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Coordination of the superlative element with a minorative one
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The periphrastic superlative can occur with any adjective in case the superlative element is embedded in a coordinating construction with a minorative.

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The periphrastic superlative can occur with any adjective in case the superlative element is embedded in a coordinating construction with a minorative. Consider the following examples:

1
a. Al nei de tsjokte fan it tou wie it splisizer it meast of it minst swier
depending on the thickness of the rope was the splitting iron the most or the least heavy
Depending on the thickness of the rope, the splitting iron was heaviest or the least
b. Dat it koe it meast of it minst heech brâne
so it could the most or the least high burn
So it could burn highest or lowest

In these examples, the morphological superlative seems to be blocked because the superlative element is embedded in a coordinative construction, so that it is not linearly adjacent to the adjective with which it would otherwise form one word. The morphological superlative is possible if the word order is reversed so that the minorative word minst least precedes and the adjective is repeated:

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a. It minst swier of it swierst
the least heavy or the heaviest
The least heavy or the heaviest
b. It minst heech of it heechst
the least high or the highest
The least high or the highest

Using this order and again gapping the adjective, it is not very felicitous to spell out the superlative morpheme as meast most:

3
a. ?It minst of it meast swier
the least or the most heavy
The least heavy or the heaviest
b. ?It minst of it meast heech
the least or the most high
The least high or the highest

So it may be concluded that linear adjacency of the superlative morpheme to the adjective is a necessary condition for the morphological superlative, and this automatically blocks the periphrastic superlative. The behavior of superlatives with respect to coordination as presented here is identical to the behavior of comparatives with respect to coordination.

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