WordCodex

-y

See also: Variations of "y"

-y - English

Alternative forms

Suffix

-y

  1. Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”.
  2. Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".

Usage notes

  • This suffix is very productive and can be added to almost any word. When the resulting word is not perceived to be an established or formal word (but rather a nonce word or a casualism), a hyphen is often used before the suffix (sandcastle → sandcastle-y). A few long-established words ending with this suffix have distinctive spellings, such as wintry and fiery, which English learners might misspell as *wintery and *firey.

Synonyms

  • (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”): -al, -an, -ial, -ian, -ly, -ous
  • (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”): -esque, -ish, -like, -ly, -oid

Antonyms

  • (form “having quality of” adjectives): -less

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Alternative forms

Suffix

-y

  1. Forming diminutive nouns.
  2. Forming familiar names, pet names, nicknames and terms of endearment.

Synonyms

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Suffix

-y

  1. Forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state.
  2. Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.

Derived terms

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -y

-y - Afar

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /-j/, [-j]

Clitic

-y

  1. Used to form an interrogative copulative sentence: is it?
    • Qafár af macáy? ― What is the Afar language?

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /-j/, [-j]

Clitic

-y

  1. Used to join together noun phrases: and, also

Usage notes

  • When following a short vowel, -y lengthens that vowel:
    • ‎gaalá (“camel”) + ‎-y → ‎gaaláay (“and the camels”)

-y - Asturian

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /i/

Pronoun

-y

  1. him, she, it (third-person singular indirect pronoun)
    • Da-y pan
      • Give him bread

Usage notes

It is always spelled with the hyphen, unlike other pronouns in the language.

  • -yos, -ys (third-person plural indirect pronoun)

-y - Czech

Suffix

-y

  1. -ly: from adjectives forms adverbs

Derived terms

Czech terms suffixed with -y

-y - Egyptian

Pronunciation

  • (modern Egyptological) IPA: /iː/
    • Conventional anglicization: -y

Suffix

  1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Forms the plural imperative of verbs, particularly weak verbs.
  2. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally used to form the subjunctive of weak verbs.

Usage notes

The plural imperative can also appear without this suffix, in a form identical to the singular imperative.

Suffix

  1. Forms agent nouns from verbs.

Suffix

  1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the masculine imperfective active participle, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

-j

Suffix

  1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the masculine singular perfective passive participle of strong verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

-w -w

Suffix

  1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the perfective passive participle of weak verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.
  2. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the perfective relative form of weak verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.
  3. (Late Egyptian) Marks the perfective passive participle of mostly third-weak transitive verbs, following the stem.
  4. (Late Egyptian) Occasionally marks the perfective active participle of mostly third-weak transitive verbs, following the stem.

Alternative forms

-yꜣ -yt
Late Egyptian Late Egyptian

Suffix

  1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Rarely marks the imperfective relative form of all verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

-w -w

-y - Finnish

Suffix

-y

  1. Front vowel variant of -u.

Declension

Inflection of -y (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative -y -yt
genitive -yn -yjen
partitive -yä -yjä
illative -yyn -yihin
Possessive forms of -y (type valo)
Inflection of -y (Kotus type 2/palvelu, no gradation)
nominative -y -yt
genitive -yn -yjen -yiden -yitten
partitive -yä -yjä -yitä
illative -yyn -yihin
Possessive forms of -y (type palvelu)

-y - Lower Sorbian

Suffix

-y

  1. Alternative form of -i (used after “hard” consonants).

-y - Middle English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /-iː/

Suffix

-y

  1. Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by being appended to a noun.

Derived terms

Middle English terms suffixed with -y

Descendants

Suffix

-y

  1. Alternative form of -yf

Suffix

-y

  1. Alternative form of -ie

-y - Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɨ/
  • Syllabification: y

Suffix

-y

  1. nominative plural ending of some masculine nouns.
  2. vocative plural ending of some masculine nouns.
  3. genitive singular ending of some feminine nouns.
  4. nominative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
  5. accusative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
  6. vocative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
  7. personal, animate, and inanimate masculine nominative singular ending of some adjectives.
  8. personal, animate, and inanimate masculine vocative singular ending of some adjectives.
  9. inanimate masculine accusative singular ending of some adjectives.
  10. personal masculine nominative plural ending of some adjectives.
  11. personal masculine vocative plural ending of some adjectives.

Derived terms

Polish terms suffixed with -y

-y - Quechua

Suffix

-y

  1. Infinitive marker.
  2. Nominalizes verbs. The act of doing something. "-ing."
  3. Indicates first-person singular possessive.
    • mikhuna (“food”) → mikhunay (“my food”)
  4. Conjugative suffix for the second-person imperative mood.

-y - Scots

Suffix

-y

  1. Alternative form of -ie
Meaning and Definition of -y
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