The Adjective

OE adjective:

OE adjective had 3 categories: the category of number, gender and case. Like nouns, they could be declined according to the weak (n- stem) and strong declension (vocalic stem). Weak declension forms were used when the adjective was preceded by a demonstrative pronoun or the definite article; they are associated with the meaning of definiteness. In all other contexts forms of the strong declension are used. But strong declension of adjectives does not completely coincide with strong declension of nouns: forms of several cases correspond to declension of pronouns, so that strong declension of adjectives as a whole is a combination of substantival and pronominal forms.

Like adjectives in other languages, most OE adjectives distinguished between three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative. For the comparative degree the suffix – ra (in Gothic –z), for the superlative –est/ost. Sometimes suffixation was accompanied by an interchange of the root vowel. E.g. soft – softra –softost; ʒlæd-ʒlædra – ʒlædost. Some adjectives had suppletive forms: ʒōd, bettra-be(e)st. The comparatives are declined as strong adjectives, the superlatives mostly follow weak declension.

ME adjective:

The disappearance of grammatical gender in nouns and the reduction of case endings led to a considerable change in adjective declension, too. The only case ending in adjectives came to be – e, and the OE adjectival paradigm was reduced to the following: strong declension – ʒōd, weak declension – ʒōde; plural – ʒōde, ʒōde. In Northern dialects declension was completely lost, and the adjectives became invariable. In other dialects – e became invariable: newe, trewe. Degrees of comparison were formed by means of the suffixes – (e)r, -est: grēt-grētter-grēttest, glad-gladder-gladdest. Several adjectives kept a mutated vowel in the comparative and superlative: old – elder –eldest; long- lenger – lengest; several adjectives preserved suppletive forms of comparison: gōd –bettre – best; litel- lasse –lest. In Chaucer’s works we can find such new formations of degrees of comparison as ‘more profitable, and ‘more faithful which are considered analytical degrees of comparison.

MnE adjective:

In Modern English the ending – e, which signaled the plural and the weak declension, was dropped. Thus MnE adjectives no longer agreed with their substantives in number. Other changes: 1) suffixes of degrees are used for monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives, while the phrases like ‘more profitable’ were used for the other disyllabic and polysyllabic adjectives. 2) in the 15^th and 16^th centuries mutation in the comparative and superlative of some adjectives was eliminated: long – longer- longest. The only remnant of mutation is seen in elder-eldest, which have been specialized in meaning (but today is a strong tendency, perhaps influenced by US English, to use the common forms to denote family relations). A few adjectives came down to us with suppletive degrees of comparison. As for the analytical forms like ‘ more profitable’ Ilyish thinks that they are not, because in Shakespeare’s works we come across the use of more + comparative in – er: more better, more braver. So they are simply word combinations, perhaps used for emphasis.

OE

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