Degrees of Comparison

In OE there were three ways of formation of the degrees of comparison:

 

Way of formation	Positive Degree	Comparative Degree	Superlative Degree
inflections	soft	softra	softost
root-sound interchange + inflections	lonζ	lenζra	lenζest
suppletion	ζōd	bettra	betest

 

In ME the following changes happened:

· In most cases inflections -er, -est were used to form the comparative and the superlative degrees;

· Root-sound interchange fell into disuse (long – longer – longest), though in some cases it was preserved as an exception from the rule (e.g. old – elder – eldest; far – further – furthest);

· A new way of formation of the degrees of comparison appeared:

more + Adj (comparative) || most + Adj (superlative)

It was applicable to all adjectives and was interchangeable with -er, -est way of formation till 17^th – 18^th c.In NE, during the Normalisation Period, the modern rule appeared and this way was applicable only to a certain group of adjectives.