THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.
§ 255. The Anglo-Saxon word for _first_ was _for-m-a_.
The root was _for_ = the Latin _præ_, the Greek [Greek: pro], and being the
same combination which occurs in _fore_, _fore-m-ost_, &c.
The m was the Anglo-Saxon sign of the superlative degree.
It is the m in the Latin words _pri-m-us_, _inti-m-us_, _exti-m-us_,
_ulti-m-us_, &c.
It occurs even in the Gothic tongues; in other words, besides _for-m-a_.
In short, m is an old sign of the superlative degree; probably older than
the usual form, -st, discussed in § 254. This has some important
applications.
§ 256. _Former_.--This is a remarkable word: it is a comparative derived
from the Anglo-Saxon superlative, and its analysis is _for-m-er_, with
_excess of inflexion_.
§ 257. _Nea-r-est_.--Here the r is no part of the original root, as may be
seen in § 251. It has grown out of -ah pronounced as the a in _father_. The
true forms are positive, _neah_; comparative, _neah-er_; superlative,
_neah-est_. Such, to a certain extent, is really the case.
§ 258. _Next_.--The superlative of _nigh_, contracted from _nigh-est_. The
Anglo-Saxon forms were _neah_, _nyh-st_, _neh-st_, _nyh-ste_. In
Anglo-Saxon the letter h was pronounced strongly, and sounded like g or k.
This fact is still shown in the spelling; as nigh. In the word _next_ this
sound is preserved, slightly changed into that of k; _next_ = _nek-st_.
§ 259. _Upmost_, &c.--The common statement concerning words like _upmost_
is, that they are compound words, formed by the addition of the word
_most_: this, however, is more than doubtful.
The Anglo-Saxon language presents us with the following forms:--
_Anglo-Saxon._ _English._
Innema (inn-ema), Inmost (in-m-ost).
Ûtema (ût-ma), Outmost (out-m-ost).
Siðema (sið-ema), Latest.
Lætema (læt-ema), Latest.
Niðema (nið-ema), Nethermost (neth-er-m-ost).
Forma (for-ma), Foremost (fore-m-ost).
Æftema (aft-ema), Aftermost (aft-er-m-ost).
Ufema (uf-ema), Upmost (up-m-ost).
Hindema (hind-ema), Hindmost (hind-m-ost).
Midema (mid-ema), Midmost (mid-m-ost).
Now the words in question show at once, that, as far as they are concerned,
the m that appears in the last syllable of each has nothing to do with the
word _most_.
From the words in question there was formed, in Anglo-Saxon, a regular
superlative form in the usual manner; viz., by the addition of -st; as
_æfte-m-est_, _fyr-m-est_, _læte-m-est_, _sið-m-est_, _yfe-m-est_,
_ute-m-est_, _inne-m-est_.
Hence, in the present English, the different parts of the syllable _most_
(in words like _upmost_) come from different quarters. The m is the m in
the Anglo-Saxon words _innema_, &c.; whilst the -st is the common sign of
the superlative. Hence, in separating such words as _midmost_ into its
component parts, we should write
Mid-m-ost _not_ mid-most.
Ut-m-ost -- ut-most.
Up-m-ost -- up-most.
Fore-m-ost -- fore-most.
In-m-ost -- in-most.
Hind-m-ost -- hind-most.
Out-m-ost -- out-most.
§ 260. In certain words, however, the syllable _m-ost_ is added to a word
already ending in -er; that is, already marked with the sign of the
comparative degree.
Neth-er-m-ost. Hind-er-m-ost.
Utt-er-m-ost. Out-er-m-ost.
Upp-er-m-ost. Inn-er-m-ost.
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