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    Suffixation
    quickinfo

    Suffixation is the process of adding a bound morpheme (i.e. a suffix) at the right edge of a base word, thus producing a suffixed word.

    See the list of Afrikaans suffixes.

    Suffixes are mostly category-determining, i.e. changing the syntactic category of the complex word as a whole. The examples below illustrate how suffixes can create nouns in example (1), verbs in example (2), adjectives in example (3), and adverbs in example (4). In other cases, e.g. to indicate gender as in example (5), suffixes are category-neutral.

    1
    Nominalisation (NMLZ)
    werk·er
    [[werk](V)[er](NMLZ)](N)
    work·NMLZ
    worker
    2
    Verbalisation (VBZ)
    fout·eer
    [[fout](N)[eer](VBZ)](V)
    error·VBZ
    err
    3
    Adjectivalisation (ADJZ)
    sport·ief
    [[sport](N)[ief](ADJZ)](ADJ)
    sport·ADJZ
    sporting; sportsmanlike
    4
    Adverbialisation (ADVZ)
    droog·weg
    [[droog](ADJ)[weg](ADVZ)](ADV)
    dry·ADVZ
    dryly
    5
    Category-neutral (CN)
    kelner·in
    [[kelner](N)[in](CN.F)](N)
    waiter·CN.F
    waitress
    extra

    The suffix system of Afrikaans overlaps to a large extent with that of Dutch. The description of Afrikaans suffixation in this section is therefore based on the Dutch topic on suffixation.

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    The category determining nature of suffixes is considered evidence for the Right-hand Head Rule that claims that the rightward morphological constituent of a complex word is its head and hence determines its syntactic category (Trommelen and Zonneveld 1986), as illustrated in the examples above.

    Suffixes can be cohering or non-cohering. While most non-native and native suffixes are cohering, a number of native suffixes are non-cohering. Compare for instance the following suffixes, which were all historically independent words: -agtig, -baar, -dom, -heid, -ling, -loos, -skap, -saam. For the same historical reason, affixoids are always non-cohering.

    Suffixes play a central role in determining the location of the main stress of a complex word, and can be stress-bearing (attracting), stress-shifting (fixing), or stress-neutral (Booij 1995:110-115; Booij 2002:169). Most non-native suffixes are stress-bearing (example (6)), and in a few cases stress-shifting (example (7)), or traditionally stress-neutral (example (8)). Native suffixes can be stress-bearing (example (9)), stress-shifting (example (10)), or stress-neutral (example (11)).

    6
    Non-native suffix: stress-bearing
    problem·at·iek
    /prɔ.blə.maˈtik/
    [[probleem](N)[at](LK)[iek](NMLZ)](N)
    problem·LK·NMLZ
    difficulty
    7
    Non-native suffix: stress-shifting
    problem·at·ies
    /prɔ.bləˈma.tis/
    [[probleem](N)[at](LK)[ies](ADJZ)](A)
    problem·LK·ADJZ
    problematic
    8
    Non-native suffix: stress-neutral
    antikwar·ies
    /ɑn.tiˈkwa.ris/
    [[antikwaar](N)[ies](ADJZ)](A)
    antiquary·ADJZ
    antiquarian
    9
    Native suffix: stress-bearing
    kelner·in
    /kæl.nəˈrən/
    [[kelner](N)[in](CN.F)](N)
    waiter·CN.F
    waitress
    10
    Native suffix: stress-shifting
    oor·draag·baar
    /orˈdrax.bar/
    [[[oor](PREP.PTCL)[dra](V)](V)[baar](ADJZ)](ADJZ)
    over·bear·ADJZ
    transferable; contagious
    [In the separable complex verb oor·dra, main stress is on the first syllable. Note that draag is an allomorph of the verb dra bear. ]
    11
    Native suffix: stress-neutral
    oor·draag·baar·heid
    /orˈdrax.bar.ɦəit/
    [[[[oor](PREP.PTCL)[dra](V)](V)[baar](ADJZ)](ADJZ)[heid](NMLZ)](N)
    over·bear·ADJZ·NMLZ
    transferability; contagiousness

    Some suffixes are closing suffixes, which means that they do not allow for the attachment of other suffixes. This applies mostly to adverbial suffixes (see Booij 2002), as well as suffixes that have been considered traditionally as inflectional suffixes. They are:

    Table 1
    Suffix Meaning/function Base Example
    -e [ATTR form of SEM(ADJ)] ADJ lelik·e ugly
    -e [INF form of SEM(V)] V drink·e in a phrase like iets te drinke something to drink
    -e [PL of SEM(N)] N perd·e horses
    -er [CMPR of SEM(ADJ)] A vinnig·er faster
    -goed and -hulle (the so-called associative plural) [SEM(N|PR) and other people associated with SEM(N|PR)] N/PR pa-goed dad and them; John-hulle John and them
    -ie (and allomorphs -jie, -tjie, -etjie, -kie, and -pie) [DIM of SEM(N)] N huis·ie small house
    -s [PL of SEM(N)] N venster·s windows
    -s [PTV.GEN of SEM(ADJ)] ADJ mooi·s in a phrase like iets moois something pretty
    -ste [SUPL of SEM(ADJ)] ADJ vinnig·ste fastest

    References
    • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Booij, Geert2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Booij, Geert2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Trommelen, Mieke & Zonneveld, Wim1986Dutch morphology: evidence for the right-hand head ruleLinguistic Inquiry17147-170
    About this article
    Author(s): Gerhard B van Huyssteen
    Category: Afrikaans Morphology
    Keywords: affixaffixationsuffixword formation
    Version: 1.0, May 2020
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Gerhard B van Huyssteen May 2020
    This is a beta version.
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