1. Introduction

The word ‘elative’, from the Latin elatio, noun of action of the verb efferre ‘to elevate’, refers to a morphosemantic entity and expresses in one word what traditional Arabic grammar expresses in two words, ʾafʿalu at-tafḍīl. ʾAfʿalu indicates, through the conventional f-ʿ-l paradigm of Arabic grammar, the word pattern (aṣ-ṣīġa ‘pattern, scheme’) and at-tafḍīl ‘superiority’ indicates the intended meaning among a…