Hinanesti: Words for Wording Words

[marianlh]

Still working on the vowels.

One thing I learned from studying Rihanai is the usefulness of linguistic morphology in expanding vocabulary. Put simply, if you know the rules for how words are modified, you can create a whole lot of new words out of existing words. For example, take the English suffix -er. Stick it on the end of any verb and you have a new noun that means "someone who does (verb)". Wait/waiter, run/runner, sing/singer, and so on.



English mostly uses suffixes to morph words:

Agent noun suffixes

• -dar, -adar: -er; usually attached to a verb
• -dac, -ac: -er, rarer and more poetical than dar/adar
• -ta: or/ess, ist; usually attached to a noun
• -ion: no exact English equivalent, indicates a serious or devoted practitioner or artist
• -nar, -enar: servant of

Inflectional affixes

• ce-: -s, -es; partitive article indicating more than one (plural form)
• ro-: a lot; partitive article indicating a large number
• fi-: four; partitive article indicating a group of four, e.g. cardinal directions, seasons, etc.
• es-, ese-: -er (comparative)
• ri-, ris-: -est (superlative)
• : -n't (negative)

Derivational suffixes

• -en, -nen, -ren: basic adjectival suffix; adjective form of noun
• -in: variation of -en used for nouns ending in "i"; creates the ii diphthong.
• -elath, -lath: -an, -ian (adjectival suffix, of or pertaining to)
• -et, -ret: -al ( adjectival suffix, of or pertaining to)
• -ad, -iad, -es, -ail, -an: -ize/-ise (used for verbing nouns or adjectives)
• : -fy, -ify (to produce verbs meaning to make or increase the root word)
• -yr, -nyr, -nnyr: -ly (used to form "like the noun" adjectives from nouns)
• -asa, -esa, -sa: -y (adjectival suffix, "having the quality of" or "inclined to")
• -an, -ran: -en, in (adjectival suffix, "having the quality of" or "inclined to")
• -lë, -lay, -ley, -in, -lin: -ful (adjectival suffix, "full of" or "having a thorough and certain possession of")
• : -able/-ible (adjectival suffix, "able to be", "relevant to", and other meanings)
• -lis, is: -hood (a condition or state of being the root word)
• -thas: -ship (having a property or state of being of the root word)
• -nil: -ness (adjectival suffix, state/quality/measure of the root word)
• nil-, nila-: -ous, ious (adjectival suffix, full of)
• -kith: -less (lacking the root word)
• ki-: an- (absence/negation of the root word)
• ul-, uli-: -ism, -ive (nouning verbs to describe the state, process or result of the verb)
• : -ism (school of thought or belief)
• ar-, ara-: -ment, tion (nouning verbs to describe the action or result of the verb)
• : -ure (nouning verbs to describe a process, condition or result of an action)
• : -ist (noun indicating a person related to the root word)
• -ti, -enti: -ish (language suffix, language of a people or group) e.g. esti, ceioenti
• -di, -endi: -ish, (derivational suffix, of or pertaining to a people or group) e.g. Celéndi
• -në,-ney: -ish, -like (adjectival suffix, similar to)
• -kin: -ie, -y, affectionate diminutive suffix, cute or endearing
• vel-, veli-: -ing (noun, gerund) (nouning a verb to indicate the action of the verb, e.g. "the making of the film", "I like writing")
• -lith, -ith: -ing (noun, non-gerund) (nouning a verb to indicate the product of the verb, e.g. "a building", "my writings")
• nev-, neve-: -ing (adjective, contraction of nes(*)vel(i). Equivalent to using gerund noun as an adjective in english, e.g arming shirt, dining room)
• -lissa, -issa: -ing (adjective, contraction of lith(*)sa. Equivalent to using non-gerund noun as an adjective in english, e.g building manager)
• : -ed (nouning a verb to indicate the recipient of the verb action, e.g. "the dead", "the wanted")
• : -ed (verb adjectival suffix, having the quality of a verb, e.g. "painted house")
• se-, ser-: equivalent to using an infinitive verb as a direct object

As I come up with the Esti equivalents, I'll edit this post and add them in, but just compiling the list was enough work for tonight.