20.6. Correlative comparative
Models
| 1) | NIȽ SU¸ IȽENS I¸ NIȽ SU¸ ĆEḴSOTS. | ‘The more they eat, the bigger they get.’ |
| 2) | NIȽ SU¸ IȽENS, SU¸ X̱EṈS Ȼ SĆEḴSOTS. | ‘The more they eat, the bigger they get.’ |
| 3) | NIȽ NE SU¸ ÁLEW̱SET, | ‘The older I get, |
| SU¸ X̱EṈS Ȼ NE SMEL¸EḴ. | the more I forget.’ |
‣ 1 The correlative comparative construction is used to express a correlation between two qualities. In SENĆOŦEN, there are two patterns. The first pattern is shown in model 1.
‣ 2 The pattern shown in model 1 is two NIȽ SU¸ clauses conjoined with the I¸ conjunction. NIȽ SU¸ clauses important in SENĆOŦEN and are covered in detail in §51.2. Here we just consider them as foundation for the correlative comparative construction.
‣ 3 Here is the pattern for the correlative comparative shown in model 1:
NIȽ SU¸ QUALITY1 I¸ NIȽ SU¸ QUALITY2
Importantly, the subjects in both halves of this construction are marked by a possessive prefix or suffix. The following are good sentences in this first pattern:
NIȽ NE SU¸ IȽEN I¸ NIȽ NE SU¸ ĆEḴSOT. ‘The more I eat, the bigger I get.’
NIȽ EN¸ SU¸ IȽEN I¸ NIȽ EN¸ SU¸ ĆEḴSOT. ‘The more you eat, the bigger you get.’
NIȽ SU¸ IȽEN ȽTE I¸ NIȽ SU¸ ĆEḴSOT ȽTE. ‘The more we eat, the bigger we get.’
‣ 4 The second pattern appears in models 2 and 3. In this pattern, the second quality being correlated is in a Ȼ clause (§46) following the word X̱EṈ, which usually means ‘fast, quick.’
‣ 5 Here is the pattern for the correlative comparative shown in models 2 and 3:
NIȽ SU¸ QUALITY1 I¸ SU¸ X̱EṈ Ȼ SQUALITY2
Importantly, as with the first pattern, the subjects in both halves of this construction are marked by a possessive prefix or suffix.
‣ 6 This second pattern is a good example of an idiomatic expression, where the meaning is not directly obvious from the component words. Here X̱EṈ ‘fast’ is not used in its usual sense, but is just part of this construction that makes the correlative comparative.
 | NIȽ EN¸ SU¸ LELÁ¸NEṈ I¸ | ‘The more you listen, |
| NIȽ EN¸ SU¸ TOL¸NEW̱. | the more you understand.’ | |
 | LELÁ¸NEṈ SEN. | ‘I’m listening.’ |
| EWE TÁ Ȼ EN¸ SLELÁ¸NEṈ. | ‘You’re never listening.’ |
| INET SW̱ ȻEĆÁ? | ‘What did you say?’ |
| 20.6A. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN 1. The more you run, the stronger you are. 2. The more they talk, the more tired I get. 3. The more he sings, the better he is. 4. The slower you are, the easier it is. | |
| 20.6B. Make four more SENĆOŦEN correlative comparative sentences. | |