II: THE ADJECTIVE

Nouns vs. Adjectives

103. Nouns and adjectives are usually quite distinct: as a rule, nouns have
only one gender, being either masculine or feminine, while adjectives may vary
in gender; nouns express complex ideas while adjectives render a single notion,
etc. (Meyer-Lübke III § 5; Nyrop V § 85). Yet many words are capable of
functioning in either capacity, specifically those that designate human beings
such as vezi(n) 'neighbor'; antic 'friend'; borzes, barges 'burger, town-dweller'.
N o precise demarcation exists between nouns and adjectives, a fact which
Tobler (II 178) formulates in very categorical terms: «es stellt sich als völlig
unausführbar dar eine Scheidung zwischen Substantiven und Adjektiven als
zwischen zwei Wortarten zu vollziehn». It is, indeed, quite common to see adjec-
tives used as nouns, while the opposite is a much less frequent occurrence
(Tobler II 178-210; Meyer-Lübke II § 391 & III § 7; Nyrop V §§ 85-87).
104. A n adjective is used as a noun primarily to designate a person who is
endowed with a certain distinguishing quality or characteristic, the underlying
noun being om(e) 'man' in the masculine, mother 'woman' in the feminine: vielh
'old man'; jove(n) 'young man'; ric 'rich man'; paubre 'poor man'; Frances
'Frenchman' and velha 'old woman'; jove(n) 'young woman', etc. In the plural,
such adjectives refer to an entire class or category of people: los rics 'the rich
people'; los Frances 'the French'. This syntax is illustrated in the following
examples, some of which will bear witness to the fact that the article is not a
necessary ingredient in this transformation process: czo nun vi jovens ni canuz
(Sainte Foi, v. 370) 'neither the young man nor the grey-haired saw that': per
q'ieu vuoill mais esser paubres honratz c'avols manens (A. de Peguilhan 19,20)
'for I will rather be a poor man living honorably than a vile person of great
wealth'; qu'anc non ac Norman ni Frances dins mon ostau (Guillaume IX IV
29) 'for there was never a Norman nor a Frenchman inside my house'; qui en
veilla s'enten (J. de Puycibot V 7) 'he who courts an old lady'; drudari' es morta
en las joves (ibid., V 17) 'love is lost in the young women'; e lh vielh laissan a ls
joves lor maisos (B. de Born 40,2) 'and the old leave their houses to the young'.
105. The adjective is used as a substantive to designate an abstract concept
as for example lo ver 'the true, what is true, truth': sabra n lo ver (Cercamon I
30) 'she will learn the truth about it'; voletz que us dia l ver (G. de Bornelh
51,22) 'do you want me to tell you the truth'. In this type of formation, the

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quality which is usually attributed to an object in order to distinguish it from
other objects has acquired more independent status as existing by itself; exam-
ples of this are lo bo 'the good'; I'avol 'the bad', etc.: om am tan I'avol colbon
e'lpauc col gran (ibid., 58,16) 'one loves the bad as much as the good and the
small as much as the great'. Certain adjectives when used in this manner may
move on to adopt the meaning of an abstract noun; ver 'truth' belongs here, as
do also caut 'heat'; amar 'bitterness'; escur 'darkness', etc.: per caut (G. Ri-
quier: Riquer 349,4) 'because of the heat'; atressi cum (val mais) sobre amar
doussors (A. de Peguilhan 39,34) 'just as sweetness is preferable to bitterness';
e lo rays de l'estela a I'escur alumnat (Croisade Albigeoise 188,81) 'and the ray
of the star has illuminated the darkness'; l'escurs s'alumpna e pareis la claror
(ibid., 191,52) 'darkness is illuminated and light appears'. The Sainte Foi offers
a unique example of the adjective suau 'sweet, gentle' serving as a noun with
the meaning of 'delight, pleasure': czo fo lur gauiz e lur sua us (v. 457) 'it was
their joy and their delight'; and aspre is used with the meaning of 'harshness' in
the following passage: tantm'es de vos 1'aspre doutz e suaus (A. de Maruelh IV
37) 'so soft and sweet to me is your harshness'. The nominative singular s of
l'escurs and lur suaus provides proof that we do not have to do with neuter
adjectives here, but with masculine nouns, and the same is true of vers in: so
c'anc vers no parec (G. de Bornelh 30,62) 'what never appeared to be the
truth'. Had it been an adjective, the proper form would have been a neuter ver
referring back to so c'. We may further compare the use of the accusative plural
in this Old French example: ne dirai mie toz vos buens (Yvain, v. 6402) 'and I
shall not tell all that is just in you'. Spanish syntax, on the other hand, allows
for a distinction between a masculine el bueno 'the good man' and a neuter lo
bueno 'the good (thing)'.

106. A noun preceded by the preposition de may acquire the value of an

adjective; cf. Fr. couronne d'or as the equivalent of Lat. corona aurea. The
entire combination de bon' aire 'noble' has become an adjective in its own right
(cf. Fr. debonnaire): la plus de bon' aire re (Flamenca v. 2321) 'the noblest
person'; ma sors es la belaire del mon, e la plus de bell' aire (ibid., v. 119) 'my
sister is the most beautiful lady in the world and the noblest'.
107. Adjectives commonly serve as nouns in expressions of dimension (To-
bler II 184-85), among them aut 'height'; gran 'height'; lone 'length'; lat
'breadth, width'; preon 'depth': e'lflum creg aquela nuit de .Hi. pes d'aut (Appel
121,50) 'and the river rose that night three feet in height'; tam bell.... non vi
hom anc, ... ni que fos aisi de bon gran. .vii. pes ac d'aut (Flamenca, v. 1632)
'such a good-looking man one never saw, nor one who was so tall. He was
seven feet tall'.
108. There are two categories of adjectives, one which is gender-distingu-
ishing: bo(n)s - bona 'good', and one which is not: fortz - fortz 'strong'. All
masculine adjectives are inflected like murs while, in the feminine, bona fol-
lows the declension of filha, fortz that of naus (§ 42). Adjectives have retained

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a neuter which, in the nominative case, differs formally from the masculine
through the lack of -s: neuter bei, fort vs. masculine bels, fortz 'beautiful,
strong'.

Grammatical Agreement

109. Unlike nouns, adjectives do not have an inherent gender, but they
agree in gender, case and number with the noun (or pronoun) they modify,
whether they serve as predicate or qualify the noun directly, and the same rule
applies to the past and present participles whenever these are used as pure
adjectives: vueil un novel chant comenzar (Cercamon II 3) Ί want to begin a
new song'; ab tan doussa pena (Peirol V 31) 'with such sweet suffering'; e l pans
fo blancs e'l vins fo bos (Guillaume IX V 47) 'and the bread was white, and the
wine was good'; et ag loncz guinhos (ibid., V 56) 'and it had long whiskers';
amors es desconoguda sai (B. de Born 32,73) 'love is unknown here'; en las
ricas cortz (P. Vidal XXV 37) 'in the powerful courts'.
110. When modifying two or more nouns of different gender, the adjective
is usually in the masculine: tendas e pavilhos fermatz (B. de Born 42,7) 'tents
and pavilions set up'; vengutz es lo temps e la sazos (A. de Peguilhan 11,31) 'the
time and the moment have arrived'. It is perhaps more accurate to state that
agreement is normally made with the closer of the two (or more) substantives
since such a statement would account also for the following cases: tant esfina e
granz sa beutatz, son parage e sa ricor (Jauf re, v. 7772) 'so fine and great are her
beauty, her rank and her wealth'; et ac saunenta la cara e'l costatz (Daurel et
Beton, v. 450) 'and his face and side were bleeding'; maint mur, mainta tor
desfacha veirem (B. de Born, Anhang II 30) 'we shall see many a wall and many
a tower destroyed'; tan m'es esquiv' e fera la perd' e'l dans (G. de Bornelh
41,10) 'so awful and bad are for me the loss and the damage'.
111. The continuation of Lat. medius 'middle' is used adverbially, hence its
lack of agreement and hence also the unusual place it occupies before the
article, while a true adjective is placed between the article and the noun: en
mieg la sala (Appel 3,293) 'in the middle of the room'; cf. OFr. en mi la pree 'in
the middle of the meadow'. In the same manner, sol 'alone' may be used
uninflected and with adverbial meaning: sol la sospeissos .... ensenhava (G. de
Bornelh 14,15 var.) 'hope alone showed' (Diez 790-92 & 830-31; Meyer-Lübke
III § 137).The placement of tot 'all' before the article is treated in § 230; the
same word order obtains for continuations of Lat. ambo 'both' as seen in § 163.

Invariable Predicates

112. Serving as predicate of the verb esser, we find not only adjectives and
nouns, but also prepositional locutions for which the problem of agreement
becomes irrelevant: qu'ieu serai vius ο serai per quartiers (B. de Born 26,26)
'for I shall be alive, or I shall be (cut) in pieces'; per lieys serai ο trebalhos

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ο de lezer (Cercamon I 51) 'because of her I shall be either restless or at ease';
son tuich d'agradatge miei dich e miei chan (G. Faidit 43,81) 'all my words and
my songs are pleasant'.

The Comparison of the Adjective

113. There are three degrees of comparison: the positive, the comparative
and the superlative. While, by and large, Classical Latin uses synthetic forma-
tions in the expression of the higher degrees: clarus 'clear' - clarior 'clearer' -
clarissimus 'clearest', certain adjectives are compared by means of the adverbs
magis or plus, with maxime serving to form the superlative: magis idoneus
'more suitable'; magis dubius 'more doubtful'. The gloss saniore: plus sano
'healthier' (Glossary of Reichenau, n° 1118) is indicative of a Vulgar Latin trend
favoring analytical expression over the Classical Latin synthetic comparatives.
The Classical Latin relative superlative disappears in the post-classical period,
with the comparative assuming its functions; cf. the gloss optimos: meliores
'best' (Glossary of Reichenau, n° 576) (S. de Vogel §§ 24, 43).
114. In Occitan, the norm is for the comparative degree of the adjective to
be expressed analytically through the addition of plus 'more' or menhs 'less' to
the positive: anc om plus sas no fo (G. de Bomelh 53,7) 'never was there a
healthier man'; quan la sazos es plus genta e plus avinens (B. de Born 16,4)
'when the season is more beautiful and more pleasant'. Mais < magis and melhs
< melius are used very infrequently in the formation of the comparative degree
of the adjective, being encountered only in connection with participles which
have kept their verbal characteristics: la melz amada (Sordel XLIII 1319) 'the
most loved'; qu'es forser e mais tirans (A. de Peguilhan 24,4) 'for it is stronger
and more powerful'; e dels melhs combatens (Croisade Albigeoise 214,111) 'and
of the most courageous in combat'; plus eel q'es folz qetz mel(z) membraz
(Sainte Foi, v. 41) 'more the one who is mad than the most reasonable'. In
popular Latin, however, melius may serve to form the comparative of a true
adjective: melius sanus (Plautus) 'healthier'. The relative superlative is formed
by adding a defining word, the definite article or a possessive adjective, to the
comparative: plus avinens 'more pleasant' and lo plus avinens 'the most
pleasant'. It is the development of an article in Romance that makes it possible
again to distinguish the superlative from the comparative.
115. No comparative or superlative exists for adjectives which express an
absolute quality that cannot be subject to degrees of intensity such as cec 'blind'
and mort 'dead'. Nouns denoting a quality may be constructed with plus and lo
plus, or they may be modified by adverbs in the same manner as adjectives; this
is the case with prozom 'honorable man' which, etymologically, is a compound
of an adjective and a noun. It is written as one word, or the two elements may
be kept separate: era'l plus pros hom de la vila (Flamenca, v. 1884) 'he was the
most honorable man in town'; Jozep es mot prozom (Appel 9,155) 'Josef is a
very honorable man'.

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 116. The complement is linked to the comparative degree of the adjective
by means of either que or de 'than' in comparisons of inequality, while com
'like' is used if equality is expressed. For details, see the discussion of case use
in comparisons § 59. The use of the comparative particles is illustrated in the
following passages: et etz plus nescis que montos (B. de Born 38,10) 'and you
are more stupid than a sheep'; anc plus pros bars de lui no portet lansa (G. de
Bomelh 77,77) 'never did a nobler baron than he carry a sword'; es sees coma
lenha (ibid., 47,103) 'he is dry like firewood'.
117. A few synthetic comparatives of Latin have survived in Occitan:
melher - melhör 'better'; peier - peiör 'worse'; mdier - maior 'bigger, greater';
menre - mendr 'smaller, lesser'. Being imparisyllabic (Lat. milior - meliorem),
they are inflected like trobaire - trobador (§ 42). Other synthetic comparatives
are sordiier - sordeiör 'worse'; ginser - gensor 'nicer, more beautiful'; beldzer
or beläire - belazör 'more beautiful'; grdisser - graissor 'fatter'. A few others
have mostly, if not exclusively, survived in the accusative: aussor 'higher';
forsor 'stronger'.
118. Since the nominative singular is quite distinct from the rest of the
paradigm, the synthetic comparatives may be subject to a leveling trend, result-
ing in the creation of two separate flexions: melhers - melher and melhors -
melhor. The syntax of the case forms and the mechanics of the leveling proces-
ses are illustrated in the following example material:
a) The regular nominative singular: que'l melher es del mart (B. de Born 17,48)
'for she is the best in the world'; es lo pejer mal del mon (Jaufri, v. 7451) 'it is
the worst disease in the world'; es la maier lauzors celars (G. de Bornelh
44,88) 'discretion is the highest praise'; quar plus de .xv. ans ac li menre
(Flamenca, v. 2616) 'for the youngest was over fifteen years of age'; lo
sen(z) es gencer (Sainte Foi, v. 77) 'the reason is more beautiful'; puois es del
mon la bellaire (A. de Peguilhan 41,30) 'for she is the most beautiful in the
world'.
b) The sigmatic nominative singular drawn from the regular nominative
through the addition of a flexional s (ex. melhers from melher): et es le
mielliers aips que sia (Flamenca, v. 7240) 'and it is the best quality there is'; e
seria l'er(r)ors derrieira mot piegres que la prumieira (Breviari d'Amor,
v. 24919) 'and the last error would be much worse than the first'; lo sieus
poders non es menres (ibid., v. 2453) 'his power is not less'; efora ben majers
dolors s'ieu fos morta (Jaufri, v. 8814) 'and it would have been a much
greater grief if I had been dead'.
c) The sigmatic nominative singular based on the accusative (ex. melhors
drawn from melhor): mais so fon sos meillors thesaurs (Flamenca, v. 848)
*but that was his best treasure'; tant cant es la forsa majors (Breviari d'Amor,
v. 8672) 'as long as the strength is greater'; belhazors (es) que flors que nais
(A. de Maruelh XVII18) 'she is more beautiful than the flower that opens
up'.
d) The regular accusative singular: melhor conselh dera na Berengera (G. de

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 Bornelh 57,39) 'lady Berengera would give better advice'; qu'ien saigensor
e bellazor (Guillaume I X I V 35) 'for I know a nicer and more beautiful lady
than she'; qu'ella major testa d'un bou (Jaufri, v. 8769) 'for he has a larger
head than an ox'.
e) The accusative singular drawn from the sigmatic nominative (ex. melher
form melhers): milher maistre non qual querre (K. Bartsch: Denkmäler
273,3) 'one should not look for a better master'; e li mes en ostatge son
mendrefilh (Croisade Albigeoise 41,5) 'and he gave him his youngest son as
hostage'.
f) The masculine nominative and accusative plural: peiorforun q'Aicinonaus
(Sainte Foi, v. 459) 'they were worse than Aicinonaus'; sill poder non dess
als peiors (ibid., v. 475) 'if he had not given the power to the worst'.
119. The synthetic comparatives and superlatives are sometimes replaced
by analytical formations, peier by plus malvatz 'worse' and even melher by plus
bons 'better', etc.: e'ls phis malvatz pot far valer (R. de Vaqueiras VII 14) 'and it
can give worth to the worst'; conosc c'aprop lo dezire, forai jois plus bos (Peirol
IX 39) Ί know that after the longing the joy would be greater'; e l guizardöns
sera plus bons c'om no pot dire (P. Cardenal LXV 172) 'and the reward will be
better than one can say'; la plus bona reina {Croisade Albigeoise 15,19) 'the best
queen'. Plus may even be added to a synthetic comparative, which proves that
the exact value and force of these forms had ceased to be clearly perceived: tot
lo plus ric e'l plus melhor (Appel 9,8) 'the very richest and the best'; car etz plus
maior (G. de Bornelh 59,37) 'for you are bigger'.
120. The creation of analogical synthetic comparatives, on the other hand,
is a rare occurrence of which P. Cardenal offers a few instances: nonfarian cara
lajor (XVI44) 'they would not eat worse'; anc no vie el mon lajor ossa (XVI37)
'never in the world did I see an uglier bone-heap', with lajor as a comparative
based on the Germanic-origin adjective lag, lach, lait, feminine laja, laida
'ugly'. The same poet also offers a nominative singular grueyssers for plus gros
'bigger': car es grueyssers d'una tremueia (XVI 2) 'for he is bigger than a mill-
funnel (?)'; and he makes use of a superlative I'avolor from avol 'base, mean,
bad': I'avolors res que sia (LIII 22) 'the basest thing there is'.
121. Aussor 'higher', though derived from the comparative altiöre(m), does
not always serve to establish a comparison, but rather it often renders the
absolute notion of 'very high, mighty, elevated, upper, glorious': lay sus en
paradis alsor (Sainte Enimie, v. 1422) 'up there in the glory of paradise'; so que
l'alsorfan (G. de Bornelh 72,58) 'what the mighty do'. It does serve with true
comparative force in the following passages: que d'aussor sen li auria ops
espandres (A. Daniel XIII 45) 'for he would have to spread abroad a higher
intelligence'; qu'eu ai vist acomensar tor ... e cada pauc levar alsor (G. de
Bornelh 40,51-53) 'for I have seen (people) begin a tower and little by little
build it bigger'. The Latin nominative altior, which would have given * ausser, is
not continued; instead, an analogical nominative form is created, drawn from
the accusative to which a flexional s has been added: vostra valors, q'es aussors

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 (Τ. de Villarnaud: Prov. Inedita 310,54) 'your worth which is very great'. With
the value of a superlative, we encounter both I'aussor and an analytical forma-
tion lo plus aussor 'the highest': las aussors gens fai Amors vas si dinar (J. de
Puycibot VI 40) 'love subdues the most elevated people'; el grat ausör (P.
Cardenal XLVI 8) 'on the highest step'; car ο trop els alsors (G. de Bornelh
68,71) 'for I find it in the powerful'; e foron al cosselh li baro plus ausor
(Croisade Albigeoise 163,5) 'and the highest-ranking barons participated in the
council'. More common than aussor is the analytical plus alt: de la plus auta
sane que sia (ibid., 149,57) 'of the highest blood there is'.
122. Forsor 'stronger' < fortiöre(m) is relatively rare: be farai castic forsor
(A. de Peguilhan 4,28) Ί shall gladly make a stronger reproach'; era garnitz ...
de forsor arnei(G. de Bornelh 70,35) 'he was equipped with a stronger armor'.
The preferred form is the analytical plus fort: la plus fort carcer fez obrir (Sainte
Foi, v. 219) 'he had the strongest prison open'; and there are also cases of plus
forsor: te ai cauzit pel plus forsor (P. Cardenal XVI 19) Ί have chosen you as
the strongest'. The elusive, hitherto undocumented nominative singular forser
< fortior appears in predicative function in this passage: qu'es forser e mats
tirans (A. de Peguilhan 24,4) 'for it is stronger and more powerful'; but unfortu-
nately this reading seems unsupported by the mss. and may be the work of the
editor. The preferred form is an analytic plus fort: a'l cor plus fort de mur (ibid.,
49,38) 'she has a heart harder than a wall'.
123. Sordejor 'worse' occurs mostly in the accusative singular or in the
plural: qar a sordejor la det e la tolc al meillor (Marcabru VI 21) 'for she gave it
(i. e. her love) to the worst and took it away from the best'; sis tornon sordejor
(P. Vidal XXXII 42) 'if they become worse'; falh, si compra los sordejors (G.
de Bornelh 14,80) 'he errs, if he buys the worst ones'. The nominative singular
sordeier is attested by Uc Faidit in his grammatical inventory (Crescini 55,42),
but is otherwise rare, if not inexistant, and Nyrop (II § 453,12) and Rheinfelder
(II 66) do not give any examples for Old French either. Unsupported by a
positive adjective form, sordejor soon ceased to be clearly perceived as a com-
parative: no tengatz per sordejor mon chan (P. Vidal XXXIII 11) 'do not
consider my song bad', and as a result, a new analytic comparative was formed:
plus sordejors (Croisade Albigeoise 178,12) 'worse'. The isolation of sordejor in
the adjectival paradigm makes it an easy victim of analogical pressures exerted
by the noun suffixes -ier, -eire and -or: selh qu'esser degran sordegier (Marcabru
III 12; in rhyme with pomier) 'those who ought to be the worst'; on es aquel
sordeyre (Barlam: SW VII 826-27) 'where is that enemy'; siey sordeior (ms. R
var. of Guillaume IX XI 15) 'his enemies'.
124. Belazor 'more beautiful' < *bellatiöre is flanked by two nominatives,
beläzer < *bellatior and belaire < *bellätor (cf. the reduction of *plüsiöri to
*plüsöri): anc no'η vis bellazor (Guillaume IX117) Ί never saw a more beauti-
ful one'; ma sors es la belaire del mon (Flamenca v. 119) 'my sister is the most
beautiful (lady) in the world'; la bellazers estet quais muda (ibid., v. 544)
'the most beautiful was almost speechless'; belhazer d'autra qu'anc nasques (G.

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Aymar: Prov. lnedita 116,2) 'more beautiful than any other lady ever born'. An
analytic formation is frequently found: era la plus bela dona del mon (Vidas
87,Ε 26) 'she was the most beautiful lady in the world'.
125. Gensor 'nobler, more beautiful, more charming' < *genitiöre or *gen-
tiöre is the comparative of gen ; the nominative genser is obtained analogically
from gensor: amar mifatz la gensor (G. de Montanhagol XII31) 'you make me
love the most beautiful lady'; quar anc genser crestiana nonfo (J. Rudel II17)
'for never was there a nobler Christian lady'.
126. Pluzor 'several, most people' < *plüs(i)öri, which functions as an
indefinite pronoun, has a very limited flexion, being practically restricted in use
to the masculine plural because of its inherent plural value, and furthermore it
serves mostly as a nominative: ben sabon li pluzor (Ussel XXVI 46) 'most
people know'; per quelh pluzor seran mort (G. de Bornelh 21,51) 'whereby
most will be dead'; lo maestre Bernat l'apelan li pluzor (Croisade Albigeoise
191,94) 'most people call him master Bernat'. In fact, Crescini (p. 75) declares
that it occurs in the nominative only: «di solito l'uso diplusor e ristretto al nom.
pi.», a statement which is echoed by Levy (SW VI400): «ich kann auch keinen
Beleg von los pluzors beibringen». Nevertheless, infrequent cases of the ac-
cusative are found: cist sirven fals fan a pluzors gequirpretz e joven (Cercamon
V 25) 'these faithless servants make many people forsake merit and youth'; e
semblera ver als pluzors (A. de Peguilhan 17,12) 'and it would have seemed
true to most people'; zo es provat entrels plusors (Sordel XLIII 748) 'this is
well-known to most people'; segon los pluzors (Ricas Novas II 19) 'like most
people'. In the following passage from A. de Maruelh: e ls pluzors renhon ab
enjans (XIX 45) 'but most of them act deceitfully', the use of an accusative is
incorrect, and a variant reading offers mas li plus. Even a totally isolated
example of a feminine form was encountered: car las pluzors no sabon entendre
lauzors (R. de Miraval IX 13) 'for most of them (i.e. the ladies) do not under-
stand praises'. As a rule, the nominative plural pluzor is accompanied by the
definite article, while some fluctuation seems to prevail in the accusative, but
examples are too scarce to allow for the detection of any definite preference.
The use of pluzors in adjectival function is rare; like all other synthetic com-
paratives, it is not subject to any gender variation: de pluzors sens sui pies
(Marcabru XVI 49) Ί am gifted with several skills'; pluzors vetz sui consiros
(G. de Bornelh 15,34) 'several times I am worried'. It is found as a singular
adjective in the Croisade Albigeoise with the meaning of 'longer, greater': no
sai plus que dia pluzor alongament (74,22) Ί do not know why I should tell you
a longer story'; but this is a very unusual construction of which I have encoun-
tered no further instances.
127. Li pluzor rarely follows the noun it modifies: e'l crozatz li pluzor
(Croisade Albigeoise 84,2) 'and most of the crusaders'. It is often reinforced by
means of tuit: tuit li plusor s'en volo retornar (ibid., 36,5) 'the majority wants to
return'; faran Ii mal tut li plusor (Guillaume IX XI15) 'most people will do him
harm'. Li pluzor does not seem to admit of a genitive construction with de,

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preference being given to liplus whenever such a limitation is expressed: liplus
de lor I'apelan trachor (Croisade Albigeoise 88,14) 'most of them call him a
traitor'. Li plus is not restricted to such use, however, but may also stand alone:
lai moriron liplus (ibid., 69,16) 'there most died'. The feminine form is las plus
(Marcabru XXXVI 21). The use of the neuters lo plus and lo mais as equiva-
lents oilipluzor and liplus is discussed under the comparative neuter adverbs,
§ 135.

The Superlative

128. As mentioned above (§ 114), the relative superlative is formed by

adding a defining word, normally the definite article or a possessive adjective
to the second degree: dels montaniers lo plus corren (Guillaume IX I 13) 'the
swiftest of the mountain horses'; de totz drutz suy ieu lo plus fis (P. Rogier III
23) 'of all lovers I am the most faithful'; sui d'amans lo plus vers (R. de
Vaqueiras XIII 79) Ί am the truest of lovers'. However, if the superlative
adjective follows the noun, a repetition of the article is usually avoided: la
ongla del det plus long (Vidas XL VI,Η 230) 'the nail of his longest finger', and
the article may also be lacking where the noun is modified by a possessive: ab
sos cavaliers plus privatz (Appel 3,170) 'with his most trusted knights'. Non-
repetition of the article further occurs in constructions where the adjective,
instead of directly qualifying the noun, appears as predicate in a relative clause:
la quals es el celcle quez es plus propdas (ibid., 115,286) 'which is in the circle
that is closest'. The article may even be omitted when the superlative is deter-
mined by a genitive construction with de or by a relative clause: sui plus fis dels
amans (A. de Peguilhan 24,41) Ί am the most faithful of lovers' (and not
""more faithful than the lovers'); de totz semblava pus laitz (Marienklage,
v. 304) 'he seemed the ugliest of all'; sei que davan era pus bels que anc sofris
terra ni eels (ibid., v. 301) 'he who before was the most beautiful earth or
heaven ever held'. A fluctuating article use is seen in: a pus dousa flayror e la
melhor (H. Suchier 179,46) 'it has the sweetest and the best scent'. Plus itself
may be used unmodified with the meaning of a superlative 'the most', especially
in relative clauses and indirect questions: I'amors qu'eu plus volh (B. de Ven-
tadorn 19,9) 'the love that I want the most'; cill qe el mon plus mi platz (G.
Faidit 25,19) 'the lady in this world who pleases me the most'; so que plus vols
(G. de Bornelh 33,54) 'what you want the most'; sela que pus I'ama, pus cor
(Marienklage, v. 83) 'the one who loves him the most runs fastest'.
129. The absolute superlative, i. e. the superlative which is not part of a
comparison, but which serves to express a high degree, is formed through a
reinforcement of the positive degree by means of adverbs such as molt 'very';
trop 'too, very'; assatz 'very'; be(n) 'very', etc.: mot maistratz (P. Cardenal
XXXIV 1) 'very artistic'; e ac en trop gran dolor (Appel 121,39) 'and he suf-
fered very great distress over it'; er be malvatz (B. de Born 30,35) 'he will be
very evil'. Tres, evolving from the detached prefix trans, is encountered in late

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 texts: guerra tres mala (Bartsch-Koschwitz 437,13) 'a very cruel war'. The
French-type development of this word is characteristic of certain Southern
dialects (FEW XIII 199). Also used for emphasis is the adverb per which is
placed next to the verb, and which is usually itself preceded by molt: molt per
fort genta safis (Cercamon VI18) 'his death was very noble'. And like per, the
above-mentioned reinforcing adverbs are mostly placed with the verb rather
than immediately before the adjective: c'assatz for' avinen (G. de Bornelh
36,120) 'for it would be very pleasing'; trop seria bos lo vostre razonamens
(Peirol X X I X 21) 'your reasoning would be too good'; ben a mauvais cor (B. de
Ventadorn 6,17) 'he has a very evil heart'.
130. The absolute superlative may also be expressed through prefixation
with per-, sobre-, tres-: ab perdurabla passio (Breviari d'Amor, v. 15932) 'with
everlasting suffering'; perluzens e bela (Sainte Enimie, v. 525) 'extremely
radiant and beautiful'; molt es malmenatz totz om sobrenamoratz (G. de Bor-
nelh 16,41) 'any man who is deeply in love is terribly mistreated'; vos non es...
nigrossa ni sobre-delgada (A. de Sescas: Appel 100, 84) 'you are neither fat nor
overly slender'; et (era) en batalha tres-sabis (Pseudo-Turpin 500,9) 'and he was
very prudent in warfare'.
131. Intensification of the comparative is a common feature: e meno trop
major nauza que la mainada del rei (Guillaume IX II 9) 'and they are much
noisier by far than the king's servants'; e mos bous es pro plus correns que lebres
(A. Daniel XVI 7) 'and my ox is much swifter than a hare'; be us tenc per
sobreplus leyal que no son silh de l'Espital (B. de Dia III 34) Ί do consider you
far more loyal than are the Hospitaliers', and the superlative may be streng-
thened by tot: tota la belasor del mon (Jaufre, v. 4236) 'by far the most beautiful
lady in the world'; aqel es us cavalers tot lo pejor el pus sobrers (ibid., v. 4781)
'that is an extremely evil and arrogant knight'. Various periphrastic locutions
serve to formulate hyperbolic statements denoting that a quality is present to
an extent unmatched elsewhere: que bei' es sobre las gensors (P. Vidal VIII 31)
'for she exceeds in beauty the most beautiful ladies'; Na Beatrix... q'esflors de
las gensors e mellier de las meillors (A. de Peguilhan 16,53) 'lady Beatrice who
is the flower of the most beautiful ladies and the very best'; aissi cum etz mieller
de las melhors (ibid., 27,23) 'just as you are the best of the best';/o sobre totas
dolors dolens (Vidas XI,Β 20) 'he was most sorrowful'; ο espaza ..., aguda de
las agudas (Pseudo-Turpin 504,15) 'oh, sharpest of all swords'; tu es tres-fortz
dels fortz (ibid., 507,24) 'you are the very strongest of the strong'. Even the
diminutive form of the adjective may function as an absolute superlative,
perhaps with a certain affective connotation: aygua ... clareta (Sainte Enimie,
v. 524) 'limpid water', and in rare instances, the relative superlative (or the
comparative) may approach the absolute superlative in value: per un bo son cen
Ii sordeior (G. de Bornelh 69,29) 'for one good there are a hundred extremely
evil ones'.
132. Hardly anything has survived of the Latin synthetic superlatives aside
from a few learned, ecclesiastical terms such as altisme 'almighty' < altissimu

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and the variant auzisme, analogical from the comparative auzor, aussor 'higher'
< altiöre; santisme '(most) holy' < sanctissimu; pruesme 'neighbor, fellow-man'
< pröximu: filh de Dieu altisme ( A p p e l 117,69) 'son of God the Almighty'; e
plac al Rei sanctisme (ibid., 7,403) 'and it pleased the most holy king'; per la
crotz sanctisma (ibid., 7,462) 'by the most holy cross'; I'auzismes (P. Cardenal
X X X V I I I 3 6 ) 'the Almighty'; nostrepruesme (Appel 109d,5) 'our neighbor, our
fellow-man'.

The Comparative Adverb

133. Occitan has a series of comparative adverbs which for practical pur-
poses are treated here although, strictly speaking, they do not belong to the
category of adjectives. A m o n g them are m(i)elhs 'better' < melius·, p(i)eitz
'worse' < peius-, mais 'more' < magis; plus 'more' < plus·, men(h)s 'less' <
minus, *minius\ sordeis 'worse' < sordidius; genseis 'more nobly' and forceis
'more strongly', neuter comparatives of gen and fort. The -eis ending is ety-
mological only in the case of sordeis from where it spreads to other adverbs; the
Latin adverb fortius, for example, would have evolved to * fort ζ just like the
adjective förtis. Funtioning primarily as adverbs, the comparative words trea-
ted here may serve to modify verbs: quar sap qu'ieu am mielhs d'autr' hom' e
genses ( R . de Vaqueiras V 22) 'for she knows that I love better and more nobly
than any other man'; quar sordeis chantatz que paos (B. de Born 38,46) 'for you
sing worse than a peacock'; quar sai que genseis morrai (Peirol I 3) 'for I know
that I shall die more nobly'; e si l mals longueitz li dura (P. Rogier I 51) 'and if
his suffering lasts longer' (the Nicholson edit, reads longuas 'long'); qu'eun
parlera forseis! ( G . de Bornelh 72,63) 'so that I should talk more forcefully
about it'; e non m'en devetz mentz amar {J auf re, v. 7599) 'and you should not
love me less for that'; fez apparer ... que volges longez anar (Sermons XVIII
40) 'he pretended that he wanted to go farther'. A s seen in some of the above
examples, -es is a common variant of -eis.
134. Quite frequently, the comparative adverbs play the role of neuter
adjectives or nouns: e qui mieillsfa sordeitz a (Marcabru X X I V 24) 'and he who
does the best receives the worst'; e fora mielhs, s'a dieu plagues (B. de Born
9,22) 'and it would have been better, if it had pleased God'; de tot lo mon a l
melhs e l mai (P. Vidal X L V 60) 'he has the best and the most in all the world';
non sab son melhs triar (ibid., X L V I I I 34) 'he does not know how to choose
what is best for him'; d'aqest jocpartitpren lo miels, e lsordei vos lais ( G . Faidit
18,11) 'of this joc partit I pick the best and leave you the worst' (var. sordis,
both standing for sordeis); per que pieitz ha de mort ( A . de Peguilhan 18,13)
'for he suffers worse than death'; ses mentis e ses mai (ibid., 10,7) 'without
decrease and without increase'.
135. T h e neuters lo mais and lo plus may serve as the equivalent of the
formal plurals li plus and li pluzor: al mais del poble ... no agreia (Croisade
Albigeoise 17,5) 'it did not please most of the inhabitants'; be sabon tuit lo plus

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 que ladonc vencut erent (ibid., 101,6) 'most of them realize that at that moment
they were defeated'. In this last example, tuit lo plus seems to have resulted
from a cross between tuit li plus and tot lo plus, and the verb shows agreement
ad sensum. Plus and mais are discussed further under the comparative adverbs
(§ 889); for their role in the formation of the analytical comparative, see § 114.
136. Lo melhs is often used with collective value about persons 'the best
people': nou ... del mielhs de sa maizo (Croisade Albigeoise 33,3) 'nine of the
most prominent people of his household'; car lo mielhs d'Avinho vos aten
(ibid., 153,7) 'for the most distinguished people in Avignon are waiting for
you'; estava elpalaes ab lo mels de sa gen (Daurel et Beton, v. 37) 'he was in the
palace with the best of his people'. Lo melhs may be found occasionally refer-
ring to a single person: que'l mielhs qu'ompuosch' el mon eslirepotguazanhar e
conquerer (B. de Born 30,37) 'for the best (lady) one can choose in the world,
he can win and conquer'; del melhs del mon sui jauzire: (B. de Ventadorn
19,13) Ί am enjoying the love of the best lady in the world'. An isolated
example was even encountered of la mielz used about a lady: no m poc entrar el
cor nul pensamen qe non fossatz la mielz c'anc nasqes (Vidas XLIX,D 48) Ί
could not help thinking that you were the best lady ever born'. Because of its
collective value, melhs may also, though rarely, occur in the plural: ab dels
melhs de la vila nos irem (Croisade Albigeoise 174,58) 'we shall leave with
some of the best people in the city'. Lo melhs is the semantic equivalent of la
flors, inasmuch as both terms are commonly used to designate an elite: de la
vila issiron totz lo melhs e la flors (ibid., 178,22) 'all the noblest citizens came
out of the town'.
137. While adjectival use of the comparative adverb is commonplace, the
opposite trend, the use of the synthetic comparative adjective in adverbial
function, is a rare occurrence of which I have encountered only a couple of
examples, both involving the locution faire pejor. vos fest pejor (P. Cardenal
LXV 46) 'you acted worse'; as pegor fach (Jutgamen General, v. 1496) 'you
have done worse'.

The Neuter Adjective

138. The neuter form of the adjective, which is characterized formally by

the lack of any flexional ί in the nominative, is used in impersonal construc-
tions, or else it refers back to such neuter antecedents as so 'what' and tot
'everything' or to the content of a clause: de lai don plus m'es bon e bei
(Guillaume IX X 7) 'from where it pleases me the most'; ςο no m'es pas bon qe
d'Amor digaz si ben non (Marcabru VI 9) 'it does not please me that you say
anything else than good about love'; greu m'es (G. de Bornelh 58,57) 'it grieves
me'; so que vas totz es comunal (ibid., 58,6) 'what is common to everybody'; per
qu'er escur so qu'ar es clar (P. d'Alvernhe XVII 57) 'for what is now clear will
become obscure'; cant eu la vei, be m'es parven als olhs (B. de Ventadorn 1,41)
'when I see her, it is truly visible in my eyes'; totso qu'es bon e bei (Marien-

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klage, v. 140) 'everything that is nice and good'; e voill sia totz temps saubut cum
eu I'm amat (B. de Dia IV 3) 'and I want it to be known at all times how much I
have loved him'; mas anc nonfo crezut qu'ella li fezes amor de la persona (Vidas
XC,A 25) 'but it was never believed that she had made love to him'. These
locutions may, of course, also appear in a personal construction, in which case
the proper masculine or feminine form of the adjective is used: mais estfe(i)n-
ers no m'es ges grieus, ans vos die que m'es borts e be Is (Flamenca, v. 7078) 'but
this pretending is not at all disagreeable to me, on the contrary, I am telling you
that it pleases me'; aiqest malfo sabutz (Vidas XLIX,D 201) 'this tragic news
was learned'.
139. Outside of a few set phrases such as bei m'es 'it pleases me'; greu m'es
'it grieves me, I am sorry'; semblan m'es 'it seems to me'; saubut fo 'it was
learned'; crezut fo 'it was believed', at times even with these locutions as well,
the masculine is commonly found where one would have expected a neuter: e
teg s'ab Deu, qell es plus belz (Sainte Foi, v. 100) 'she remained faithful to God,
which pleases her more'; so qe ll era ditz non era vertatz (Vidas XXXVIII,Ε 31)
'what had been told him was not the truth'; don era cresutz qe l corns fos sos
drutz (ibid., XXXVIII,Ε 21) 'wherefore it was believed that the count was her
lover'.
140. The expressions es vers 'it is true' and es dreitz 'it is just' probably
contain nouns rather than adjectives: es vers que eu vendei aquestas maisos
(Chartes 262,24) 'it is true that I sold these houses'; conosc que vers es (Ε. de
Barjols IX 6) Ί know that it is true'; tot es vers (Appel 101,60) 'everything is
true'; driz es e bis que l'om e Deu s'esper (Boeci: Appel 105,120) 'it is just and
well that man places his hope in God'; non es ges dreitz c'autr' amors mi tuoilla
(B. de Dia II 17) 'it is not just at all that another love takes you away from me';
et es ben dreytz e razos (E. de Barjols I 37) 'and it is truly just and right'. The
same explanation may perhaps be applied to es parvens 'it is apparent, it is
clear': parvens m'es, qu'aman me deu aucire (G. Riquier XXIII 3) 'it is clear to
me that by loving she will kill me'. For the different constructions withparven,
see SW VI 105-08 and Stronski: E. de Barjols 59-60.
141. The neuter form of several adjectives is often used adverbially, among
them aut, bas, clar, fort, gen, greu, leu, suau, etc.: e l rossinhols autet e clar leva
sa votz (B. de Ventadorn 20,3) 'and the nightingale raises its voice loudly and
clearly'; garis mout greu (P. Vidal VII 22) 'he recovers with great difficulty';
parla bas (R. d'Aurenga X X X I X 21) 'he speaks softly'; am fort (Ussel VI22) Ί
love sincerely'; mas d'amor morplus leu que d'autraplaya (ibid., X X V I 4 8 ) 'but
he dies of love more easily than from another wound'; I'aiga que soau s'adui (B.
de Ventadorn 23,37) 'the water which flows gently'; aquest' amors me fer tan
gen (ibid., 1,25) 'this love wounds me so nobly'. An exception to this usage
appears in the following passage where a non-neuter adjective is used: e la luna
q'es tota plena lusi clara (Jaufre, v. 1570) 'and the moon, which was full, shone
brightly'. Clara here maintains a predicative role, perhaps prompted by plena,
as one would have expected the locution to be luzir clar. The same adjectival

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locution is encountered in Old French: la lune luisoit molt clere (Aucassin XII
30) 'the moon was shining brightly'.
142. A neuter car is used in the locutions tener, comprar and vendre car:
idolas tegrun nemjas car {Sainte Foi, v. 124) 'they loved idols very much'; car
comprarez est reprober ibid., v. 331) 'you will pay for that offence dearly'; qui
car compra car vert (Marcabru XI55) 'he who buys at a high price sells at a high
price'; car vendria sa gelozia (R. de Vaqueiras XV 18) 'he would sell his
jealousy dearly'; anc tan car no compriei conoissensa (A. de Peguilhan 20,4)
'never did I buy knowledge so dearly'; que7 doble tenc lieis plus car (ibid. 2,26)
'for I hold her doubly dear'. Car may even merge with tener in a prefixal role:
plus n'er chartenguda (G. de Bornelh 41,70) 'she will be more esteemed for it'.
Agreement of car is a rare occurrence: e si tos dichs no te chars (ibid., 5,50) 'and
if she does not esteem your words'; nulz no Is den tener tan cars (Sordel XLIII
510) 'nobody should esteem them so highly' (in rhyme with affars). Vil is
invariable in the locution tener vil 'to despise': es vil tengutz (R. de Vaqueiras
XXVIII 4) 'he is despised'.
143. The neuter adjective is also used outside of the more or less fixed
locutions treated so far: e del cor sospiret preon (Marcabru 116) 'and he sighed
from the bottom of his heart', lit. 'deeply from the heart'; e fol m'avet parlatz
(Daurel et Beton, v. 868) 'and you have spoken to me in a foolish manner'; si
co lh gesta ho dis apert (Sainte Enimie, v. 40) 'as the chronicle told it openly';
car lait guazanha aco de sos vizis (P. Cardenal LXVI 48) 'for shamefully he
acquires what belongs to his neighbors'; e crezet ferm en Jhesu Crist (Breviari
d'Amor, v. 27203) 'and he firmly believed in Jesus Christ'.
144. The so-called adverbial s (§ 882) may be added to these neuter forms,
but this appears to be rare and may ultimately represent nothing more than a
purely formal adjustment. Thus, in the examples below, the word that is mod-
ified by an adverbial adjective ends in -s: e fo gens parlans (Vidas LXXXIII 2)
'and he spoke gently'; ab dos capos jens raustiz (Jaufre, v. 4624) 'with two nicely
roasted capons', and in this passage from G. de Rossillon, the word that im-
mediately follows the neuter begins with an s: dis lisoaus: Seiner (Appel 1,637)
'she said to him gently: lord'.
145. Competition from the adverbial formation in -men with the locutions
involving neuter adjectives is of negligible proportions, but cases of this are
encountered nonetheless: e te lo caramens (Daurel et Beton, v. 1408) 'and he
loves him'; e escrida mot autamen (Jaufri, v. 584) 'and he shouted in a very loud
voice'; lo corns Baudo'is lor a dit bassamens (Croisade Albigeoise 76,3) 'Count
Baudoin told them in a low voice'. This last example seems to indicate that no
semantic difference exists between parlar bas and parlar bassamen as opposed
to Modern French where parier bas is something concrete 'to talk in a low
voice' while parier bassement is used only in a figurative, pejorative sense 'to
speak meanly, to speak in degrading terms' (Nyrop V § 109; Togeby § 70,2).
146. It is difficult to analyze the precise nature of for example bas in parlar
bas, whether a neuter adjective or an adverb. This is in part linked to the fact

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that the formal difference which existed in Latin between the neuter adjective:
malum, tardum, and the adverb: male, tarde was obliterated in Gallo-Romance
with the regular elimination of -o and -e endings, but a comparison with other
Romance languages (cf. It. veder chiaro and Sp. ver claro 'to perceive clearly')
tips the scales in favor of the neuter adjective, a syntax which, incidentally, is
well-known to Latin itself: magnum clamare 'to shout in a loud voice'; pul-
chrum legit 'he reads well', where it had gained momentum in a late period
presumably as an imitation of Greek (Väänänen § 365; Löfstedt II 418-20;
Gamillscheg 527). Occitan usage thus seems to be a direct continuation of a
structure already available in Latin and adopted very generally in Rumanian:
cäntä frumos 'he sings beautifully', while elsewhere adverbs in -mente were
created.
147. In the combinations dire ver 'to tell the truth' (§ 105) and oler bo(n) 'to
smell good', the function of the adjective appears to be substantival in nature
rather than adverbial: ab meins de ver dir (P. Cardenal XXIX 28) 'with less
veracity'; la carnz ol bon(Sainte Foi, v. 415) 'the flesh smells good'. Similarly for
saber bo(n) which usually carries the abstract meaning of 'to please' (SW VII
400): mas a vos sap bo, anatz ab lui (Daurel et Beton, v. 334) 'since it pleases
you, go with him'; fort bom sabra, s'o voles far (Flamenca, v. 1065) 'it will give
me great pleasure if you will do it', and so also saber mal: cum si la mortz li
saubes mal (G. de la Barre, v. 1289) 'as if death displeased her'.
148. The neuter adjective may be preceded by de, this combination being
the equivalent of the adverb or the neuter adjective used alone: cum cujatz que
de lieu poscatz aver lo bon regne de Dieu (P. Cardenal XLIX 41) 'and what
makes you think that you can easily obtain the good kingdom of God'; sellas et
escutz de nou teinz (Flamenca, v. 89) 'saddles and shields freshly colored'; ella
lo preget... qu'elfeses de nou una chanson (Vidas LXXXIV,D 43) 'she begged
him to write a canso again'. An example of this construction may be contained
in: els servon de for (H. de Pena: Pro v. Inedita 333,35) 'and they serve them
well', as de for could possibly represent fort.
149. It is the norm for tot to be treated like an adjective showing grammati-
cal agreement with the adjective or past participle it modifies in spite of the fact
that it assumes an adverbial role in this context, carrying the meaning of 'com-
pletely' or 'very'. Grammatically, tot behaves like an adjective, whether it
stands immediately before the adjective-past participle or is separated from it
by a verb (Tobler I 86-88): en Alvernhe, ... m'en aniey totz sols a tapi (Guil-
laume IX V 14) 'in Auvergne I was walking all alone on the sly'; et er totz
mesclatz d'amor e de joy (ibid., I 3) 'and it will be all mixed with love and joy';
ans m'en leu totz esbai'tz (G. de Bornelh 18,30) 'on the contrary, I get out of bed
all worried'; e es totz las (Jaufri, v. 3025) 'and he is very tired'; qu'ella m dis tuta
marria (Appel 21,40) 'for she said to me very grieved'. An adjectival tot may
serve as a reinforcement of the superlative degree of the adjective (§ 131): tota
la genser qu'anc hom vis (Cercamon I 19) 'the most beautiful lady one ever
saw'. Tot is even inflected when it appears alone with the verb, in which case it

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assumes the function of an apposition either to the subject or to the verbal
action (cf. § 56): totz m'en cudei laissar (G. de Bornelh 68,55) Ί intended to
desist from it completely'. Truly adverbial or a neuter is tot when it modifies an
adverb or a prepositional locution: de flor tot gen cobert (ibid., 1,3) 'covered
very beautifully with flowers'; tot alegramens vestiras tos bels vestimens (Appel
114,49) 'very happily you will put on your beautiful clothes'.
150. An adjective that may or may not show grammatical agreement is
used adverbially with a participle or another adjective (Tobler I 77-91). Com-
mon in French at all stages of its evolution (cf. une nouveau-nee\ des fenetres
grandes ouvertes and compare this example from Montaigne: une suffisance
pure livresque), this construction is rather scantily represented in the South: de
bei' erbafresca creguda (Jaufri, v. 2847) 'beautiful freshly-grown grass'; cargat
d'aur e d'argen qu'es fis esmeratz (Daurel et Beton, v. 568) 'laden with gold and
silver which is highly refined'. Löfstedt (II 111-13) views this usage as a case of
attraction: an adjective replaces the adverb because of the following adjective
as in: cocliar bonum plenum 'a heaping spoonful' (Väänänen § 367; Nyrop V §
107).
151. Bonaiizat, bonaiiros 'blessed', an adjectival derivation from bonu and
augurium, is a compound that does not seem to allow for any variation of
bo(n): ben es aicel bonaiiros (Jaufre, v. 3884) 'he is truly blessed'; anima
bonauzada (Appel 117,57) 'blessed soul'; aicella vos bonaiirosa (Flamenca,
v. 4388) 'that blessed voice'. This contrasts sharply with conditions in Old
French; cf. t'ame en seroit bonne euree {Baldham 121,28) 'your soul would be
blessed because of it'; ο les boins eüris (Amadas et Ydoine 591) 'with the
blessed'. For Occitan, however, a merger of two «'s can perhaps not be com-
pletely ruled out for the feminine. An alternate form involving the adverb ben
also exists: Sancta Cezilia verge benaurada (Appel 119,29) 'Saint Cecilia, bles-
sed virgin'.
152. With verbs of movement especially, but with a few others as well, the
manner in which a movement or an action is carried out is quite naturally
rendered through an adverb, but an adjective may also be used, serving essen-
tially to establish a direct link to the subject. This syntax is particularly common
in Italian (Meyer-Lübke III § 399), and it is cultivated in Modern French
(Nyrop V § 105): Frangois Mauriac et vous couriez devant, rapides et Ugers{i.
Lacouture: Frangois Mauriac 123). Meyer-Lübke offers no examples for Occi-
tan. but here is an instance of this construction which was probably rare in the
medieval language: s'ieu hanc chantiei alegres nijauzens, er chantarai marritz ez
ab tristor (A. de Peguilhan 48,1) 'if ever I sang happily and joyously, now I shall
sing with grief and sadness'. A few occurrences from the modern dialects of this
stylistic feature are cited by Ronjat (III § 810).
153. It is an uninflected masculine accusative rather than a neuter adjective
that appears in the impersonal constructions faire bo(n), faire bei, faire mal,
faire honrat (cf. Fr. il fait bori) followed by an infinitive which may carry a
direct object or a dative (Stimming 188-89, 1892 edit.; SW III 384,21; Tobler I

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218-24; S. de Vogel § 184). In this construction, the infinitive functions as the
direct object of an impersonal fai while the adjective is linked to the infinitive
and not to fai: en totas res fai bo menar mesura ( G . de Cabestanh I V 23) 'it is
good to show moderation in all things'; greu partir si fa d'amor qui la trob' a son
talen (Guillaume I X I 6) 'it is grievous to part from love for a man who finds it
to his liking'; mal amar fai vassal d'estran pais ( R . de Vaqueiras X X I V 13) 'it is
grievous to love a knight from a foreign land'; e fey lo sobrebel veser (G. de la
Barre, v. 1645) 'and it was very pleasing to see him'; fes la bei esgardier (Daurel
et Beton, v. 143) 'it was pleasant to look at her'; car mot honrat servir li fa
(Jaufre, v. 6202) 'for it is very honorable to serve him'. The adjective that
accompanies the infinitive is sometimes in the comparative: fai plus bell baisar
un ors (Perdigon X I 27) 'it is better to kiss a bear'; pore ... fai melhor escoutar
que vos (B. de Born 38,12) 'it is better to listen to a pig than to you'. The use of
melhor here rather than melhs may be taken as proof of the predicative role of
the adjective (Stimming 244).

Position of the Adjective

154. A great amount of freedom characterizes the position of the adjective

in relation to the noun it modifies. What we are dealing with here is essentially
a problem which is not amenable to scientific analysis: «ce chapitre est un des
plus difficiles ä ecrire et ä la verite il appartient plutöt ä la stylistique qu'ä la
syntaxe de s'en occuper» (S. de Vogel § 448). A t the most, certain trends are
discernible.
155. Common, usually short adjectives tend to precede the noun: er' ai
gran joi ( G . de Bornelh 1,1) 'now I have great joy'; far una leu chanso (ibid.,
4,18) 'write a light poem'; lo bon rei (F. de Marselha I 44) 'the good king';//«'
amors (ibid., II 6) 'true love'; us novels jois (ibid., V I 5) 'a new joy'; ία bela cara
(Jaufre, v. 3137) 'her beautiful face'. Postposition of short adjectives is in-
habitual and hence emphatic in nature: e d'ome ques aissi conques, pot domn'
aver almorna gran (B. de Ventadorn 1,47) 'and for a man who is thus defeated,
a lady ought to feel great compassion'; et ieu ... seguial apres ab dolor gran
(Marienklage, v. 265) 'and I followed after him with great sorrow'.
156. Pronouns used in adjectival function, whether demonstrative, posses-
sive or indefinite, usually precede: aquest horn es enginhos (Guillaume I X V
49) 'this man is clever'; en guerra laissarai mon fil, efaran Ii mal siei vezi (ibid.,
X I 7) 'at war I shall leave my son, and his neighbors will do him harm'; talpaor
ay (ibid., I X 44) Ί am so afraid'; anc non vi nulla domn' (ibid., II 13) Ί never
saw any lady'; de moutas colors (Jaufre, v. 544) 'of many colors'; manhtas vetz
(B. de Ventadorn 20,10) 'many times'.
157. Objective adjectives, i.e. those which serve to establish logical dis-
tinctions, usually follow the noun: Caraduis ab lu bras cort (Jaufre, v. 109)
'Caradui with the short arm'; cavalcan un rosin liar (ibid., v. 524) 'riding on a
grey horse'; aisi con om aperseuputz (ibid., v. 595) 'like a clever man'; ap espasa

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trenchan (ibid., v. 612) 'with a sharp sword'; al latz senestre (ibid., v. 676) 'on
the left side'; et el vi ... un cavalier mort (ibid., v. 826) 'and he saw a dead
knight'. But while such a trend does seem evident, the adjective remains ex-
tremely mobile: dins lo senestre costat (ibid., v. 1065) 'in the left side'. One may
get an idea of its mobility by comparing the following passages: del tieu carfilh
(Marienklage, v. 201) 'of your dear son' vs. de mo filh car (ibid., v. 209) 'of my
dear son'; sa dolenta maire (ibid., v. 712) 'his grieving mother' vs. ab cor dolen
(ibid., v. 279) 'with a grieving heart'; can I'erba fresch' e lh folha par (B. de
Ventadorn 20,1) 'when the fresh grass and the leaves appear' vs. can creis la
frescha folh' (G. de Bornelh 33,1) 'when the fresh leaves grow'. Compare also:
e (ac) cara bela... e belas mas (Jaufre, v. 530) 'and her face and her hands were
beautiful'. Since color adjectives serve principally to express a distinguishing
feature, they normally follow the noun, but they may precede, specifically
when an affective coloring is present: tut aqueh home blanc eisso de paradis
(Appel 6,141) 'all these white people come out of paradise' vs. pres la per la
blanqua man (ibid., 51,39) 'he took her by her white hand'. Changes in word
order may be ascribed to a variety of reasons: emphasis, emotional content,
style, versification needs, special effects, etc., but quite often, the reason for
choosing pre-position over post-position or vice versa escapes us. Subjective
adjectives such as fi(n) 'fine, pure'; dur 'hard'; ple(n) 'full' are particularly
mobile (Togeby § 76; and see Wydler).
158. A noun is often placed between two qualifying adjectives: ans que
venha'l nous fruchs tendres (G. de Bornelh 3,1) 'before the new, tender fruit
appears'; ai! doussa res covinens (F. de Marselha IV 61) 'oh, sweet and charm-
ing lady'; de la bela erbafresca (Jaufri, v. 3177) 'of the beautiful, fresh grass'.
Both adjectives may precede the noun: per son belh plazent esguar (Guillaume
I X I X 22) 'because of her beautiful and pleasant look', or all the adjectives may
follow the noun, with or without the use of coordinating conjunctions: ab aitan
ils viron intrar, ... un donzel gran, e bei e gen (Jaufri, v. 523) 'then they saw a
tall, beautiful and handsome young man enter'; e vi ufuec clar, gran e espes e
resplanden (ibid., v. 964) 'and he saw a bright, big, large and shining fire'. The
coordination of adjectives is usually avoided in pre-position.

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