Hraðara

Hraðara is a linguistic form that appears in Icelandic as a comparative of the adjective hraður, meaning fast. In standard modern Icelandic, the normal comparative form is hraðari, as in “hann er hraðari en hann” (he is faster than him). The form hraðara is not part of contemporary standard usage and is rarely seen outside older texts or certain regional dialects.

Etymology and forms. The root hrað- comes from the word for speed, and the suffixes used to form comparatives have varied across historical stages of Icelandic. While the regular modern comparative is typically rendered as -ari to produce hraðari, the ending -ara can appear in archaic or dialectal variants. Because of this, hraðara is generally treated as a historical or nonstandard variant rather than a current lexical item.

Usage and notes. When encountered in historical documents or dialect writing, hraðara serves the same semantic role as a comparative adjective meaning “faster.” In everyday modern Icelandic, speakers and writers would default to hraðari. Learners are advised to use hraðari in comparisons and to treat hraðara as an archaic, literary, or regional form that may appear in quoted speech to convey older language or specific character speech.

See also. Icelandic grammar, adjectives, comparatives, hraður.