ON CERTAIN FORMS IN -ER.
s. 306. Preparatory to the consideration of the degrees of comparison, it
is necessary to make some remarks upon a certain class of words, which,
with considerable differences of signification, all agree in one fact,
viz., all terminate in _-er_, or _t-er_.
1. Certain pronouns, as _ei-th-er_, _n-ei-th-er_, _whe-th-er_, _o-th-er_.
2. Certain prepositions and adverbs, as _ov-er_, _und-er_, _af-t-er_.
3. Certain adjectives, with the form of the comparative, but the power of
the positive degree; as _upp-er_, _und-er_, _inn-er_, _out-er_, _hind-er_.
4. All adjectives of the comparative degree; as _wis-er_, _strong-er_,
_bett-er_, &c.
Now what is the idea common to all these words, expressed by the sign
_-er_, and connecting the four divisions into one class? It is not the mere
idea of comparison; although it is the comparative degree, to the
expression of which the affix in question is more particularly applied.
Bopp, who has best generalised the view of these forms, considers the
fundamental idea to be that of _duality_. In the comparative degree we have
a relation between one object and _some_ other object like it, or a
relation between two single elements of comparison: _A is wiser than B_. In
the superlative degree we have a relation between one object and _all_
others like it, or a relation between one single and one complex element of
comparison: _A is wiser than B, C, D_, &c.
"As in comparatives a relation between _two_, and in superlatives a
relation between _many_, lies at the bottom, it is {261} natural that their
suffixes should be transferred to other words, whose chief notion is
individualised through that of duality or plurality."--Vergleichende
Grammatik, s. 292, Eastwick's and Wilson's Translation.
The most important proofs of the view adduced by Bopp are,--
1. The Sanskrit forms _kataras_=_which of two persons?_ a comparative form;
_katamas_=_which of more than two persons?_ a superlative form. Similarly,
_[^e]kataras_=_one of two persons_; _[^e]katamas_=_one of more than two
persons_.
2. The Greek forms, [Greek: hekateros]=_each or either out of two persons_;
[Greek: hekastos]=_each or any out of more than two persons_.
s. 307. The more important of the specific modifications of the general
idea involved in the comparison of two objects are,--
1. Contrariety; as in _inner_, _outer_, _under_, _upper_, _over_. In Latin
the words for _right_ and _left_ end in _-er_,--_dexter_, _sinister_.
2. Choice in the way of an alternative; as _either_, _neither_, _whether_,
_other_.
An extension of the reasoning probably explains forms like the Greek
[Greek: ampho-ter-os], and the _plural_ possessive forms [Greek:
noi-ter-os], [Greek: heme-ter-os], &c, which, like our own forms in _-r_,
(_ou-r_, _you-r_) correspond in termination with the comparative degree
([Greek: sopho-ter-os], _wiser_). Words, also, like _hither_ and _thither_
are instances of what is probably the effect of a similar association of
ideas.
s. 308. A confirmation of Bopp's view is afforded by the Laplandic
languages. Herein the distinction between _one of two_ and _one of more
than two_ is expressed by affixes; and these affixes are the signs of the
comparative and superlative: _gi_=_who_; _gua-bba_=_who of two_;
_gutte-mush_=_who of many_.
1. _Gi_=_who_, so that _guabba_ may be called its comparative form.
2. _Gutte_ also=_who_, so that _guttemush_ may be called its superlative.
3. Precisely as the words _guabba_ and _guttemush_ are formed, so also are
the regular degrees of adjectives. {262}
_a._ _Nuorra_=_young_; _nuor-ab_=_younger_; _nuora-mush_=_youngest_.
_b._ _Bahha_=_bad_; _baha-b_=_worse_; _baha-mush_=_worst_.
The following extracts from Stockfleth's Lappish Grammar were probably
written without any reference to the Sanskrit or Greek. "_Guabba_, of which
the form and meaning are comparative, appears to have originated in a
combination of the pronoun _gi_, and the comparative affix
_-abbo_."--"_Guttemush_, of which the form and meaning are superlative, is
similarly derived from the pronoun _gutte_, and the superlative affix
_-mush_."--Grammatik i det Lappiske Sprog, ss. 192, 193.
s. 309. _Either_, _neither_, _other_, _whether_.--It has just been stated
that the general fundamental idea common to all these forms is that of
_choice between one of two objects in the way of an alternative_. Thus far
the termination _-er_ in _either_, &c., is the termination _-er_ in the
true comparatives, _brav-er_, _wis-er_, &c. _Either_ and _neither_ are
common pronouns. _Other_, like _one_, is a pronoun capable of taking the
plural form of a substantive (_others_), and also that of the genitive case
(_the other's money_, _the other's bread_). _Whether_ is a pronoun in the
almost obsolete form _whether (=which) of the two do you prefer_, and a
conjunction in sentences like _whether will you do this or not?_ The use of
the form _others_ is recent. "_They are taken out of the way as all
other._"--Job. "_And leave their riches for other._"--Psalms.
* * * * *
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