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    -te
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    The native suffix -te /tə/ derives nouns from adjectives. Examples are grut big > grutte size or stil silent > stilte silence. In these words the suffix is just added, but in some other words additional phonological processes may occur, like breaking (e.g. koel [ku.əl] cool > kuolte [kṷoltə] coolness) or shortening (e.g. heech [he:x] high > hichte [hɪxtə] height).

    The general meaning performed by -te is something like "instance of being {adjective}". If scalar adjectives are involved, only those that represent the high value may take this suffix. If they do, the derivation with -te covers the whole scale, hence the low values too. For example, swierte weight can also be applied to light objects.

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    [+]General properties

    The suffix -te /tə/ performs nominalisations on an adjectival base. Examples are given below:

    Table 1
    Base form Derivation
    stil silent stilte silence
    waarm warm waarmte warmth
    grut big grutte size
    heech high hichte hight
    siik ill sykte disease
    rom spacious romte space
    krap narrow krapte narrowness
    droech dry droechte drought

    These derivations of -te mean "instance of being {adjective}". Stilte silence, for example, means "the instance of being stil silent", and waarmte warmth stands for "the instance of being waarm warm". All output forms have common gender, i.e. they take the definite article de.

    extra
    Variant of -te: -de

    The adjective leaf dear is special in the sense that it has to be followed by the variant -de instead of -te: leafde love and not *leafte love.

    [+]-te as a nominalisation suffix for other lexical categories

    Very rarely, the suffix takes a non-adjectival base. In two cases, an adverb is available: del down > delte valley and nei near > neite nearness. Furthermore, the indefinite numeral mannich many may stand at the basis of the noun mannichte quantity.

    It may seem that a verb is also used as a base, as in belofte promise (< belove to promise), berte birth (< bernje to be born) or jefte gift (< jaan to give). However, this suffix -t(e) is different from the one treated in this topic. More information about verbs nominalized by -t(e) can be found in the topic on -t.

    [+]Semantic input restrictions

    A semantic input restriction can be observed with objective and measurable nouns with the meaning "extent of being {adjective}" . Compare the first and second column of the following table:

    Table 2
    Adjective > noun Antonym adjective > noun
    grut big > grutte size lyts small > *lytste smallness
    swier heavy > swierte weight licht light > *lichtte lightness
    breed wide > breedte width smel tight > *smelte tightness
    lang long > lingte length koart short > *koartte shortness
    As can be seen, "high" measure adjectives like grut big and swier heavy can undergo suffixation by -te, but their "low" counterparts within the same scale, lyts small and licht light, cannot.

    Dyk (1989:34-35) explains why the suffixation by means of -te is only possible for the adjectives in the first column: they are unmarked/neutral. Compare the following sentences:

    1
    a. Syn tún is tsien fjouwerkante meter grut
    his garden is ten square meter big
    His garden is ten square meters big
    b. Syn tún is tsien fjouwerkante meter lyts
    his garden is ten square meter small
    His garden is ten square meters small
    2
    a. De poppe wie acht pûn swier
    the baby was eight pounds heavy
    The baby weighed eight pounds
    b. De poppe wie acht pûn licht
    the baby was eight pounds light
    The baby weighed eight pounds
    3
    a. De latte wie fyftjin sintimeter breed
    the stave was fifteen centimeter wide
    The stave was fifteen centimeters wide
    b. De latte wie fyftjin sintimeter smel
    the stave was fifteen centimeter narrow
    The stave was fifteen centimeters narrow
    4
    a. It nije Akademygebou is tritich meter lang
    the new academy-building is thirty meters long
    The new Academy building is thirty meters long
    b. It nije Akademygebou is tritich meter koart
    the new academy-building is thirty meters short
    The new Academy building is thirty meters short

    In the (a)-sentences the "high" measure-adjectives have been used and in the (b)-examples the "low" ones. In the first group the speaker does not evaluate the size, but in the second group he does. To illustrate: in (4a) the speaker does not appraise the size of the building, while in example (4b) he explicitly indicates that according to him the building is rather small.

    extra
    Remarks concerning suffixation in -te for measure adjectives

    There are some cases in which -te is possible with the "low" antonyms:

    Table 3
    Adjective > noun Antonym adjective > noun
    djip deep > djipte depth ûndjip shallow > ûndjipte shoal
    wiid wide > wiidte width ing narrow > ingte narrowness

    However, according to Dyk (1989:35) these examples do not denote the extent of being ûndjip shallow or ing narrow, but rather the concrete situation of being ûndjip shallow or ing narrow. Thus ûndjipte shoal refers to a concrete shallow place in the water, and an ingte narrowness is a concrete narrow passage.

    Conversely, there are also measure adjectives that do not allow -te at all. Examples are let late > *lette time and âld old > *âldte age. Conceivably, these are blocked since the competing words tiid time and âldens age are available.

    More information about the relationship between measure adjectives and -te can be found in Dyk (1989).

    [+]Phonological properties

    Suffixation normally occurs by just adding -te: grut big > grutte size or stil silent > stilte silence. However, some words undergo an extra phonological shift. The vowel of the base form can undergo:

    • Breaking, for instance koel [ku.əl] cool > kuolte [kṷoltə] coolness and swier [svi.ər] heavy > swierte [svɪtə] weight;
    • Shortening in heech [he:x] high > hichte [hɪxtə] hight;
    • other vowel changes: lang [laŋ] long > lingte [lɪŋtə] length.
    There are also phonological input restrictions. Firstly, there are no derivations of -te with an adjectival base form ending in a single vowel: sneu a pity > *sneute pitifulness. Secondly, derivation from a base form ending in a consonant cluster is only allowed if the penultimate consonant is a sonorant ( /l/, /m/ or /r/):

    Table 4
    Possible nominalisations Adjective's penultimate consonant Impossible nominalisations Adjective's penultimate consonant
    kalm serene > kalmte sereneness /l/ lyts small > *lytste smallness /t/
    waarm warm > waarmte warmth /r/ ljocht light > *ljochtte lightness /x/
    skerp sharp > skerpte sharpness /r/ absint absent > *absintte absence /n/
    frjemd foreign > frjemdte abroad /m/ abstrakt abstract > abstrakte abstractness /k/

    Note that an adjective like lyts small is also an unsuitable input because of the semantic restriction: it represents the "low part" of a scale.

    The suffix -te can follow both stressed and unstressed syllables. Examples are DJIPte depth and hoeMANnichte quantity. The suffix does not change the stress pattern.

    Pluralisation depends on semantic properties of the derived noun. For instance, if djipte depth means something abstract like "measure of deepness", then pluralisation is impossible. If the derivation is a concrete count noun, then a plural suffix may be added freely. Thus djipten depths and ûndjipten shoals are deep and shallow places in the water.

    In Frisian, the plural form with -en is preferred where Dutch rather chooses the plural suffix -s. Compare for instance Frisian sykten illnesses with Dutch ziektes. The newly formed nouns do not allow diminutives: *kalmteke sereneness-DIM small serenity or *djipteke depth-DIM small depth, but they can be part of a compound: syktefersom sickness absence or djiptemjitter depth gauge.

    extra
    Literature

    This topic is primarily based on Hoekstra (1998:113-114). The peculiarities of adjectival bases involved in a scale have been studied by Dyk (1989). For a historical and comparative view, see Schmidt-Jüngst (2012).

    References
    • Dyk, Siebren1989It deadjektivyske efterheaksel -te op 'e nij besjoenFrysk en Vrije Universiteit (1949-1989)VU Uitgeverij
    • Dyk, Siebren1989It deadjektivyske efterheaksel -te op 'e nij besjoenFrysk en Vrije Universiteit (1949-1989)VU Uitgeverij
    • Dyk, Siebren1989It deadjektivyske efterheaksel -te op 'e nij besjoenFrysk en Vrije Universiteit (1949-1989)VU Uitgeverij
    • Dyk, Siebren1989It deadjektivyske efterheaksel -te op 'e nij besjoenFrysk en Vrije Universiteit (1949-1989)VU Uitgeverij
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1998Fryske wurdfoarmingLjouwertFryske Akademy
    • Schmidt-Jüngst, Miriam2012Die Freuden von leafde und Wäermt. Produktivität und Verbreitung des Suffixes -de/-t(e) im Deutschen, Luxemburgischen und Westfriesischen
    About this article
    Author(s): Siebren Dyk, Truus de Vries
    Category: Frisian Morphology
    Keywords: suffixnominalisation
    Version: ,
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