TGV/MGV - Lesson 23
Ba-|Iyi-Gol-Vuhlkansu - Tupa 23

COMPARATIVES & SUPERLATIVES
Navath-Zhitlar heh Dannosh-Zhitlar

This lesson has to do with the use and formation of "comparatives" and "superlatives" in Golic Vulcan. In Traditional and Modern Golic Vulcan, a "comparative" is a modified adjective that is equivalent to the forms " ~er " and " more ~ " in Federation Standard English (FSE). (Examples are "bigger" or "more important".) In Traditional and Modern Golic Vulcan, a "superlative" is a modified adjective that is equivalent to the forms " ~est " and " most ~ " in FSE. (Examples are "biggest" or "most important".) These are used as normal adjectives are in Golic, except they always come before the noun they modify, if there is one. Comparatives and superlatives, though, do not have a combining form like other Golic adjectives. Do not confuse the Golic terms "comparative" or "superlative" with grammar rules for Earth languages, which may use those terms differently.


Comparatives
Navath-Zhitlar

Comparatives are formed by prefixing " weh- " to the adjective being modified. It works for all Golic adjectives, unless the word is a stand-alone comparative, which is very rare in Golic. (Any stand-alone comparatives will be noted in the vocabulary lists.) Using the examples in the introduction, "bigger" would be >weh-suk< and "more important" would be >weh-yauluhk<.


Superlatives
Dannosh-Zhitlar

Superlatives are formed by prefixing " dan- " to the adjective being modified. It works for all Golic adjectives, unless the word is a stand-alone superlative, which is very rare in Golic. (Any stand-alone superlatives will be noted in the vocabulary lists.) Using the examples in the introduction, "biggest" would be >dan-suk< and "most important" would be >dan-yauluhk<.


Notes
Pitohlar

1. When making a comparison between words using a comparative adjective, the Golic word " do " is used identically to the way "than" is in FSE. So, if you want to say something like "Soval is bigger than Stola" that would be >Soval weh-suk do Stola< (lit. "Soval bigger than Stola"). Or, "My message for her is more important than yours" would be >Skladan t'nash-veh na'ko-veh weh-yauluhk do t'du< (lit. "Message of-this-one for-she more important than of-you"). (As previously explained, the present tense of "to be" is usually understood, so "nam-tor" does not start either of these examples, but it is necessary to do so in TGV.)

2. When using a superlative in a sentence in a structure like "biggest of all", the Golic preposition " t' " is used identically to the way "of" is in FSE. So, if you want to say something like "Soval's sehlat is the biggest of the whole area" that would be >Sehlat t'Soval dan-suk t'elkhrul-shal< (lit. "Sehlat of-Soval biggest of-whole-area"). Or, "Her message for the government is the most important of all" would be >Skladan t'ko-veh na'spanakhat dan-yauluhk t'ek< (lit. "Message of-she for-government most important of-all"). (Again, "nam-tor" is not shown starting either of these examples, but it is correct to do so.)

3. Comparatives and superlatives can be used in the same sentence, of course. If you wanted to say something like "Soval's house is bigger than the biggest house of his neighbors" that would be >Kelek t'Soval weh-suk do dan-suk t'behsular< (lit. "House of-Soval bigger than biggest of-neighbors"). (In the translation, you will note that "nam-tor", the second use of "house" and the possessive "his" are dropped as unnecessary, because they are assumed and understood. In TGV it would be more proper to say >Nam-tor kelek t'Soval weh-suk do dan-suk kelek t'behsular t'sa-veh<, but it is not necessary for understanding.)


There are no exercises for this lesson.

The student is encouraged to experiment creating comparatives and superlatives from adjectives in the dictionaries, and try using them in sentences.

This lesson was put online on
December 15, 2004.
and updated on
January 10, 2005.




All original work on these pages ©1980-2016 by Mark R. Gardner et al
operating as the Vulcan Language Institute™.

Star Trek and its related characters are copyrighted by Paramount Pictures/CBS Paramount Television.