Essay On Relative Adjectives

English comparative and superlative adjectives formation are phonological processes that follow specific morphological rules which must be applied in order to form the correct adjective form. Comparatives are used to differentiate between two persons, objects, or places. In order to provide the correct comparative form, specific rules must be followed. First, if the adjective is monosyllabic, one adds (–er) at the end of the adjective, e.g. “tall-taller”. Second, if the monosyllabic adjective consists of a (consonant, vowel, and consonant) form, one must double the last consonant and add (-er), as in “big-bigger”. Third, if the adjective ends with (-y), one needs to omit the (-y) and add (-ier), as in “busy-busier”. Fourth, if the adjective

The superlative formation process follows a certain set of rules somehow similar to those followed for comparatives. First, if the adjective is a monosyllabic adjective; consists of no more than two syllables, one must add (-est) to the end of the adjective as in “tall- the tallest”. Second, if the adjective is formed of CVC the last consonant is doubled and (-est) is added at the end, as in “big-the biggest”. Third, if the adjective ends with (-y), one must delete it and add (-iest), as in “busy-the busiest”. Fourth, if the adjective is polysyllabic, whether it ends with (-y) or not, the expression “most” must be used before the adjective. For example: “The tiger is the most dangerous animal in the jungle”. Besides, “the” must precedes the desired superlative form. However, there are exceptions for the comparative and superlative adjectives. As for comparatives, we have “good-better than” and “far- farther than” etc. and for superlatives, e.g. “bad-the worst” and “much-the most”,

The article was under titled: “forming comparative and superlative adjectives in English: prescriptive versus psychological rules”. The research investigated how native speakers of American English formed comparative and superlative adjectives. The subjects were 200 undergraduate students at the University of Oklahoma in a psychology class, and all of them were native English speakers. Two studies were conducted. The first study was to figure out the extent to which native speakers of American English follow the prescriptive language rules for forming comparative and superlative adjectives using a questionnaire where students were asked to circle the adjective they prefer to use within a sentence. The second study was conducted based on the assumption that participants may use some of these adjectives in everyday language use. Sentences containing a target adjective were presented along with a graded scale presented to the right of each sentence, and students were asked to circle the most acceptable comparative/superlative adjective form. The results showed that native speakers of American English did not conform to the