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-ier
quickinfo

-ier [i:r] is a stress-bearing, cohering suffix of Romance origin that is found in nouns of common gender referring to male persons. Inputs are Germanic or Romance concrete nouns. There is an allomorph -(e)nier; the distribution of the allomorphs is not completely predictable. The suffix is unproductive.

Schema:
[[N]ier](N)

Meaning:
  • person having a function related to N

Table 1
derivation base
herbergier inn-keeper < herberg inn
winkelier shop-keeper < winkel shop
tuinier gardener < tuin garden
avonturier adventurer < avontuur adventure
koetsier coachman < koets carriage
scholier pupil < school school
rentenier renter < rente interest
glazenier stained-glass artist < glas glass
kruidenier grocer < kruiden herbs, spices

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[+]Morphosyntactic properties

The Romance stress-bearing suffix -ier [i:r] combines with Germanic (herbergier) and Romance (avonturier), resulting in nouns of common gender that select the singular definite article de.

extra

In the case of Romance stems, it is sometimes unclear whether the –ier–formations have been formed in Dutch or were borrowed as a whole (e.g. fuselier fusilier, grenadier id, passagier passenger, poelier poulterer).

vliegenier pilot is exceptional in that it is derived from a verb (vliegen to fly).

De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 180) point out that there is one geographical person name in -ier, viz. Arabier Arab (< Arabië Arabia). Interestingly enough, someone from Saoedi-Arabië Saoudi Arabia is not called a *Saoedi-Arabier but rather Saoedi-Arabiër, with the suffix -er.

De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 181) also point at formations such as kwartier quarter (e.g. of an hour) (< kwart quart) and formulier form. If these are to be analyzed as being formed with a suffix -ier, this may very well be a different one: not only is the output subcategory different (denoting things rather than person names), gender is not common but neuter (selecting the definite article het) and plural form is uniformly in -en.

Note that there is a homograph suffix with a different pronunciation -ier /je:/ that is found in professional names such as herbergier inn-keeper and avonturier adventurer.

Plurals of -ier formations are in –s (herbergiers, avonturiers), occasionally in –en (scholieren).

[+]Morphological potential

The female variant is usually with -ierster (glazenierster female stained-glass artist, herbergierster hostess, female inn-keeper, rentenierster female rentier, tuinierster female gardener, vliegenierster female aviator), occasionally with –e (scholiere female pupil, passagiere female passenger).

Nouns in -ier may be converted into verbs, e.g. tuinieren to garden and rentenieren live on one’s private means, which may be input for nominalization again, e.g. tuinierder gardener.

extra

The existence of a form in –ier usually blocks other nominalizations, with the exception of tuinder market gardener, which has a slightly different semantics than regular tuinier gardener.

[+]Semantics

The general meaning of –ier formations can be described as ‘someone having to do with the base noun’; they usually denote functions or jobs.

extra

Middelbare scholier secondary school pupil is formed on the basis of the phrase middelbare school secondary school. Note that we are dealing with a bracketing paradox here: semantically, this is derived from the pertinent phrase, but structurally, scholier pupil is the head, as is shown by the neuter agreement in middelbaar scholiertje young/small secondary school pupil, due to the diminutive suffix.

[+]Phonological properties

-ier is a cohering suffix: syllabification does not respect the morphological boundary. -ier moreover bears main stress: 'winkel > winke'lier.

References
  • Haas, Wim de & Trommelen, Mieke1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij
  • Haas, Wim de & Trommelen, Mieke1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij
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