iercest; narrow, narrower, narrowest; gloomy, gloomier,
gloomiest; serene, serener, serenest; noble, nobler, noblest; gentle,
gentler, gentlest_.

COMPARISON BY ADVERBS.

The two degrees of superiority may also be expressed with precisely the
same import as above, by prefixing to the adjective the adverbs _more_ and
_most_: as, _wise, more wise, most wise; famous, more famous, most famous;
amiable, more amiable, most amiable_.

The degrees of inferiority are expressed, in like manner, by the adverbs
_less_ and _least_: as, _wise, less wise, least wise; famous, less famous,
least famous; amiable, less amiable, least amiable_. The regular method of
comparison has, properly speaking, no degrees of this kind.

Nearly all adjectives that admit of different degrees, may be compared by
means of the adverbs; but, for short words, the regular method is generally
preferable: as, _quick, quicker, quickest_; rather than, _quick, more
quick, most quick_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The genius of our language is particularly averse to the
lengthening of long words by additional syllables; and, in the comparison
of adjectives, _er_ and _est_ always add a syllable to the word, except it
end in _le_ after a mute. Thus, _free, freer, freest_, increases
syllabically; but _ample, ampler, amplest_, does not. Whether any
particular adjective admits of comparison or not, is a matter of reasoning
from the sense of the term; by which method it shall be compared, is in
some degree a matter of taste; though custom has decided that long words
shall not be inflected, and for the shorter, there is generally an obvious
bias in favour of one form rather than the other. Dr. Johnson says, "The
comparison of adjectives is very uncertain; and being much regulated by
commodiousness of utterance, or agreeableness of sound, is not easily
reduced to rules. Monosyllables are commonly compared. Polysyllables, or
words of more than two syllables, are seldom compared otherwise than by
_more_ and _most_. Dissyllables are seldom compared if they terminate in
_full, less, ing, ous, ed, id, at, ent, ain, or ive_."--_Gram. of the
English Tongue_, p. 6. "When the positive contains but one syllable, the
degrees are usually formed by adding _er_ or _est_. When the positive
contains two syllables, it is matter of taste which method you shall use in
forming the degrees. The ear is, in this case, the best guide. But, when
the positive contains more than two syllables