They form the comparative and superlative degrees, not as in other languages, by the addition of syllables, but in a different manner. An Abipon would express this sentence. _The tiger is worse than the dog_, thus: _the dog is not bad though the tiger be bad_. _Nétegink chik naà, oágan nihirenak la naà_: or thus, _The dog is not bad as the tiger_, _Netegink chi chi naà ỳágàm nihirenak_. When we should say, _The tiger is worst_, an Abipon would say, _the tiger is bad above all things_, _Nihirenak lamerpëëáoge kenoáoge naà_: or thus, _The tiger is bad so that it has no equal in badness_. _Nihirenak chit keoá naà._ Sometimes they express a superlative, or any other eminence, merely by raising the voice. _Ariaik_, according to the pronunciation, signifies either a thing simply good, or the very best. If it be uttered with the whole force of the breast, and with an elevated voice, ending in an acute sound, it denotes the superlative degree; if with a calm, low voice, the positive. They signify that they are much pleased with any thing, or that they approve it greatly, by uttering with a loud voice the words _Là naà!_ before _Ariaik_, or _Eúrenék_. _Now it is bad!_ _It is beautiful_, or _excellent_! _Nehaol_ means night. If they exclaim in a sharp tone, _Là nehaòl_, they mean that it is _midnight_, or the dead of the night: if they pronounce it slowly and hesitatingly, they mean that it is the beginning of the night. When they see any one hit the mark with an arrow, knock down a tiger quickly, &c. and wish to express that he is eminently dexterous, they cry with a loud voice, _La yáraigè_, now he knows, which, with them, is the highest commendation. They form diminutives, by adding _avàlk_, _aole_, or _olek_, to the last syllable of the word, thus: _Ahëpegak_, a horse. _Ahëpegeravàlk_, a little horse, _Óénèk_, a boy. _Óénèkavàlk_, a little boy. _Haáye_, a girl. _Haayáole_, a little girl. _Paỳ_, father, a word for priest, introduced into America by the Portugueze. _Payolék_, little father, which they used when they wished to express particular kindness towards us. When angry, they only used the word _Paỳ_. _Kàëpak_, wood. _Kàëperáole_, a little piece of wood, by which they designated the beads of the rosary. _Lenechì_, little, moderate. _Lénechiólek_, or _Lenechiavàlk_. They make very frequent use of diminutives, which, with them, indicate either tender affection or contempt: thus, _Yóale_, a man. _Yoaleólek_, a little man, a bit of a man. Often with them a diminutive is a stronger expression of love or praise than any superlative: thus, they call a stronger or handsomer horse than ordinary, _Ahëpegeravàlk_. The Spaniards too express a more particular liking for a thing, when they call it _bonito_, than when they simply call it _bueno_, good or pretty.