Etymology
From -a- (linking vowel) + -bb (comparative suffix).
Suffix
-abb
- (comparative suffix) -er, more (added to adjectives and certain adverbs to form the comparative)
- fiatal (“young”) + -abb → fiatalabb (“younger”)
- távol (“far”) + -abb → távolabb (“farther”)
- alaposan (“thoroughly”) + -abb → alaposabban (“more thoroughly”)
Usage notes
- (comparative suffix) Variants:
- -b is added to some words ending in a consonant; an archaic variant
- idős (“elderly”) + -b → idősb (“senior”) (the modern comparative is idősebb)
- -bb is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.
- drága (“expensive”) + -bb → drágább (“more expensive”)
- fekete (“black”) + -bb → feketébb (“blacker”)
- -abb is added to most back-vowel words ending in a consonant
- fiatal (“young”) + -abb → fiatalabb (“younger”)
- -obb is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant
- nagy (“big”) + -obb → nagyobb (“bigger”)
- -ebb is added to front-vowel words ending in a consonant
- öreg (“old”) + -ebb → öregebb (“older”)
- Aside from the literal, relative sense, the comparative in Hungarian can also have an absolute sense, e.g. nagyobb is not necessarily “larger” but also “somewhat large”, “fairly large”, “largish”, “a little on the large side” (but not truly large). This sense is already lexicalized in the case of több, which doesn’t only mean “more” but also “several, multiple” (though not “many”).
Declension
More information Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony), singular ...
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