Eight Derivational Suffixes In American English:
A Summary of -age, -ate, -hood, -ite, -ity, -ive, -ly, -ness

by Wendy Kelley
ladyslvr@xmission.com
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Fall, 1998

Purpose

This paper will focus on a handful of derivational suffixes, with specific emphasis on the most productive and/or most well-known ones in American English. To mention all derivational suffixes in English would be too enormous a task. The total number of such suffixes varies, depending on the source material, from 240 (Oxford English Dictionary) to over 1500 (Urdang, Suffixes). Original attempts to limit the breadth of this paper eliminated suffixes restricted to use in scientific or other learned fields (i.e. rhetoric, literature studies), yet the number still remained unmanageable. It finally became necessary to focus on a particular few as a representative sample.

Included is a brief listing of some of the more productive and/or more well-known American English derivational suffixes. Information included, as available, is the etymological origin of the suffix, its function, when it entered the language, and how it is currently used. Also noted, when applicable, is at what stage the suffix became fully productive, that is when it started to be able to attach to roots of a different origin (e.g. beautiful, a French stem with a native suffix). A minor emphasis is placed on the use of these suffixes in ‘teen speech’, i.e. the speech, often slang, used by teenagers.

Introduction

The ability of any language to create new words from existing ones is of unarguable importance. Word-formation generally occurs by one of two processes. The first is compounding, whereby two or more words are combined to create a new one. This is a common method in English, though more so in Old English than in modern. Compounding is responsible for words like steamboat, snowski, and firefighter. The second word-formation process is derivation, in particular affixation. English creates many new words by zero-derivation, or by changing the word’s part of speech without any marker, e.g. to drink vs. a drink, and the more recent a party vs. to party (sometimes jokingly referred to as verbing nouns, although the process if hardly limited to turning nouns into verbs or vice versa). However, many more words are created with affixation, the attachment of prefixes and suffixes to a word. Affixation can change a word’s part of speech (friend vs. friendly) or a word’s meaning within its part of speech (dark vs. darkness).

Of affixes there are two kinds: inflectional and derivational. The former does not change the meaning of the root. Instead, it provides the hearer with additional information (e.g. the -ing ending on a verb marks progressive action). The latter can change the meaning of the root. Williams defines derivational affixes as “any non-independent element added to a word that changes its part of speech or its basic semantic meaning” (124). He provides the example of the verb final becoming an adjective with the addition of the suffix -ize, i.e. finalize.

The class of inflectional suffixes is much smaller and more fossilized in English than the class of derivational. It is also much more studied, perhaps because it is such a finite group.
Derivational and inflectional processes both involve the relationship between an unmarked form of the word and the marked form. “With derived words . . . the affixed form presupposes a base from which it was constructed, the reverse is not necessarily the case. The fact that we have formed unclean on the familiar pattern of negative un- + adjective base does not mean that we can do the same with dirty” (Adams 12). Adams also notes that “semantic predictability and productiveness . . . tend to go together” (12). Her example contrasts allowable ‘can be allowed’ (verb + suffix), and knowledgeable ‘having knowledge’ (noun + suffix).

Suffixes have been a part of English since the beginning. Some of the ones in current use have also been in the language since the beginning. Others have been borrowed via our various contacts with Latin, Greek, French and other languages. Others yet have been coined or backformed (e.g. -aholic from alcoholic, now found in chocoholic, a popular example of speakers misunderstanding the morphemic boundaries). This class of morphemes is very fluid. Derivational affixes, unlike inflectional, are often not stable in function and meaning. New suffixes enter the language, old ones depart, and existing ones alter in meaning. What causes these changes if no more known than what causes any other language change.

It somehow violates common sense that there should be three suffixes with the function of creating adjectives from nouns (-acy, -ic, -ism), when it seems one should work just fine. Yet there are those three, and more, all introduced to the language during different stages, and sometimes resulting in shades of meaning apart of mere “adjective”. Isitt exemplifies this with the comparison of economic vs. economical and basal vs. basic (11).

What follows is a selection of eight well-known suffixes, with their histories and present usages outlined. The selection includes four noun-forming suffixes, two verb-forming, one adjective forming and one adverb-forming, although at least one of the included serves multiple functions.

Suffixes

-age

-age entered Middle English in the 13th century originally through loan words from Old French -age via Latin - ticum. It is a noun forming element for which the original meaning was ‘of or pertaining to’. It has since become a living English suffix with several variations of meaning centered around the original. -age words borrowed from French include: language, voyage, message. English words to which the suffix has been applied include: cordage, bondage, breakage. The OED lists three main definitions for this suffix: “From names of things, indicating that which belongs to or is functionally related to”, “From names of persons, indicating function, sphere of action, condition, rank”, “From verbs expressing action”.

The suffix has gained greater productivity over the last twenty years via its adoption into youth slang. Actor/comedian Pauly Shore popularized the suffix in the late 1980's with coined words such as grindage ‘food’ and fundage ‘money’. While many of his constructions did not survive the decade, the suffix has become a standard amongst youth, and/or those trying to represent youth. Teen shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffy) make an almost overuse of this suffix in their representations of teen speech with constructions such as kissage and slayage dominating the unmarked equivalents.

-ate

-ate is a 13th century borrowing from the Latin - tus, - tum, - ta, but did not come into popular usage until the 16th century. Urdang provides three separate categories for this suffix. As a verb forming suffix he defines it as “to act upon”: venerate; “to act”: placate; “to cause to be affected or modified by”: detoxicate; “to cause to be in a state or condition”: eradicate; “to furnish with”: substantiate, populate. He attributes these usages to descent from the Latin causative use of -ate.

As an adjective forming suffix, descended from the past participle ending of the first conjugation of Latin, he assigns the meanings: “acted upon, brought into being in a state”: expatriate; “possessing, characterized by possessing”: foliate.

As a noun forming suffix, he assigns the meanings: “a rank of official position”: delegate; “persons filling an office”: pontificate; “a person or thing acted upon”: initiate. This usage he attributes to Latin as an application of -ate to nouns without change of form.

The OED notes that this suffix was reduced to -at for a time in the 13th century, both in French and English. Words ending in -ate were shortened to -at: senat, estat. In the 15th century, English added the -e back onto the words to mark long vowels, also replacing the -e on new French borrowings. The OED further adds the definition of “denoting salts formed by the action of an acid on a base”: nitrate, acetate.

A recent application of this suffix in teen slang includes the verb to motorvate ‘to leave’. This application, it should be noted, is verb forming rather than adjective forming.

-hood

-hood is descended from the Old English -hád and has cognate equivalents in Old Saxon and Old High Germanic. It was a distinct noun with a meaning of ‘state, condition, quality, rank’ which could be freely combined with other nouns. Eventually it ceased being a separate word. The suffix forms abstract nouns from concrete ones: childhood, falsehood. According to the OED, the suffix is living and, “can be affixed at will to almost any word denoting a person or concrete thing. . . .” A different opinion is held by Bryant who asserts, “Not all English affixes are today living, in the sense that they can be freely applied to new words. Thus the suffix -hood . . . could scarcely be attached to a recent word such as draftee” (302).

The recent clipped words fan ‘fanatic’ and zine ‘amateur magazine’ can take this suffix, resulting in the forms fanhood ‘the state of being a fan’ and zinehood ‘the state of being an amateur publication’.

-ite

-ite is a noun forming suffix originally borrowed into Old English in the 13th century. It comes from the French -ite via Latin - ta ( t s) via the Greek -it( s). The original meaning was ‘of, belonging or related to’. It has since splintered into several related meanings. Urdang lists these as: “a person associated with a group or organization as member, supporter, or devotee”: laborite; “a native of an area, a resident of a place or accommodation”: Israelite; “a mineral or fossil”: granulite; “an explosive”: cordite; “a member or part of a body”: somite, zonite (270). The OED lists Urdang’s first four definitions as also belonging to the original Greek. Williams notes that the suffix did not gain real popularity until the 19th century (130). This was probably due in part to the advances of science occurring in that time, and the influx of Greek and Latin roots and affixes that this caused.

The OED also points out the depreciatory meaning of this suffix. “[It] being mostly given by opponents, and seldom acknowledged by those to whom they are applied.”

As point of comparison, this suffix cannot be attached to clipped words illustrated under
-hood and -ness. fan ‘fanatic’ and zine ‘amateur magazine’ cannot become fanite or zinite. The marked forms are nonsensical. One could, however, say fandomite ‘of or belonging to a fandom’, although realistically anyone belonging to a fandom ‘fan base’ would use the name of the fandom rather than the generic noun.

-ity

-ity is a 14th century borrowing form the French -ité via the Latin -it s, it tis. It did not come into real popularity until the 16th century. The suffix denotes a quality, state or degree: opacity, lucidity, mentality. It transforms adjectives into nouns or concrete nouns into abstract nouns. The OED lists several alternations including: -acity, -ality, -anity, -arity, -ariety, -bility, -eity, -idity, -ility, -inity, -iety, -ivity, -ocity, -osity, -uity.

Referring to Buffy once again, this suffix has appeared in such constructions as Owenosity: meaning one character (not named Owen) who behaved much like another (named Owen), therefore possessing “a certain Owenosity”. Although it is not unusual for proper nouns to become common nouns, usually as a result of a person or place being responsible for a new product, service or idea (hamburger, shrapnel), it does seem worthy to note that this suffix is being added to a proper noun that has not undergone this generalization.

-ive

-ive is a 14th century borrowing from the French -if, -ive via the Latin -iv(a), -iv(us) used to turn adjectives into verbs. In its original form it attached mainly to the past participle of verbs. The OED says that in its modern form it is largely used to adapt Latin words, or to form words on Latin analogies, with the meaning ‘having a tendency to, having the nature, character, or quality of, given to (some action).’ It further says that the meaning implies a ‘permanent or habitual quality or tendency’: acting, active. Variations include -sive, -tive, -ative.
Vegetive, a shortened form of vegetative has gained some recent popularity. The variant form seems to apply strictly to people, and is especially referential of that group of people sometimes known as “couch potatoes” or “mouse potatoes”.

-ly

-ly comes from the Old English -l þc and has cognate equivalents in many West Germanic languages. It is appended to nouns and adjectives to form adverbs, and sometimes adjectives. The suffix in its recognizable form was found in northern and midland dialects as early as the 13th century. By the 15th century it was found in all dialects. Since its introduction it has been a productive suffix. The original meaning was ‘having the appearance or form indicated by the first element of the word’ (OED). Over time it has generalized to ‘characteristic of’ or ‘similar to’. It also has a meaning of ‘recurring or repeated at an interval’: monthly, yearly. More recently, synonyms of Latin or Romance origin have superceded adjectives formed with this suffix: temporal has replaced timely. The ability of this suffix to create new adjectives has decreased since Old English, leaving the suffix currently productive only in the creation of adverbs.

Isitt claims that as of his research in 1961, the suffix was not productive. He pointed out that of sixty-two appearances of -ly in a search of one million words, none of the appearances were on words not found in the dictionary; that is, none of the appearances were part of new constructions (15). Bryant, although writing twenty years earlier, disagreed. He listed -ly as among the living suffixes.

-ness

-ness is descended from the Old English -nes(s), -nis(s), -nys(s) and has cognate equivalents in other West Germanic languages. The suffix is attached to adjectives, past participles, and adverbs to form nouns expressing a state or condition, i.e. abstract nouns: bitterness, hardness. The suffix continues its productivity in Modern English and is not restricted to attachment to words of Old English descent: deviousness. It can also be attached to compound adjectives (kindheartedness) and, more recently, to adjectival phrases (little-boyishness).

Bryant lists this suffix also as living. It does make new appearances in modern teen speech, but usually with a sarcastic element implied. Clipped words like fan and zine can take the suffix, although they rarely do: fanness, zineness (having the quality of a fan; having the quality of an amateur publication). It also shows up in one specialized usage: By analogy to the epithet Your Highness, the -ness suffix has gained a “titled” meaning. Attached to nouns like slayer or chosen, it signifies a, usually mocking, respect: Your Slayerness, Your Choseness.

Conclusion

The process of word-formation is never ending in any living language. Word-formation can be achieved through combining two or more words, through zero-derivation, or through the addition of an affix. Derivational affixes are used to change the part of speech of a word, or to change a word’s function within its part of speech. The majority of suffixes in English are class-changing, therefore creating words with very different functions than their bases.

Derivational suffixes are not as stable as their inflectional counterparts, resulting in both the form and the meaning of the suffix changing over time. In addition, the category of suffixes is subject to change. Borrowing, clipping, and analogy all bring new derivational morphemes into a language. As new ones are added, old ones are not necessarily lost. This frequently causes several suffixes to contribute to the same process, e.g. transforming a verb into a noun. As suffixes gain in productivity, they eventually achieve a point where they can attach to words of etymology outside their origin language. While not all suffixes can attach to all roots, even if two that cause the same class change attach, the formed words will have some variation in meaning.

With time, some suffixes gain in popularity, and others fall out of favor, sometimes disappearing from the language entirely. Living or dying, suffixes can be re-adopted back into a language, and can be applied to new words to create other new words. This process is observable in the speech of teenagers, as exemplified on television shows and in books written for the young adult audience.

References


Adams, Valerie. (1973). An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation. Longman Group Limited, London.

Bryant, Margaret M. (1948). Modern English and Its Heritage. The MacMillan Company, New York.

Dalzell, Tom. (1996). Flapper 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang. Miriam-Webster, Incorporated. Springfield, Massachusetts.

Hufana, Alan. The Domain of the Slain. http://www2.uic.edu/~ahufan1/btvs/quotes/

Isitt, David. (1983). Crazic, menty, and idiotal: an inquiry into the use of suffixes -al, -ic, -ly, and -y in modern English. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, Goteborg, Sweden.

Oxford English Dictionary (2nd Edition) on Compact Disc.

Pearsall, Judy and Bill Trumble, eds. (1995). Oxford English Reference Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Urdang, Laurence. (1982). Modifiers. Gale Research Company, Detroit.

Urdang, Laurence. (1982). Suffixes and Other Word-Final Elements of English. Gale Research Company, Detroit.

Williams, J.M. (1975). Origins of the English Language. The Free Press, New York.