The twenty-third text, and the first written for comparison — which became the thinnest rule the day before this page was written, when subordination turned out to have a second shape and stopped being it. Comparison stood in six texts of twenty-two, against place’s twenty.
It is the fourth rule to be given a page of its own, and the shortest argument for one: children rank things. lebi, kurang and paling say more, less and most; dari is “than” and kadar is “as … as”. A conversation about which animal is fastest uses all five without being made to.
Written at 300 roots, with no grammar beyond Lesson 26.
Pagi. Anak-anak otur in bage. Ta-ta kan animal-animal.
Anak kabir sema: "Farasi paling kabir."
Anak keci respon: "No. Farasi kabir, aur pahar lebi kabir dari farasi."
Kanis hayai. Kucing hayai kadar kanis.
Farasi lebi hayai dari kanis.
Tair paling hayai porke tair in udara.
Samaki kurang kabir dari farasi.
Samaki hidup in sungai. Sungai lebi baid dari bage.
Anak keci sema: "Mi hayai kadar tair."
Dugu ta sema: "Yu kurang hayai dari kucing."
Anak keci kimbia. Kucing kimbia lebi hayai.
Anak-anak kanta.
Mualim lai aur tanya: "Kim paling hayai?"
Anak-anak respon: "Tair!"
Mualim sema: "Tair paling hayai in udara. Samaki paling hayai in akua."
Ta sema kanis kurang hayai dari farasi.
Ta sema kanis es rafiki lebi hao.
Aksam. Anak-anak go dom.
Anak keci fikir tair lebi hao dari kucing.
Dugu ta fikir kucing lebi hao dari tair.
Du anak senang.
Line by line
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Pagi. | Morning. |
| Anak-anak otur in bage. | The children sit in the garden. |
| Ta-ta kan animal-animal. | They look at the animals. |
| Anak kabir sema: “Farasi paling kabir.” | The big child says: “The horse is the biggest.” |
| Anak keci respon: “No. | The small child answers: “No. |
| Farasi kabir, aur pahar lebi kabir dari farasi.” | The horse is big, and the mountain is bigger than the horse.” |
| Kanis hayai. | The dog is fast. |
| Kucing hayai kadar kanis. | The cat is as fast as the dog. |
| Farasi lebi hayai dari kanis. | The horse is faster than the dog. |
| Tair paling hayai porke tair in udara. | The bird is the fastest because the bird is in the air. |
| Samaki kurang kabir dari farasi. | The fish is less big than the horse. |
| Samaki hidup in sungai. | The fish lives in the river. |
| Sungai lebi baid dari bage. | The river is further than the garden. |
| Anak keci sema: “Mi hayai kadar tair.” | The small child says: “I am as fast as a bird.” |
| Dugu ta sema: “Yu kurang hayai dari kucing.” | Her sibling says: “You are less fast than the cat.” |
| Anak keci kimbia. | The small child runs. |
| Kucing kimbia lebi hayai. | The cat runs faster. |
| Anak-anak kanta. | The children sing. |
| Mualim lai aur tanya: “Kim paling hayai?” | The teacher comes and asks: “Who is the fastest?” |
| Anak-anak respon: “Tair!” | The children answer: “The bird!” |
| Mualim sema: “Tair paling hayai in udara. | The teacher says: “The bird is the fastest in the air. |
| Samaki paling hayai in akua.” | The fish is the fastest in the water.” |
| Ta sema kanis kurang hayai dari farasi. | She says the dog is less fast than the horse. |
| Ta sema kanis es rafiki lebi hao. | She says the dog is a better friend. |
| Aksam. | Evening. |
| Anak-anak go dom. | The children go home. |
| Anak keci fikir tair lebi hao dari kucing. | The small child thinks the bird is better than the cat. |
| Dugu ta fikir kucing lebi hao dari tair. | Her sibling thinks the cat is better than the bird. |
| Du anak senang. | Two children are happy. |
What comparison did
Fourteen of the twenty-nine sentences compare something, and between them they use every part of the rule:
| lebi kabir, lebi hayai, lebi baid, lebi hao | more |
| kurang kabir, kurang hayai | less |
| paling kabir, paling hayai | most |
| dari farasi, dari kanis, dari bage, dari kucing, dari tair | than |
| kadar kanis, kadar tair | as … as |
Kucing kimbia lebi hayai is the one that puts a degree word on a verb rather than a noun — lebi in the adverb slot, scaling hayai where the adverb rule puts it. The rule page states that shape in one line and the corpus had barely used it.
The last three sentences are deliberate. Two children compare the same two animals and reach opposite answers, and the language says both with the same four words in the same order. Nothing in a comparison marks whose it is — lebi hao is “better” and never “better to me” — so the two lines are not contradictory, they are two people each stating a fact the language has no way to qualify.
Gaps
“The biggest of the three” cannot be said. paling names a superlative without naming what it is superlative among, and the rule page records the gap: paling kabir dari tri is untested and was not tested here. The teacher’s answer works around it by naming the place instead — paling hayai in udara — which is a different sentence and an honest one.
No word for “than” that is not also “from”. dari does both jobs, which is settled and deliberate — the rule page argues it — but this page puts the two jobs one line apart: Samaki hidup in sungai and Sungai lebi baid dari bage. A reader meeting dari in the second sentence has to know the first word after it is a standard and not a source, and nothing but the lebi before it says so.
No comparative for a noun against a noun without an adjective. A dog is more of a friend than a cat has no form: the page says kanis es rafiki lebi hao, “the dog is a better friend”, which needs an adjective to lean on. Recorded with the other gaps in comparison.md.
Roots used
50 of 300.