Persian to Hausa: the comparative moves from an adjective into the predicate
Persian can put the comparison standard on either side of the adjective
The Texas comparative lesson gives žubin az āraš bolandtar ast: Jubin is taller than Arash. It also allows the az phrase after the comparative adjective. The ordering changes without reversing the height relationship. A Hausa translation should therefore identify Jubin as the person exceeding the standard, rather than infer that role from proximity to the adjective alone.
This is useful in a comparison between two candidates or two pieces of equipment. The Persian -tar form supplies greater degree, while the az phrase identifies the comparison standard. Losing either contribution can turn a ranked comparison into a simple description or make the wrong candidate come out ahead.
Hausa fi expresses the exceeding relationship
The UCLA Hausa grammar describes comparisons with fi, exceed or surpass. Its Ka fi ni tsawo means you are taller than me. The quality is expressed through the height expression while the comparative relationship resides in the predicate. Translating Persian bolandtar does not require manufacturing an adjective with a matching comparative suffix in Hausa.
In the Persian Jubin–Arash example, the target must preserve both the person who exceeds and the person used as the standard. Hausa’s different construction is not a reason to exchange them. The comparison remains about relative height, even though the target organizes greater-than meaning as a verbal relationship. Nor does the source present comparison necessarily become a past event merely because the Hausa stative predicate uses a completive construction.
The UCLA lesson notes that context can allow the standard or quality to remain unexpressed. That possibility should not cause a translator to drop an explicitly named Persian standard when the distinction is important. In a two-candidate comparison, retaining the competitor can prevent a vague better statement from being mistaken for a broader recommendation.
Better than is not automatically too much
The Persian lesson separately illustrates behtar, better, as a common comparative. Hausa likewise has a comparative example Haka ya fi kyau, that is better. Neither statement by itself claims that a desirable limit has been exceeded. It ranks alternatives without necessarily saying that the better alternative is unsuitable.
The UCLA account treats excessive degree through other constructions involving yi and quality expressions, while warning that context contributes the excessive reading. This matters when a Persian text compares temperature or cost. Hotter than another item and too hot to use can have different practical consequences, even if both involve a higher degree.
For this direction, preserve the Persian comparison’s scale, its standard and its intended judgment separately. A higher value may be welcome, unwanted or merely descriptive. Hausa can express the ranking through fi without automatically importing an excessive or failed-to-meet-a-limit meaning that the Persian comparative did not assert.
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