A number of comparative, superlative, and elative suffixes are longer than they would be if

they had simply undergone regular sound changes, e.g. the Latin superlative/elative sux

-issimus. Closer inspection reveals that they have developed in a parallel fashion. The

development involves the analogical extension of a longer sound pattern from a small class

of forms to a large one. I suggest how we might relate this to the semantics of adjective

gradation.