The vocabulary of the Russian language is constantly replenished. Along with the noun, adjectives are also responsible for this process. A huge role in it is played by morphological word formation from different parts of speech: from a noun ( evil, glass, fox ), from a verb ( patient, talkative, deceptive ), and from other adjectives ( gray-beige, sour-salty ).
In today's article, we will look at the way adjectives are formed with the suffix -ist-. The suffix method of word formation is not only the most popular, but also the most effective.
General information
Examples of adjectives with the suffix -ist-:
hollow, hazy, granular, fluffy, shady, broad-shouldered, vocal, silver, intermittent, rolling, bulging, gelatinous, blond , etc.
As you can see, in the suffix -ist- only the vowel "and" can be used: clay, rolling . The suffix -est- for adjective names simply does not exist.
The meanings of words formed in this way
The described part of the word is considered very active. In the process of word formation, adjectives with the suffix -ist- and the ending -th / th / th / s (depending on gender and number) are obtained. Newly formed words get several meanings:
- Similar to anything: silver (similar to silver), velvety (similar to velvet), earthy (similar to earth), iodide (similar to iodine), icy (similar to ice).
- The presence of something in a large quantity / quality: shady (a lot of shade), fragrant (smelling strongly), vocal (loud voice).
- Prone to anything, having a certain characteristic: he is calm, pugnacious, who likes to argue with people), impulsive (when talking about the wind), thorny (difficult, requiring a lot of effort to overcome).
Suffixes -ast- and -at-. Their practical role
Synonyms for -ist- are other suffixes: -ast- and -at-. In some cases, root words with the suffix -ist- can be replaced by adjectives with -ast-. For example, flea and flea . "Flea" is used in modern speech much more often than flea, although it is a relatively new word. There is no such adjective in Dahl’s dictionaries, but there is its cognate analogue.
Another example of such a substitution of the word with the suffix -ist- can be considered a pair - “flowery” and “colorful”. In the seventies, fighters for pure Russian began to speak sharply against the adjective "colorful." They did not understand the meaning of its use, because in the language there was another, more pleasant by ear word - "flowery". True, this may seem strange, but the adjective "colorful" is also quite new, and in the Dahl dictionary it is completely absent. The concept of "flowery", "flowery" has several meanings:
1. ... fabric; fabric with patterns, bright colors;
2. ... a meadow with many flowers and butterflies;
3. ... language; pompous, loud, with bright speech turns.
Now the word "flowery" sounds natural only in the meaning of "flowery meadow" and "flowery language". The phrase “flowery fabric” is no longer used so often, and most of the Russian-speaking people will say “colorful fabric” instead. Whether someone likes it or not, the suffix -ast- eventually succeeded in supplanting -ist-.
Immutable letters and sounds facing the suffix
Let us return to the first example: flea-flea-flea. Here we can consider adjectives with the suffix -ist- and the rule that applies in this case. What sounds (colloquial speech) and letters (written speech) should be used before the suffix?
The adjective "flea" cannot be considered correct. In such cases, we cannot use [x] with this suffix when we work with adjectives. Note that in nouns such use is correct - a masochist . For adjective names, the sound changes from [x] to [w].
Also examples of correct combinations are sounds (and letters):
- "b" is bumpy ;
- "in" - steep ;
- "d" - thoroughbred ;
- "w" - erysipelas ;
- "h" - mucous ;
- "m" is hilly ;
- "n" - thorny ;
- "p" - porous, rich ;
- "c" - fleshy, vociferous ;
- "t" is velvety ;
- "h" is radiant ;
- "w" is ruffled .
Changeable letters and sounds
The following sounds / letters occurring at the end of nouns alternate when combined with a suffix:
- "x" changes to "w" (as in the examples above): range - sweeping, fluff - fluffy, burdock - burdock, moss - mossy ;
- "g" goes into "g": ravine - ravine, cottage cheese - curdled, threshold - rapids, snow - snowy, road - expensive, driftwood - snaggy, blizzard - blizzard.
The suffix -ist- can stand after several vowels: “e” ( serpentine ), “o” ( layered ), “y” ( strucural ). These vowels cannot be combined with the suffixes -ast- and -at-, so this case can be considered unique. Before -ist- a soft sign may also be used. In this case, two adjectives are formed: slimy and streaky .
Accents
An interesting point is the issue of stress in the adjectives mentioned above with the suffix -ist-. It turns out that in them the stress can fall both on the root (bumpy, hooligan), and on the suffix itself (looped, muscular).
Let's take a closer look at each case:
- The emphasis falls on the suffix if in the derivative noun it stood on the first syllable: velvet - velvety , voice - vociferous , stone - stony .
- If the original noun has an accent on the second syllable, then it remains in the same place and in the adjective: swamp - swampy , breed - thoroughbred , weather - weathery .
A slight deviation from the established norm for the use of stress is also possible. In this case, a new rule may apply and adjectives with the suffix -ist- may have double emphasis.
Examples are: the adjective “muscular”, derived from the noun “muscle” and “sugar”, derived from the word “sugar”. In the second example, the variant with root stress is the most common in everyday speech, however, the case with the shock suffix is also valid.
Education of quality adjectives
The suffix -ist- can also be attached to proper names, resulting in high-quality adjectives. We practically do not use them in modern colloquial speech, however, this method really exists and is found on the pages of literary texts.
Qualitative adjectives formed in this way are part of the general paradigm for the declension of adjectives (endings -th and -th) and describe the quality inherent in a particular subject.
So, the adjectives "Ivanite" and "Catherine", descended from "Ivan" and "Catherine", are indicators of such a feature that is characteristic of subjects with these names:
Catherine shoes are shoes of a certain style and style that Catherine usually wears; they remind the owner of this name, even if other people can wear such shoes.
Practical task
To consolidate the material covered, form an adjective using the suffix -ist- from the nouns listed below. After completing the practical task, you can check with our answers, which we will leave at the end of the article.
Curl, time, passage, shadow, tear, rock, peal, pile, branch, greens, clay, flint, fiber, tubercle, stain, thorns, flurry.
We hope that we have helped you deal with adjectives with the suffix -ist- and the rules regarding them.
Answers to the task: sinuous, porous, abrupt, shady, abrupt, rocky, rolling, fleecy, branched, greenish, clay, siliceous, fibrous, tuberous, spotty, thorny, squally .