CHAPTER XI.
THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.
[§ 255]. The Anglo-Saxon word for first was for-m-a.
The root was for = the Latin præ, the Greek προ, and being the same combination which occurs in fore, fore-m-ost, &c.
The m was the Anglo-Saxon sign of the superlative degree.
It is the m in the Latin words pri-m-us, inti-m-us, exti-m-us, ulti-m-us, &c.
It occurs even in the Gothic tongues; in other words, besides for-m-a.
In short, m is an old sign of the superlative degree; probably older than the usual form, -st, discussed in § [254]. This has some important applications.
[§ 256]. Former.—This is a remarkable word: it is a comparative derived from the Anglo-Saxon superlative, and its analysis is for-m-er, with excess of inflexion.
[§ 257]. Nea-r-est.—Here the r is no part of the original root, as may be seen in § [251]. It has grown out of -ah pronounced as the a in father. The true forms are positive, neah; comparative, neah-er; superlative, neah-est. Such, to a certain extent, is really the case.
[§ 258]. Next.—The superlative of nigh, contracted from nigh-est. The Anglo-Saxon forms were neah, nyh-st, neh-st, nyh-ste. In Anglo-Saxon the letter h was pronounced strongly, and sounded like g or k. This fact is
still shown in the spelling; as nigh. In the word next this sound is preserved, slightly changed into that of k; next = nek-st.
[§ 259]. Upmost, &c.—The common statement concerning words like upmost is, that they are compound words, formed by the addition of the word most: this, however, is more than doubtful.
The Anglo-Saxon language presents us with the following forms:—
| Anglo-Saxon. | English. |
| Innema (inn-ema), | Inmost (in-m-ost). |
| Ûtema (ût-ma), | Outmost (out-m-ost). |
| Siðema (sið-ema), | Latest. |
| Lætema (læt-ema), | Latest. |
| Niðema (nið-ema), | Nethermost (neth-er-m-ost). |
| Forma (for-ma), | Foremost (fore-m-ost). |
| Æftema (aft-ema), | Aftermost (aft-er-m-ost). |
| Ufema (uf-ema), | Upmost (up-m-ost). |
| Hindema (hind-ema), | Hindmost (hind-m-ost). |
| Midema (mid-ema), | Midmost (mid-m-ost). |
Now the words in question show at once, that, as far as they are concerned, the m that appears in the last syllable of each has nothing to do with the word most.
From the words in question there was formed, in Anglo-Saxon, a regular superlative form in the usual manner; viz., by the addition of -st; as æfte-m-est, fyr-m-est, læte-m-est, sið-m-est, yfe-m-est, ute-m-est, inne-m-est.
Hence, in the present English, the different parts of the syllable most (in words like upmost) come from different quarters. The m is the m in the Anglo-Saxon words innema, &c.; whilst the -st is the common sign of the superlative. Hence, in separating such words as midmost into its component parts, we should write
| Mid-m-ost | not | mid-most. |
| Ut-m-ost | — | ut-most. |
| Up-m-ost | — | up-most. |
| Fore-m-ost | — | fore-most. |
| In-m-ost | — | in-most. |
| Hind-m-ost | — | hind-most. |
| Out-m-ost | — | out-most. |
[§ 260]. In certain words, however, the syllable m-ost is added to a word already ending in -er; that is, already marked with the sign of the comparative degree.
| Neth-er-m-ost. | Hind-er-m-ost. |
| Utt-er-m-ost. | Out-er-m-ost. |
| Upp-er-m-ost. | Inn-er-m-ost. |