-bb

-bb

See also: bb, BB, .bb, B&B, B & B, Bb., and B♭

Hungarian

Etymology

Of Proto-Finno-Ugric origin. Cognates include Finnish -mpi.[1]

Suffix

-bb

1. (comparative suffix) -er, more

   apró (“tiny”) → apróbb (“tinier”)

Usage notes

• (comparative suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -b is added to some words ending in a consonant; an archaic variant

  idős (“elderly”) → 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”) → drágább (“more expensive”)

  fekete (“black”) → feketébb (“blacker”)

  -abb is added to most back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  fiatal (“young”) → fiatalabb (“younger”)

  -obb is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  nagy (“big”) → nagyobb (“bigger”)

  -ebb is added to front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  öreg (“old”) → 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”).

Derived terms

• Category:Hungarian comparative adjectives

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

References

1. -bb in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, page 73, →ISBN.  (See also its 2nd edition.)