The following table lists the principal irregular forms of degrees of comparison. The comparative and relative superlative forms are shown together, the only difference being that the relative superlative is preceded by the definite article.
106 Part II
Ch. 3 Adjectives
Positive Comparative/rel. superlative Abs. superlative
απλός ‘simple’ απλούστερος απλούστατος γέρος ‘old’ γεροντότερος – κακός ‘bad’ χειρότερος κάκιστος (‘most wicked’) χείριστος (‘worst’) καλός ‘good’ καλύτερος κάλλιστος (‘finest’) άριστος (‘excellent’) κοντός ‘short’ κοντότερος (‘shorter in height’) κοντύτερος (‘shorter in length’) κοντότατος κοντύτατος λίγος ‘little’ λιγότερος ελάχιστος μεγάλος ‘big’ μεγαλύτερος μέγιστος μικρός ‘small’ μικρότερος ελάχιστος πολύς ‘much’ περισσότερος (πλείστος) πρώτος ‘first’ πρωτύτερος (‘earlier’) πρώτιστος
The following comparative, relative and absolute superlative forms do not derive from adjectives in the positive degree; some of them derive from other parts of speech, as indicated in the first column (words in brackets are not normally used today):
Comparative/rel. superlative Abs. superlative
(άνω ‘above’) ανώτερος ‘superior’ ανώτατος κάτω ‘below’ κατώτερος ‘inferior’ κατώτατος προτιμώ ‘I prefer’ προτιμότερος ‘preferable’ – – προγενέστερος ‘prior’ – – μεταγενέστερος ‘subsequent’ – (πλησίον ‘near’) πλησιέστερος ‘nearer’ πλησιέστατος (άπω ‘far’) απώτερος ‘further’ απώτατος (υπέρ ‘over, beyond’) υπέρτερος ‘higher’ υπέρτατος
Chapter 4
Adverbs
Adverbs are words which modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, nouns, numerals or quantifiers, and also whole phrases or clauses, in order to indicate various relationships (time, manner, place, quantity, etc.) or to qualify what is being said in some other way. In this section we are concerned with adverbs which stand in a close morphological relationship with adjectives; in other words, we shall be dealing only with adverbs which are formed from the corresponding adjectives according to certain rules or patterns. We shall not, therefore, examine here the many adverbs of place, time, manner, quantity, etc. which are not derived directly from declined adjectives. (For types of adverb and their uses see Part III, Sections 3.1 and 3.2.)
There are two main adverbial endings for the forms derived from adjectives: -α and -ως. Some adjectives can use either ending (but with a possible distinction of register or stylistic level and sometimes with a different stress), but for most adjective types there is only one way to form the corresponding adverb. We shall consider in turn the adverbs ending in -α (Section 4.1), those ending in -ως (Section 4.2), and then some irregular forms (Section 4.3). Adverbs are indeclinable, but like adjectives they have degrees of comparison (see Section 4.4).
4.1
Adverbs in -
αAdverbs with the ending -α are always identical to the neuter plural (nom. and acc.) form of the corresponding adjective. This type of adverb is found for adjectives in -ος (Sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3), including passive perfect participles, for adjectives in -ύς, -ιά, -ύ (Section 3.4), and for adjectives in -ης, -α, -ικο (Section 3.9).
108 Part II Ch. 4 Adverbs Examples: From adjectives in -ος: άγρια ‘fiercely’, αλύπητα ‘mercilessly’, αργά ‘slowly, late’, αριστερά ‘on the left’, βέβαια ‘certainly, of course’, γλυκά ‘sweetly’, δυνατά ‘strongly, loudly, aloud’, ελληνικά ‘in Greek’, μάταια ‘in vain’, ξαφνικά ‘suddenly’, προφορικά ‘orally’, σπάνια ‘rarely’, συγκεκριμένα ‘specifically’, σωστά ‘correctly’, τελευταία ‘lastly, recently’, φτηνά ‘cheaply’, φτωχά ‘poorly’, χωριστά ‘separately’
From adjectives in -ύς, -ιά, -ύ: βαθιά ‘deep(ly)’, βαριά ‘heavily; gravely’, μακριά ‘far away’
From adjectives in -ης, -α, -ικο: ζηλιάρικα ‘jealously’, κατσούφικα ‘sullenly’, τσαχπίνικα ‘coquettishly’
Some adjectives in -ος have an alternative adverb in -ως, for which see the following section.
4.2
Adverbs in -
ωςAdjectives in -ης, -ες (Section 3.8) form their adverbs with the suffix -ως. The stress remains on the same syllable as the masculine nominative singular of the adjective except in the case of adjectives ending in -ώδης: their adverbs have the stress on the final syllable.
Examples:
ακριβώς ‘exactly’, ασφαλώς ‘surely’, διαρκώς ‘continually’, διεθνώς ‘internationally’, δυστυχώς ‘unfortunately’, λεπτομερώς ‘in detail’, μανιωδώς ‘furiously’, ουσιωδώς ‘essentially’, πλήρως ‘fully’, προφανώς ‘obviously’, σκανδαλωδώς ‘scandalously’, συνεπώς ‘consequently’, συνήθως ‘usually’ Two other categories of adjective give rise to adverbs in -ως, though in both cases the adverbs are rather rare: adjectives (from participles) in -ων, -ουσα, -ον or -ών, -ώσα, -ών or -ών, -ούσα, -ούν (see Section 3.11) and those in -ων/-ονας, -ον (Section 3.12). Such adverbs have -ως in place of the -α of the nom. and acc. neut. pl. form, with the stress on the penultimate. (For adverbs formed from adjectives in -ύς, -εία, -ύ see note 3 below.)
Examples:
αρκούντως ‘sufficiently’ (learned and rare), επειγόντως ‘urgently’, παρεμπιπτόντως ‘incidentally’ (the corresponding adjective is very rarely used), ευγνωμόνως ‘gratefully’
Adverbs in -ως
Finally, certain adjectives in -ος can also form an alternative adverb in -ως. Adverbs derived from adjectives stressed on the antepenultimate undergo a shift of stress to the penultimate. Adverbs of this kind, which were once more or less limited to learned usage, are in increasing use, facilitating various nuances of register and style. Some common doublets, such as βέβαια/βεβαίως ‘certainly’, have no difference of meaning and hardly differ in usage. In other cases, however, the -ως form tends to be used in more formal contexts, or for specific stylistic reasons; for example, άδικα and αδίκως ‘unjustly’, άσχετα and ασχέτως ‘irrespectively’, σπάνια and σπανίως ‘rarely’. Its use in place of the adverb in -α can sometimes avoid an ambiguity when adjacent to a neuter plural adjective. For example, δύο εξαιρετικά πρωτότυπα βιβλία could mean either ‘two exceptionally (adverb) original books’ or ‘two excellent (adjective), original books’. The substitution of the adverbial form εξαιρετικώς would make it clear that the first meaning was intended.
1. Among adverbs from adjectives in -ος which are normally used in the alternative -ως form are: αδιακρίτως ‘indiscriminately’, αεροπορικώς ‘by air[mail]’, απολύτως ‘absolutely’, επανειλημμένως ‘repeatedly’, επομένως ‘consequently’, ιδίως ‘particularly’, κυρίως ‘mainly’, συνημμένως ‘attached’.
2. Sometimes there are differences of meaning or usage between the two forms. We give some important examples:
καλώς ‘well, rightly’, rather than καλά, is used in certain standardized expressions, such as καλώς ήλθες ‘welcome’; καλώς can also mean ‘lower second [degree]’ κακώς ‘badly, wrongly’ is sometimes used in place of the usual κακά ευχαρίστως means ‘with pleasure’ while ευχάριστα means ‘pleasantly’ τελείως ‘completely’ is distinguished from τέλεια ‘perfectly’ αμέσως means ‘immediately’, in contrast to άμεσα ‘directly’ ίσως ‘perhaps’ has a quite different meaning from ίσα ‘equally’
Many speakers recognize a distinction between the two adverb forms derived from απλός ‘simple’: απλά means ‘simply, in a simple way’, while απλώς means ‘merely’; this distinction is not always observed in practice.
3. Adjectives in -ύς, -εία, -ύ (Section 3.5) have adverbs ending in -έως, e.g. βαρέως ‘heavily, gravely’, βραδέως ‘slowly’, ευθέως ‘in a direct manner, straight, honestly’ (but note that the adjective itself is also used adverbially of time: ευθύς ‘immediately, straight away’), ευρέως ‘widely’, ταχέως ‘quickly, soon’. These forms are of learned origin and are rarely used in the spoken language.
110 Part II
Ch. 4 Adverbs