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Erhua (simplified Chinese: 儿化; traditional Chinese: 兒化; pinyin: érhuà), also called "erization" or "rhotacization of syllable finals", [1] is a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the er (儿; 兒) sound to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese.
Typically such words are formed by abbreviating or altering the original word and adding "-er". Words to which "-er" is simply suffixed to provide a word with a different, though related, meaning – such as "Peeler" (early Metropolitan policeman, after Sir Robert Peel) and "exhibitioner" (an undergraduate holding a type of scholarship called ...
In English, the -er suffix can signify: an agent noun, e.g., "singer" a degree of comparison, e.g., "louder" Oxford "-er", a colloquial and sometimes facetious suffix prevalent at Oxford University from about 1875
A final -e is recommended in words ending with -s to avoid confusion with the plural (curse, sense), -ir, -er- and -ar endings to avoid confusion with the verb infinitive (dangere, desire, papere), and other such areas where its addition aids in differentiation or pronunciation. [3]
Meaning Origin language and etymology Example(s) -iasis: condition, formation, or presence of Latin -iasis, pathological condition or process; from Greek ἴασις (íasis), cure, repair, mend mydriasis: iatr(o)-of or pertaining to medicine or a physician (uncommon as a prefix but common as a suffix; see -iatry)
Alternatively it could stand for ter or er but not at the end of the word. (Nordic languages, such as Old English, have a lightning-bolt-like mark for words ending in er.) The r rotunda with a cut (ꝵ) generally stood for -rum (a common genitive plural ending in Latin), but it could also stand for a truncation after the letter r.
The English suffix-nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun (that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached). [1]
Some words, such as "päike(ne)" (sun), "väike(ne)" (little) or "pisike(ne)" (tiny), are diminutive in their basic form, the diminutive suffix cannot be removed from these words. The Estonian diminutive suffix can be used recursively - it can be attached to a word more than once.