Comparison of Adjectives

§55–56. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES Umbundu has no special comparative or superlative forms of adjectives. Comparison is expressed by syntactic means: §55. COMPARATIVE Method 1 — Simply affirm the quality of one and leave the other unstated: o-ngombe ii i-nene = this ox is large (implies: larger than that one) Method 2 — Affirm one, deny or contradict the other: ochi-na chechi chi-ua, diacho ha-cho-ko = this thing is good, that one is not (= this thing is better than that one) Method 3 — Use an adverb of degree to mark intensity: ochi-na chechi chi-sovi ch'-alua = this thing is very long §56. SUPERLATIVE Method 1 — Repetition of the adjective (reduplication): omu-nda u-nene nene = the mountain is very very large Method 2 — Separation from the group using the preposition ku (from, among): eie u-alunguka k'ovi-mbundu vi-oha = he is wise from among all the Ovimbundu = he is the wisest of all the Ovimbundu This construction is the standard superlative in Umbundu.