Suffix
Affixes |
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See also: |
In
Particularly in the study of Semitic languages, suffixes are called affirmatives, as they can alter the form of the words. In Indo-European studies, a distinction is made between suffixes and endings (see Proto-Indo-European root).
A word-final segment that is somewhere between a
(e.g., English -like or German -freundlich "friendly").Examples
English
- Girls—where the suffix -s marks the plurality.
- He makes—where suffix -s marks the third person singular present tense.
- It closed—where the suffix -ed marks the past tense.
- It's brighter—where the suffix -er marks the Comparative.
French
- De beaux jours—where the suffix -x marks the plural.
- Elle est passablement jolie —where the suffix -e marks the feminineform of the adjective.
German
- mein Computer—where the lack of suffixes is because its case, nominative, is "unmarked"
- meines Computers—genitive case
- meinem Computer—dative case
- meinen Computer—accusative case
Russian
- мой компьютер—where the lack of suffixes is because its case, nominative, is "unmarked"
- моего компьютера—genitive case
- моему компьютеру—dative case
- мой компьютер—accusative case
- за-туш-и-ть свечу—where first word has -и- suffix, -ть ending (infinitive form); second word with ending -у (accusative case, singular, feminine).
- добр-о-жел-а-тель-н-ый—добр- root, -о- interfix, -жел- root, verbal -a- interfix, nominal -тель suffix, adjectival -н- suffix, adjectival -ый ending (nominative case, singular, masculine).
Barngarla
- wárraidya "emu" — where the lack of suffixes is because its grammatical number, singular, is "unmarked"
- wárraidyalbili "two emus" — dual
- wárraidyarri "emus" — plural
- wárraidyailyarranha "a lot of emus", "heaps of emus" — superplural[4]: 227–228
Inflectional suffixes
Inflection changes the grammatical properties of a word within its syntactic category. In several languages, this is realized by an inflectional suffix, also known as desinence. In the example:
- I was hoping the cloth wouldn't fade, but it has faded quite a bit.
the suffix -d inflects the root-word fade to indicate past participle.
Inflectional suffixes do not change the word class of the word after the inflection.[5] Inflectional suffixes in Modern English include:
Verbs
- -s third person singular simple present indicative active
- -edpast tense and past participle
- -t past tense (weak irregular)
- -ing present participle and gerund
- past participle(irregular)
Nouns
- -s plural number
- -en plural number (irregular)
Adjectives and Adverbs
- -er comparativedegree
- -est superlative degree
Derivation
- -ise/-ize (usually changes nouns into verbs)
- -fy (usually changes nouns into verbs)
- -ly (usually changes adjectives into adverbs, but also some nouns into adjectives)
- -ful (usually changes nouns into adjectives)
- -able/-ible (usually changes verbs into adjectives)
- -hood (usually class-maintaining, with the word class remaining a noun)
- -ess (usually class-maintaining, with the word class remaining a noun)
- -ness (usually changes adjectives into nouns)
- -less (usually changes nouns into adjectives)
- -ism (usually class-maintaining, with the word class remaining a noun)
- -ment (usually changes verbs into nouns)
- -ist (usually class-maintaining, with the word class remaining a noun)
- -al /-ual (usually changes nouns into adjectives)
- -ish (usually changes nouns into adjectives/ class-maintaining, with the word class remaining an adjective)
- -oid (usually changes nouns into adjectives)
- -like (usually changes nouns into adjectives)
- -ity (usually changes adjectives into nouns)
- -tion/-ion/ation (usually changes verbs into noun)
- -logy/-ology (usually class-maintaining, with the word class remaining a noun)
- -ant (usually changes verbs into nouns, often referring to a human agent)
- -um (usually ) museum; stadium; auditorium; aquarium; planetarium; medium;
Altered Pronunciation in English
A suffix will often change the stress or accent pattern of a multi-syllable word, altering the phoneme pattern of the root word even if the root's morphology does not change.[7] An example is the difference between "photograph" and "photography". In this case, the "-y" ending governs the stress pattern, causing the primary stress to shift from the first syllable ("pho-") to the antepenultimate ("-to-"). The unaccented syllables have their ordinary vowel sound changed to a schwa. This can be a particular problem for dyslexics, affecting their phonemic awareness,[8] as well as a hurdle for non-native speakers.
References
- ISBN 978-1-881526-12-4.
- ^ Kremer, Marion. 1997. Person reference and gender in translation: a contrastive investigation of English and German. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, p. 69, note 11.
- ^ Marchand, Hans. 1969. The categories and types of present-day English word-formation: A synchronic-diachronic approach. Munich: Beck, pp. 356 ff.
- ISBN 9780199812776
- ^ Jackson and Amvela (2000): Word, Meaning and Vocabulary; An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. London, Athenaeum Press, p. 83
- ^ Jackson and Amvela (2000): Word, Meaning and Vocabulary; An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. London, Athenaeum Press, p. 88
- ^ Nancy K. Lewkowicz, "Pronouncing Longer Words: Don't Begin at the Beginning". Journal of Reading, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Dec., 1985), 226-237.
- ^ "Dyslexia Help: Success Starts Here". University of Michigan.
External links
- Media related to Suffixes at Wikimedia Commons