Legend: Definitions, Terms, <Text>, «apa», -Tags-, and "Glosses".
A scalar is a verb or quantity word that denotes a scale of comparison and a direction of comparison. The direction of comparison has 3 possibilities; these are labeled positive, negative, and normative. The term normative refers to a range of neutral values, while positive refers to greater values and negative refers to lesser values. Note that scalar (arithmetic) positives and negatives are not the same as polar (logical) positive and negative. Every scale has a positive verb stem and most scales have a negative one and also a normative one (albeit usually derived).
The subject of comparison refers to the entity being compared with respect to the scale of comparison and the standard of comparison refers to what it's compared to. The various scalar functions differ mainly in how the standard of comparison manifests.
There are also scalar measurement adverbials and tolerance adverbs, which are mutually exclusive.
In addition to the following types of adverbs, a manner adverb is formed using the adverbial initial Adv with a scalar final. A polarity medial may be used.
These are appended to the adverbial initial Adv forming tolerance adverbs, which may take only polarity medials.
| Medial | Tag | Name | Description or Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nar | Narrow or Tight | "slightly", "precisely", "by a little" | |
| Wid | Wide or Loose | "very", "roughly", "by a lot" | |
| Max | Maximal-minimal | "as X as possible" | |
| SQ | Value Question | "how X?" |
The superlative also derives ordinal numbers from the corresponding cardinal numbers. The normative medial also applies to meaurement unit finals. Measurement units also use the adverbial initial Adv, in some cases distinguishing them from content words using the same finals. A relative measurement adverbial uses the normative medial while an absolute one doesn't.
| Medial | Tag | Name | Description or Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|
| iẑ | Norm | Normative | derives normative direction |
| ôs | Sat | Satisfactive | "X enough", "so X" |
| axt | Exc | Excessive | "too X" |
| est | Sup | Superlative | "the most X" |
Any tolerance adverb or a scalar measurement adverbial follows the scalar word immediately.
The term tolerance refers to how wide or narrow the normative range is.
Numerous adverbs are used in translating tolerance into English. When the scalar verb is normative, narrow tolerance may be translated as "precisely" and wide tolerance as "roughly". When modifying a superlative, narrow tolerance may be translated as "by a little" and wide tolerance as "by a lot". Tolerance is medium if unmarked and no scalar measurement adverbial appears.
For the maximal kind, the Max adverbial follows a positive scalar, while for the minimal kind, it follows a negative scalar. These are both translated as "as X as possible", where X is the scalar root's translation.
A scalar measurement adverbial is either relative, representing the absolute difference between the value of the subject of comparison and that of the standard of comparison, or absolute. This is expressed using an adverbial phrase whose consisting of some unit of measurement appropriate to the scale of comparison + an attributive quantity specifies the number of units. The quantity "1" is typically omitted. Note that some scalars have no possible measurement units.
Absolute measurement adverbials, like tolerance and relative measurement adverbials, can apply to both attributive and predicative scalars. The direction for an absolute is usually positive.
A measurement question requests a scalar answer (not necessarily an absolute value), as in "how hot?". The scalar question adverbial immediately follows the scalar word, which is usually, but not necessarily, a predicate.
A manner adverb specifies the manner in which an action is performed. The manner adverb follows the action word and may be followed by a tolerance adverb. Note that not all scalars are useful as manner adverbials.
| (3) | m-okwi | b-aŝxa | t-ê | l-ersi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-walk | Adv-angry | 3-Erg | Pas-man | |
| "The man is walking angrily." | ||||
For a normal (or relative) scalar, the standard of comparison is always some implicit norm whose value is appropriate to the subject of comparison. A normative scalar indicates that the scalar value is more or less the same as the norm while a positive verb indicates a greater value and a negative verb a lesser value.
A normal scalar can be either a predicate or an attribute, Either tolerance or a relative measurement adverbial is possible. With a positive or negative scalar, narrow precision may be translated as "slightly" and wide precision as "very".
A comparative is an explicit comparison and may be one of equality (using a normative) or inequality (using a positive or negative). The scale of comparison may apply to
A comparative predicate is distinguished from a normal comparison by the presence of a depictive secondary predicate Ɂaubu Than whose location argument denotes the standard of comparison. The subject of comparison immediately precedes the depictive.
Either tolerance or a relative measurement adverbial is possible. If the comparative is one of inequality, narrow tolerance may be translated as "(by) a little" and wide tolerance as "(by) a lot" (there are other translations).
| (5a) | m-efru | t-a | l-ersi | Ɂ-aubu | t-au | l-aŝti |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-heavy | 3-Abs | Pas-man | Sec-Than | 3-Loc | Pas-woman | |
| "The man is heavier than the woman." | ||||||
| (5b) | m-okwi | b-izdi | t-ê | l-aŝti | Ɂ-aubu | t-au | l-ersi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-walk | Adv-fast | 3-Erg | Pas-woman | Sec-Than | 3-Loc | Pas-man | |
| "The woman is walking faster than the man." | |||||||
| (5c) | m-uk-onẑa | t-ê | l-ersi | n-a | l-uptêda | l-ansu | Ɂ-aubu | n-ih-au | l-utmêda |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-Cul-eat | 3-Erg | Pas-man | Ind-Abs | Pas-potato | Pas-many | Sec-Than | Ind-Pl-Loc | Pas-tomato | |
| "The man ate more potatoes than tomatoes." | |||||||||
| (5d) | m-uk-onẑa | n-a | l-uptêda | l-ansu | t-ê | l-ersi | Ɂ-aubu | t-au | l-aŝti |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-Cul-eat | Ind-Abs | Pas-potato | Pas-many | 3-Erg | Pas-man | Sec-Than | 3-Loc | Pas-woman | |
| "The man ate more potatoes than the woman." | |||||||||
| (5e) | b-okti | l-ansu | m-us-ûzu | t-a | l-aŝti | Ɂ-aubu | t-au | l-ersi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adv-night | Pas-many | Pri-Prf-sleep | 3-Abs | Pas-woman | Sec-Than | 3-Loc | Pas-man | |
| "The woman has slept more hours than the man." | ||||||||
The subject of comparison's referent may be compared to an earlier or later instance of itself or it may instead be compared to an earlier or later instance of some other entity. The reflexive pronoun Rfx is used as the standard of comparison in the former case. Either the perfect or the prospective aspect is applied to the pronoun or the determiner of the standard of comparison.
| (6a) | m-efru | t-a | l-ersi | Ɂ-aubu | ŝ-us-au |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-heavy | 3-Abs | Pas-man | Sec-Than | Rfx-Prf-Loc | |
| "The man is heavier than before." | |||||
| (6b) | m-efru | t-a | l-ersi | Ɂ-aubu | t-if-au | l-aŝti |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pri-heavy | 3-Abs | Pas-man | Sec-Than | 3-Pro-Loc | Pas-woman | |
| "The man is heavier than the woman will be." | ||||||
A satisfactive comparison is used to affirm or question the suitability of the subject of comparison for some actual or potential result, with respect to the scale of comparison while an excessive comparison is used to deny or question the suitability of the subject of comparison for some actual or potential result, with respect to the scale of comparison. The medial the scalar takes is either Sat for satisfactive or Exc for excessive.
Syntax ???
Either tolerance or a relative measurement adverbial is possible.
A superlative expression selects a subset of some whole according to some scale of comparison while an ordinal expression selects a subset of some whole according to spatial or temporal position; both kinds are always definite. See the Temporal Morphosyntax chapter for the morphology of ordinal numbers.
Besides the superlative word, a superlative can be formed by placing an ordinal before a (non-superlative) scalar, e.g. lestamba lêqu "the 2nd oldest".
A superlative or ordinal may be used attributively within the phrase specifying the whole (a single word ordinal or superlative can even be a predicate). However, when the cardinality of the whole is to be specified, a superlative or ordinal phrase is required. This consists of a definite determiner + an optional quantity + the superlative or ordinal + a genitive phrase specifying the whole.
The scalar word of a superlative may be followed by a tolerance adverb or a relative measurement adverbial, although these are not common.
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current date: 2022.Dec.29 Thu
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