Re: Wenedyk - Adjectives

 --- Thomas R. Wier skrzypszy:

> > The comparative and superlative are built by adding the suffix
> > -iór/-iora/-iore, the superlative by adding the suffix -ym/-yma/-yme to the
> > root of the adjective:
> > brzew "short", brzewiór "shorter", brzewym "shortest"
> > k£ar "bright", k£arzór "brighter", k£arym "brightest".
>
> Why would the superlative use <-ym/-yma/yme> rather than
> something based off of Classical -ss-?
To be perfectly honest, I completely don't remember what possessed me when I
wrote that. All I know is that there *was* some reason. But since it appears to
be gone with the wind anyway, I might as well change this part for the better.
Basically, I see two alternatives for changing the superlative endings:
 - a longer form: _-ieszym/-ieszyma/-ieszyme_, e.g. brzew > brzewieszym;
 - a shorter form: _-szym/-szyma/-szyme_, e.g. brzew > brzewszym.
Both options come suspiciously close to the regular Polish comparative. I think
I'll go for the longer form after all. Unless someone really *urges* me to
choose the other :)

> Also, why would the masculine comparative be different from the neuter?
Well, as a matter of fact the neuter ending in comparatives was _-ius_, but I
don't see how I could preserve that one in Wenedyk. That's why I decided to
apply the endings of the positive to the comparative and superlative as well.
It seems to me that such things happen in real life too. But deep in my heart I
still feel that there is something artificial in this solution.

> IIRC, Romance third declension nouns and ajectives typically
> took the accusative singular as the basis, which suggests
> that Wenedyk should have _-ióre-_ for both the masculine
> and neuter?
No, because as I wrote the neuter ending was _-ius_. But for the rest I agree
with you.
In Wenedyk, the ending _-em_ always drops off, but causes softening of the
preceding consonant. Thus, Latin _-iore-_ should actually become _-iórz_.
However, this would cause the number of words ending with _-rz_ to become too
huge to fit my taste. For that reason I decided to allow _-em_ to disappear
without softening in some cases, including this one.
An alternative for the neuter ending _-iore_ could be _ioru_. What do you
think?

(I can easily imagine the feminine acquiring an -a- agreement marker.)

Seriously, that's a comforting thought!

> (Of course, this is your language.  Also, since I'm not
> an expert on Proto-Romance, feel free to correct errors.)
Nor am I. That's why this kind of input is really very helpful to me. I know
both Latin and Polish, but my problem is that I am not a professional linguist
in the scientific sense of the word, although languages have always had a
prominent place among my hobbies since early childhood.

> > Especially when it comes to answering this question: does the way I changed
> > Latin declension to Wenedyk look (at least a tiny little bit) acceptable?
>
> Well, the way it _looks_ appears a lot like Polish to me,
> orthographically.  If so, I would presume you have been
> successful in your efforts. :)
So it seems. But what I actually meant is whether the changes I applied are
plausible or not...

Thanks,
Jan

=====
"Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones

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