Reconstruction talk:Proto-Germanic/sēliz
Add topicLatest comment: 9 years ago by Anglom in topic Alternative forms
Alternative forms
[edit]Old English seems to show an o-grade form but only in the comparative and superlative, sēlra, sēlest, < *sōlizô, *sōlistaz. Anglom (talk) 23:44, 20 January 2015 (UTC)
- Could they not be umlauted from ē? —CodeCat 00:02, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
- They could be. I'm not really sure why there would be two vowel grades to the same adjective. Anglom (talk) 01:56, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
- Comparatives were originally separate adjectives, so they could have different grades and other irregularities. There were some comparatives with no corresponding positive either. And of course better is suppletive altogether. Look in the comparatives category and you might find some more, I know "young" and "old" have Verner alternation between positive and comparative. —CodeCat 02:02, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
- That makes sense. I will keep my eye out for them. Thank you. Anglom (talk) 02:06, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
- Comparatives were originally separate adjectives, so they could have different grades and other irregularities. There were some comparatives with no corresponding positive either. And of course better is suppletive altogether. Look in the comparatives category and you might find some more, I know "young" and "old" have Verner alternation between positive and comparative. —CodeCat 02:02, 21 January 2015 (UTC)
- They could be. I'm not really sure why there would be two vowel grades to the same adjective. Anglom (talk) 01:56, 21 January 2015 (UTC)