{"id":5650,"date":"2017-12-27T01:44:12","date_gmt":"2017-12-27T01:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=5650"},"modified":"2018-04-17T16:07:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T16:07:01","slug":"good-better-best-comparing-things-in-icelandic-stigbreyting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2017\/12\/27\/good-better-best-comparing-things-in-icelandic-stigbreyting\/","title":{"rendered":"Good, Better, Best: Comparing Things In Icelandic (Stigbreyting)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let\u2019s kiss the trials and tribulations of 2017 goodbye by returning to grammar \u2013 specifically, adjectives, which are called <em>l\u00fdsingaror<\/em><em>\u00f0<\/em>. The Icelandic term is somewhat more apparent than the English one; it contains the word for to describe, or perhaps even illuminate, within it (a\u00f0 l\u00fdsa), so it\u2019s easy to remember. Today, specifically, I want to talk about the construction of <em>comparatives (mi<\/em><em>\u00f0stig<\/em>) and <em>superlatives (efstastig). <\/em><\/p>\n<p>In English, to create a comparative and a superlative, we generally add \u2013er and -est to the end of a word, or the free-standing words \u201cmore\u201d and \u201cmost\u201d. <em>That box is heavier than this one.<\/em> It compares two or more things together (<em>tvennt er bori<\/em><em>\u00f0 saman)<\/em>. In Icelandic, you most commonly transform an adjective into a comparative using the ending \u2013<em>ar-i\/-ast-ur<\/em>. The second most common form is \u2013<em>r-i\/-st-ur<\/em>. Icelandic also has a mechanism called <em>doubling<\/em> (tv\u00f6foldun), which occurs when the ultimate consonant in a given word is doubled, to construct comparatives. The final group end in \u2013r-i\/-ast-ur.<\/p>\n<p>Comparatives decline like weak adjectives; taking an \u2013i ending for all masculine and feminine singular, and -a in the neuter. Plurals all end in \u2013i. This rule also applies to other comparative and superlative endings. Superlatives will generally not take the strong \u2013ur ending, however, for one simple reason: having a superlative implies the word \u201cthe\u201d \u2013 so the noun will <em>almost<\/em> always have the definite article, meaning that the adjective is weak.<\/p>\n<p>Superlatives are constructed with the endings \u2013<em>ast-ur (i)<\/em> and \u2013<em>st-ur (i)<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5651\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-image-5651 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-350x233.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Sm\u00e1 mynd&#8230;<\/strong> Diego Delso [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">*<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>a-ri, -ast-ur<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most adjectives that end in \u2013ur will have an \u2013<em>ar-i<\/em> ending as their comparative form \u2013 which is to say, most adjectives. They decline like this:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>lj\u00f3tur, lj\u00f3t-ar-i, lj\u00f3t-ast-ur (lj\u00f3t-ast-i)<\/li>\n<li>kaldur, kald-ar-i, kald-ast-ur (kald-ast-i)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is by far the largest category, and it is still productive (i.e., if a new word is created, it\u2019ll take the \u2013ar-i\/-ast-ur ending and not the \u2013r-i\/-st-ur ending); it includes other words, like two-syllable adjectives with \u2013n- as the ending (fyndinn, feginn = fyndnari, fegnari). It also includes single-syllable words, and two-syllable words without an ending (vit-ur = vit<strong>r<\/strong>ari). Other words (thanks to a handy list from a professor):<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>heitur, brei\u00f0ur, r\u00f6skur, flatur, svalur, har\u00f0ur, bjartur<\/p>\n<p>einfaldur, margfaldur, skynsamur<\/p>\n<p>f\u00fas, v\u00eds, d\u00fdr, s\u00e1r, vark\u00e1r, sk\u00e6r, hvass, jafn, kyrr<\/p>\n<p>dapur, bitur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Try putting all of those words into <em>mi<\/em><em>\u00f0stig <\/em>and <em>efstastig<\/em> as an exercize, then check your results on BIN.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>*ATTENTION: <\/strong><strong><u>The exceptions to this group<\/u><\/strong> are adjectives ending in -legur,-ugur, -a\u00f0ur.<\/p>\n<p>Those will take the ending <strong><u>\u2013r-i, -ast-ur.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">*<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5651\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons\" aria-label=\"Cascada Dynjandi Vestfir\u00f0ir Islandia 2014 08 14 DD 154 156 HDR 350x233\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-image-5651 size-medium\"  alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-350x233.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Sm\u00e6rri mynd..<\/strong>. By: Diego Delso<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>r-i, -ast-ur<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These include ALL -LEG-UR WORDS.<\/p>\n<p>skemmtilegur, skemmtileg-r-i, skemmtileg-ast-ur, skemmtileg-ust- \u00f8<\/p>\n<p>sk\u00edtugur, sk\u00edtug-r-i, sk\u00edtug-ast-ur\/sk\u00edtug-ust- \u00f8<\/p>\n<p>g\u00e1fa\u00f0ur, g\u00e1fa\u00f0-r-i, g\u00e1fa\u00f0-ast-ur\/g\u00e1fu\u00f0-ust- \u00f8<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Other words in this small category (r-i\/-ast-ur) include:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fallegur, venjulegur, laglegur<\/p>\n<p>au\u00f0ugur<\/p>\n<p>m\u00e1ttugur, gr\u00f6sugur, kunnugur, sl\u00f3ttugur<\/p>\n<p>h\u00e1ll, svikull, heill, s\u00e6ll, \u00fe\u00e9ttb\u00fdll, \u00fe\u00f6gull,<\/p>\n<p>gj\u00f6full, \u00f6tull<\/p>\n<p>f\u00ednn, hreinn, t\u00e1knr\u00e6nn, penn<\/p>\n<p>mennta\u00f0ur, \u00fej\u00e1lfa\u00f0ur, magna\u00f0ur<\/p>\n<p>n\u00fdr, hl\u00fdr, frj\u00f3r, au\u00f0s\u00e6r, gr\u00e1r, tr\u00far<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll notice a few odd-looking ones in this group (gj\u00f6full, \u00f6tull, h\u00e1ll, gr\u00e1r, n\u00fdr, f\u00ednn, hreinn). That doubling I mentioned at the beginning also takes place for this category of word; in essence, adjectives ending in \u2013r- will double to create the comparative form (e.g., n\u00fdr becomes n\u00fdrri, n\u00fdjastur. Bl\u00e1r becomes bl\u00e1rri, bl\u00e1astur). This rule does not apply to the words <em>f\u00e1r, h\u00e1r, sm\u00e1r <\/em>because they have a stem change (sm\u00e1r becomes sm\u00e6rri and sm\u00e6stur \u2013 see next category).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Adjectives ending in \u2013n or \u2013l (hreinn, \u00f6tull) will also double.<\/p>\n<p>hreinni, hrein-ast-ur<\/p>\n<p>h\u00e1lli, h\u00e1l-ast-ur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re interested, this is more broadly called \u201cassimilation\u201d. Essentially, there <em>was<\/em> an r (hrein-r-i) but it was assimilated into the n, becoming an \u2013n itself (Yes, I do think about it as \u00a0\u201cn ate r\u201d). The same goes for the double L.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5651\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-image-5651 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"[CC BY-SA 4.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5651\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Sm\u00e6sti myndin!\u00a0<\/strong>Diego Delso<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">*<\/p>\n<p><strong>The next category are \u2013r-i\/-st-ur words. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These can generally be identified by<strong> a vowel-change<\/strong> in the stem. You can think of these vowel changes as synonymous to those that take place in many verbs (e.g., fara-fer, or gr\u00f3a-gr\u00e6).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>grannur, grenn-r-i, grenn-st-ur<\/p>\n<p>ungur, yng-r-i, yng-st-ur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>And, others:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>a-e\u00a0 <\/u>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>langur-lengri-lengstur<\/p>\n<p>grannur, skammur, svangur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>\u00f3<\/u><\/strong><strong><u>&#8211;<\/u><\/strong><strong><u>\u00e6<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>st\u00f3r-st\u00e6rri-st\u00e6rstur<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>\u00e1-\u00e6<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>h\u00e1r-h\u00e6rri-h\u00e6stur<\/p>\n<p>l\u00e1gur-l\u00e6gri-l\u00e6gstur<\/p>\n<p>sm\u00e1r<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>u-y<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nungur-yngri-yngstur<\/p>\n<p>\u00feungur, stuttur, fullur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>\u00fa-\u00fd<\/u> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>r\u00famur-r\u00fdmri-r\u00fdmstur<\/p>\n<p>mj\u00fakur, dj\u00fapur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>\u00f6-e<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\n\u00fer\u00f6ngur-\u00ferengri-\u00ferengstur,<br \/>\nd\u00f6kkur, gl\u00f6ggur<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is a lot of information, and I\u2019ve still got to add irregulars to it! Next time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the most important thing to remember is this:<\/p>\n<p>It seems complex \u2013 and it is \u2013 but you have, if nothing else, one thing in your toolbox: reading. And when you get tired of reading, listening. You\u2019ll eventually start to learn the ins and outs, but it takes sustained effort and as much immersion as you can get, wherever you are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/Cascada_Dynjandi_Vestfir\u00f0ir_Islandia_2014-08-14_DD_154-156_HDR.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Let\u2019s kiss the trials and tribulations of 2017 goodbye by returning to grammar \u2013 specifically, adjectives, which are called l\u00fdsingaror\u00f0. The Icelandic term is somewhat more apparent than the English one; it contains the word for to describe, or perhaps even illuminate, within it (a\u00f0 l\u00fdsa), so it\u2019s easy to remember. Today, specifically, I want&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2017\/12\/27\/good-better-best-comparing-things-in-icelandic-stigbreyting\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":5651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[91175,1],"tags":[17,140872],"class_list":["post-5650","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icelandic-grammar","category-uncategorized","tag-adjectives","tag-stigbreyting"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/145"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5650"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5742,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5650\/revisions\/5742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}