Tag Archives: superlative

An analysis of French word ‘très’

According to our analysis, the word ‘très’ is likely to occur in the following grammatical types:

  • Adjective modifier: here, ‘très’ modifies the meaning of an adjective: très beau (very beautiful, biddisimu), très content (very happy, cuntentissimu)
  • Adverb modifier: ‘très’ here modifies the meaning of an adverb: ‘très rarement’ = very rarely, raramenti; ‘très souvent’ = very often, mori à spessu
  • Adverb (i.e. in our terminology, a Verb modifier): ‘very’ modifies here the meaning of a verb: ‘j’ai très faim’ = I am very hungry, t’aghju mori fami; ‘il avait très soif’ = he was very thirsty, t’aia mori seti: where the verb is here the verbal locution ‘avoir faim’ = to be hungry, avè a fami; avoir soif = to be thirsty, avè a seti

A specific kind of superlative

Let us consider a specific kind of superlative. Such form specific to Corsican language is notably mentioned by grammarian and author Santu Casta, in his  Punteghju, who recommends the following translation of “C’était le village le plus riche du canton” (It was the richest village of the canton):  Era u più paese riccu di stu cantone (pages 26 & 54-55). The structure is original in the sense that the comparative (più) precedes the noun (campanile, bell tower) that precedes the adjective (altu, high).