus, furthest, last.

[blocks in formation]

And some have no positive at all to which we can

refer them; as,

deterior, worse; ōcyor,

swifter;

deterrimus, worst.

ocyssimus,

swiftest.

potior, more desirable; potissimus, most desirable.

Adjectives ending in er form the superlative degree from the nominative case, by adding rimus; as, of pulcher fair, pulcher-rimus fairest, or, most fair.

So too větus, making in the gen. větěris, though it has no comparative, makes in the superlative věterrimus. The following adjectives in lis, change is into -limus :

Agil-is,
nimble; ăgil-limus, nimblest, or, most nimble.
Făcil-is, easy; facil-limus, easiest, or, most easy.
Grăcil-is, slender; grăcil-limus, slenderest, or, most slender.
Humil-is, low; humil-limus, lowest,

Simil-is, like; simil-limus, likest,

or, most low.

or, most like.

Also, If a vowel comes before us in the nominative case of an adjective, the comparison is usually made by măgis more, and maximè most; as,

Pius godly; măgis pius more godly; maximè pius most godly.*

OF A PRONOUN.

A Pronoun is a word used instead of a substantive, and is either itself a substantive, and called a personal pronoun; or an adjective, being either a demonstrative, or relative, or interrogative pronoun. There are also possessive pronouns, which are adjectives derived from the genitive cases of the personal pronouns.

But Juvenal uses egregiùs as the comparative form of the adverb egregiè, and piissimus occurs in Seneca; but these examples are not to be imitated.

[blocks in formation]

The syllable met, giving additional emphasis to the pronoun, is often added to ěgo, in all cases except the genitive, and to some of the cases of tu and of sui; but to the nominative of tu, met is not added, but te, as nom. tūtě, acc. tūtěmet. The accusative and ablative cases of sui admit of a reduplication, as sēsē.

DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS.

Ego, tu, sui, are pronouns substantive, and are thus declined:

[blocks in formation]

Sui,* of himself, herself, themselves, itself, has no nominative or vocative case, and is thus declined:

[blocks in formation]

Ille he, fem. illa she, neut. illud that, is thus declined:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

In like manner is also declined iste that, and ipse he himself; except that this last makes ipsum in the nominative and accusative cases singular of the neuter gender. Is, ea, id, he, she, or that, is thus declined:

Sui and its possessive suus are called reflective pronouns, because they refer to that person or thing which is the principal word in the

sentence.

+ To hic is often added ce, giving additional emphasis in all cases and genders; and in interrogative sentences sometimes cine is added; as, hujusce, hunccine, hosce, etc.

« PredošláPokračovať »