OE Adverbs

Ordinal Numerals.

The OE Numerals and Adverbs.

B) Degrees of Comparison.

Most OE adjectives distinguished between 3 degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative. The regular means used to form the comparative and the superlative from the positive were the suffixes –ra and –est/ ost. Sometimes suffixation was accompanied by an interchange of the root-vowel. Some adjectives (3ōd, lýtel, micel) had suppletive forms.

Table 4

Means of form-building	Positive	Comparative	Superlative	NE
Suffixation	soft	softra	softost	soft
Suffixation + vowel interchange	lon3	len3ra	len3est	long
Suppletion	3ōd lýtel micel	bettra lǽssa māra	bet(e)st lǽst mǽst	good little much

1) Cardinal Numerals.

Numerals from 1 to 3 were declined. Numerals from 4 to 19 were usually invariable, if used as attributes to a noun, but they were declined if used without a noun. Numerals denoting tens had their Gen. in –es or in –a, -ra, their Dat. in –um.

1 – ān (was declined as a strong adjective)

2 – twe3en (M), tū, twā (N), twā (F)

3 – þrīe, þrī, þrý (M), þrīo, þrēo (N), þrīo, þrēo (F).

4 – fēower

5 – fīf

6 – siex, six, syx

7 – seofon, siofon, syofn

8 – eahta

9 – ni3on

10 – tīen, týn, tēn

11 – endlefan

12 – twelf

Numerals from 13 to 19 were derived from compounding of the first 9 numerals and the numeral tīen (týn, tēn) - 10, e.g. fiftīen – 15.

Numbers consisting of tens (from 20 to 60) were composed by the proper numeral (from 2 to 6) and suffix –ti(3), e.g. twenti3 - 20. From 70 to 100 the names of the numerals had such part as hund – 100, e.g. hundsiofonti3 – 70. Numerals from 100 to 900 had this part as their last component: tū hund – 200. 1000 was called þūsend. Numbers consisting of tens and units were denoted in the following way: twā and twenti3 – 22.

Numbers ān – 1, twē3en – 2 and þrīe – 3 had the special ordinals: forma, fyresta; ōþer, æfterra; þridda, þirda. The rest of the ordinal numerals were composed by adding –þa to the root ending in the vowel or voiced consonant and by –ta to the root ending in voiceless consonant, e.g. twelfta – 12-й, seofoþa – 7- й (-n before –þa was lost).

The OE adverbs were primary and derived. Among the primary ones we can name:

1) the adverbs of place: hwǽr – "where", þǽr – "there";

2) the adverbs of time: hwanne - "when", þā – "then", hwīle – "while", sōna – " soon";

3) the adverbs of manner: þǽr- æfter – "thereafter", þær-bī – "thereby".

The derived adverbs were composed with the help of the following suffixes:

1) – e, e.g. wīde – широко;

2) – lice (NE –ly), e.g. frēondlice - по-дружньому;

3) – es, e.g. dæ3es – вдень.

The OE adverbs had the degrees of comparison too. The comparative degree was formed by the suffix – or, the superlative one - by –ost.

4). The OE verb:

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