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    -aat
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    -aat /a:t/ is a non-native unproductive stress-bearing cohering suffix found in various classes of nouns (e.g. soldaat soldier, Aziaat Asian, consulaat consulate, resultaat result, chloraat chlorate) and a few adjectives (e.g. desperaat desperate). Nouns in -aat referring to persons are usually of common gender, those that refer to things are usually neuter.

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    The suffix -aat /a:t/ is found in a number of nouns and a few adjectives based on bases from French or Latin, or they are loans from these languages. Whereas the suffix is highly productive in English (Affixes.org), it is not in Dutch (Etymologiebank). De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 198-99, 349) distinguish a number of subtypes:

    • Personal names of common gender such as soldaat soldier, castraat castrate, kandidaat candidate. The bases are bound forms (cf. soldij pay, castreren to castrate). The plural form is in -en (soldaten soldiers), if there is a female form it is in -e (kandidate female candidate).
    • Inhabitant's names like Aziaat Asian and Klein-Aziaat someone from Asia Minor. The plural form is in -en (Aziaten Asians), if there is a female form it is in -e (Aziate woman from Asia).
      extra

      As De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 198) point out, Klein-Aziaat someone from Asia Minor is exceptional as complex geographical names often take a inhabitant's name forming suffix that differs from their simplex counterparts, cf. Nieuw-Zeelander someone from New Zealand with Zeeuw someone from Zealand.

    • Neuter nouns referring to offices, ranks or positions (cf. Affixes.org), (e.g. pastoraat pastorate, professoraat professorship), places or territories (e.g. consulaat consulate, kalifaat caliphate) or educational institutions (internaat boarding school). The plural form is in -en (kalifaten caliphates)
    • Neuter nouns denoting abstract or concrete things, often on the basis of bound forms also found in verbs in -eren, e.g. resultaat result (cf. resulteren to result), plagiaat plagiate (plagiëren to plagiarize). If the meaning of the noun allows for a plural, it is in -en (resultaten results).
      extra

      There is some variation in the form of the noun and/or the verb: De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 349) point at the pair kwadrateren to square (< kwadraat square) vs. plagiëren to plagiarize (< plagiaat plagiate).

    • In chemical terminology, neuter nouns that refer to salts of acids whose English names end in -ic, e.g. kaliumfosfaat potassium phosphate, a compound of potassium and phosphoric acid.
    • A few adjectives based on nouns (idolaat idolate < idool idol) or bound forms (accuraat accurate, obligaat obligatory).
    The -aat suffix carries the main stress of the derivation it is found in: consulaat consul-aat /kɔn.sy.'la:t/ consulate. The transcription shows that the suffix is cohering: syllabification does not respect the morphological structure.

    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
    • Haas, Wim de & Trommelen, Mieke1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij
    About this article
    Author(s): Ton van der Wouden
    Category: Dutch Morphology
    Keywords: derivationnounadjectivenon-native
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
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    1.0 Ton van der Wouden December 2015
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