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-s
quickinfo

-s is an unproductive suffix that is used to derive adjectives from interjections. For example: blikstiender! cursed > bliksienders! damned in sentences like dy blikstienderse jonges! those damned young scoundrels!.

More common are the adjectival derivations with -s from material nouns.

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The suffix -s is used to derive adjectives from invectives. Examples are deale! devils > deales! devils in dy dealese fint! that cursed guy!, fergémy! cursed! > fergémys! cursed! in dat fergémise fanke! that cursed girl! and godferdomme! goddamned! > godferdommes! goddamned! in dy godferdommese kloatsek! that goddamned bastard!.

As can be seen in the examples above, the noun phrases in which these derivations occur are headed by a demonstrative pronoun. A further syntactic property is their restriction to attributive positions. Occurrence in a predicative position gives an ungrammatical result: *dy kloatsek is godferdommes! that bastard is goddammed.

extra
Literature

This section is partly based on Hoekstra (1998:138) and Hoekstra (1992).

References
  • Hoekstra, Jarich1992Eigenskipswurden op -sFriesch Dagblad11-04Taalsnipels 121
  • Hoekstra, Jarich1998Fryske wurdfoarmingLjouwertFryske Akademy
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