Dal'qörian comparative sentences

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Comparative sentences

There are three types of comparative sentence:

Positive

This pie is as nice as it was yesterday.

One picture is as nice as the next.

It’s as good as it gets!

In Dalcurian, these are formed with the particle säsa which goes before the adjective:

SiÞ epnij säsa quraläla ädiáda. This pie is as nice as yesterday. (In comparative sentences, adverbs of time do not begin the sentence. See Adverbs)

Sia gä’létr di vaÞriámn,, ön sia säsa gé’älig söcasendras. She told the truth and was as honest as possible.

Using the intensifier esti with säsa also renders the equivalent of just as...as, which is slightly more emphatic:

Binä säsa esti sæadörädn diöra. I’m just as surprised as you.

REMEBER: If you want to make the sentence retrospective, use the adjective past tense prefix gé:

SiÞ epnij säsa gé'quraläla ädiáda. This pie was as nice as yesterday.

Binä säsa esti gé'sæadörädn diöra. I was just as surprised as you.

Comparative sentences

I’m more intelligent than you.

The train is faster than the car.

It was more noticeable than yesterday.

These are simply formed with the comparative form of the adjective and nas-than:

Binä tev’ilalägra nas diöra. I'm more intelligent than you.

Sahán ni tev’éagöra evédrátsi nas Sösan. Sahán is a better driver than Sösan.

DanöÞ gé’te'natinträdn nas ädiáda. It was more noticeable than yesterday.

Notice in the last example that the adjective past tense marker gé goes before the comparative marker te.

Sentences such as: "You are getting taller and taller. The wind is blowing stronger and stronger etc, (where the adjective is compared with itself), are formed with the adverb brát-still and the comparative:

Diö vädenária brát te’viténa. You are getting taller and taller. lit: You are becoming still taller.

Di ateméj löbria brát te’herecöl. The wind is blowing stronger and stronger. lit: The wind is blowing still stronger.

Superlative sentences

I’m the best guitar player.

This is the happiest I’ve seen her.

We’ve been given the day off but best of all, we don’t have to go back until Wednesday.

The first two examples are simply formed with the superlative construct:

Binä di tev’éagöra gitæjátsi. I'm the best guitar player.
SiÞ di te’qurnöra,, taÞ binä gä’ábravisör siöra. This is the happiest I've seen her.

In the third example, the form adj + of all is formed with the adverb elaniÞas-entirely and the superlative:

Minäla, te ména, gä’ábra-efragör di iáda,, brát elaniÞas tev’éagöra, ména, lintöni Tradiáda, mösárax nöreÞár. We’ve been given the day off but best of all, we don’t have to go back until Wednesday. (mösárax-must not in Dalcurian translates as do not have to, see Verbs)

Negation

Dalcurian adjective negation is often deemed idiomatic. There are 3 standard ways in which to negate comparative sentences. (However, a simpler, colloquial construct is becoming evermore popular; see end of negation section).

With positive sentences, negation is straight forward and comes from the expression stæmériÞ which means less than/not as much. This follows säsa:

SiÞ epnij säsa stæmériÞ quraläla ädiáda. This pie is not as nice as yesterday. lit: This pie is less than nice as yesterday.

Sia gä’létr eÞöa vaÞriámn,, brát sia säsa stæmériÞ gé’älig söcasendras. She told some truth but was not as honest as possible.

Negating a comparative sentences is slightly more complex. If the comparison to be negated is more than as in I'm not taller than you, then this in itself would be considered ambiguous in Dalcurian; are we saying not taller but the same height, or not taller but less taller? The general rule is:

If the negated comparison is equal, use the positive construct:

Binä tev'ilalägra stæmériÞ diöra. I'm not more intelligent than you.

Sahán ni tev'éagöra evédrátsi stæmériÞ Sösan. Sahán is not a better driver than Sösan.

There are 2 things to note here: firstly, nas is not required as stæmériÞ already means than.

The second is a major pitfall for foreign learners. In these contexts, stæmériÞ does not translate normally as less than/not as much as, but not more than, thus 'equalizing' the context. This is due to word position; stæmériÞ FOLLOWING the noun or adjective. Therefore, in the example below:

Binä ilalägra stæmériÞ diöra. I'm not more intelligent than you. Lit: I am intelligent not more than you.

what we are stating is that, although I am not more intelligent than you, I am perhaps equally as intelligent.

The superlative is formed in the same way:

Binä di tev'éagöra stæmériÞ gitæjátsi. I'm not the best guitar player. Lit: I am the best not more than guitarist.

To imply less than, in comparative sentences, stæmériÞ can be placed BEFORE the adjective, as in the positive:

Binä stæmériÞ ilalägra diöra. I am less intelligent than you.

Colloquial Expressions

As said earlier, the above are quite standard, but replaced in everyday use by a simpler construct. This comes in the form of the suffix stæ, which is often seen in the formation of adjectives themselves (normally equating to the English prefixes un and dis:

vehiqualosträdn associated stævehiqualosträdn disassociated, lenandrädn helpful stælenandrädn unhelpful

In a negated positive sentence, stæ is used with säsa:

SiÞ epnij stæ'säsa quraläla ädiáda. This pie is not as nice as yesterday.
Di epnij stæ'säsa gé'quraläla ädiáda. The pie was not as nice as yesterday.

In comparatives, stæ goes before the comparative marker:

Sahán ni stæ'tev'éagöra evédrátsi nas Sösan. Sahán is not a better driver than Sösan.

Here, we must reinstate nas. (If we wanted to literally translate, we could say: un-nicer or un-better, although semantically they aren't quite the same).

In a superlative construct, one can say: