Chapter X: Section I: Of the Nature of Adjectives and the Degrees of Comparison

An English Adjective, whatever may be its gender, number, or case, like a rusty weathercock, never varies. Thus we say, "A certain cabinet; certain rogues." But as a rusty weathercock may vary in being more or less rusty, so an adjective varies in the degrees of comparison.

The degrees of comparison, like the Genders, the Graces, the Fates, the Kings of Cologne, the Weird Sisters, and many other things, are three; the Positive, the Comparative, and the Superlative.

The Positive state simply expresses the quality of an object; as, fat, ugly, foolish.

The Comparative degree increases or lessens the signification {039}of the positive; as fatter, uglier, more foolish, less foolish.

The Superlative decree increases or lessens the positive to the highest or lowest degree; as fattest, ugliest, most foolish, least foolish.

Amongst the ancients, Ulysses must have been the _fattest_, because nobody could _compass_ him.

Aristides the Just was the ugliest, because he was so very _plain_.

The most _foolish_, undoubtedly, was Homer; for who was more _natural_ than he?

The positive becomes the comparative by the addition of _r_ or _er_; and the superlative by the addition of _st_ or _est_ to the end of it; as, brown, browner, brownest; stout, stouter, stoutest; heavy, heavier, heaviest; wet, wetter, wettest. The adverbs more and most, prefixed to the adjective, also form the superlative degree; as, heavy, more heavy, most heavy.

Monosyllables are usually compared by er and est, and dissyllables by more and most; except dissyllables ending in y or in le before a mute, or those which are accented on the last syllable; for these, like monosyllables, easily admit of er and est. But these terminations are scarcely ever used in comparing words of more than two syllables.

We have some words, which, from custom, are irregular in respect of comparison; as, good, better, best; bad, worse, worst, &c.; but the Yankee's "notion" of comparison was decidedly funny; "My uncle's a tarnation rogue; but I'm a tarnationer."