uidetur esse comparatiuum6 ‘multi7,’ sed singularis nominatiuus non inuenitur nisi neutri generis8, pluralis uero etiam communis, ut ‘hi’ et ‘hae’ plures9…9a
…‘hic acer10 haec acris hoc acre’…
P. 41b
Et sciendum quod omnia in ‘or’ desinentia[1] comparatiua communis generis sunt et mutantia ‘or’ in ‘us’ faciunt neutrum, excepto uno, quod solum1 cum sit a positiuo2 quantum ad suam uocem fixo[2], seruauit huius genus3, ‘hic senex, huic seni, hic senior.’
A ‘sepe’ aduerbio4 possitiuum uel comparatiuum nomen nec {uel non} legi … superlatiuum posuit Cato nepos[3] dicens: in mentem uobis ueniat, Quirites5, … propter foenus6 sepissimam discordiam fuisse.’
‘Prior’ et ‘primus’ quaeritur an sit comparatiuus et superlatiuus, et dicunt quidam, quod, cum ordinis sint, differentiam numeri significant7: sicut enim ‘alter8’ de duobus9 et ‘alius’ de multis dicitur sic ‘prior’ de duobus et ‘primus’ de multis dici solet. Inuenitur10 tamen sepe ‘prior’ pro ‘melior11’ positum … et ‘primus’ pro ‘optimus’ … Virgilius in VIIII[4]:
- primos iuuenum tot miserit Orco12,
6: .i. as comparit 7: ꝉ comparit indí as multus secundum alios ⁊ is firson dano airsisiu infae[5] thucad híc · 8: acht comparit neutair nammá inóthud 9: lia 9a: archiunn[6] 10: tichair lainn
P. 41b
1: ol sodain óin 2: diaposit 3: huare astuidmide inposit cenḟodail ceineuil isairi ní techta nisi unum genus 4: .i. posit ainmde do denom di sepe ut extra reliqua 5: arómanu 6: arluach 7: .i. dechor nuird in arim filindib ⁊ it anmmann uirdd foṡodain 8: cosmailius ⁊ analach 9: alter ainm dobinair · issí[7] chetne aram sainigedar fri hunáir · · 10: .i. cesu dechor nuirdd in áram fil indib 11: .i. itanmmann inne hisuidiu ⁊ ɔṅdelgatar 12: dodia iffirnn
7. or a comparative of multus according to others, and this is true, then, the…………has been brought here. 8. but only the neuter comparative in the singular.
P. 41b
1. which alone. 2. from its positive. 3. since the positive is fixed without partition of gender (senex), therefore it (the comparative) has only one gender. 4. i.e. that a nominal positive should be made of saepe as of extra etc. 5. O Romans. 7. i.e. it is distinction of order in number that is in them and accordingly they are nouns of order. 8. similarity and analogy. 9. alter is a name for duality: it is the first number that varies from unity. 10. i.e. though it is a distinction of order in number which is in them. 11. i.e. they are names of quality here, and they are compared. 12. to the god of hell.