Suffixes play a very important role in Russian. With their help, not only new words are formed, but also grammatical forms, and they also serve to convey the emotional component of speech. That is why it is simply necessary to know what suffixes are and what they are used for.
What is a suffix?
The suffix is the morpheme behind the root. Sometimes there are times when the suffix is behind the ending. In this case, it is called "postfix". First of all, this concerns the morpheme -sya - / - ss-: they wash themselves (ending -yut, postfix -sas-), gather, prettily and others.
The main function of the suffix is the formation of new words, however, there are times when this morpheme plays a formative role. There are a lot of suffixes in the language of expressive-emotional coloring.
This morpheme is so numerous that it begins to be studied at school from the elementary grades. What are the suffixes in the Russian language, Grade 2 is already in the middle of the year.
From this morpheme it is easy to find out what part of speech is before us. So, thanks to the specific -usch / -yushch and –ash - / - box - we understand that we have the sacrament, and -b- unequivocally says that the word in question is the participle. To begin with, we consider these morphemes from the point of view of purpose, and then we will talk about belonging to any part of speech.
A word can exist without a suffix, but it is he who gives the lexeme special meaning. The reverse cases are also not uncommon when two or even three suffixes take place. So in the word teacher there are two of them: -tel- and -stv-, and in the word “teach” three: the verb -ova- was added to the previous two.
What are the functions?
Let's consider what suffixes are in terms of their functionality.
- Forming. These are those that participate in the formation of the forms of the same word. Their distinctive feature is that these morphemes along with the end of the word are not included in its basis. For example, the past tense form has the characteristic suffix -l-: wiped, cooked, read. In addition, some linguists consider the -t- in the infinitive to also be a formative suffix. Recall that when studying the question of what suffixes are in the Russian language (Grade 3), students are presented with it as an ending. Also, if we interpret the participle and the participle as verb forms (linguists do not have an unambiguous answer to this question), the suffixes of these words stand out as formative and do not enter into the basis: thinking, thinking, persecuted (morphemes of the real participle -you-, participle -y- and Holy Communion -im-). Suffixes of a comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs (stronger, deeper) also apply to inflectional ones.
- Word-building. These morphemes are more common: they are used when new words arise. Most often, they participate in the formation of nouns and adjectives. Moreover, with the help of this morpheme, a word can appear both in the same part of speech and in another. For example, the words "forest", "forester", "forest." The first noun was formed using the suffix -nik-, the second word, the adjective, with the suffix -n-. Sometimes the suffixes also form verbs: think - think. Here, in the formation of the imperfective verb, the suffix -yva- was used.
Shades of values
Suffixes can also be subdivided depending on which shade of meaning is conveyed. It is no secret that the root carries the main semantic load. The suffix only clarifies, makes the word more expressive. Let us examine what suffixes are from this point of view and the values transmitted by them:
- Diminutive: table; ram-sheep; handsome - handsome; child is a baby.
- Magnifying: boots, hands, fist, giant.
- Young animals: duckling, calf, kitten, baby elephant.
- Designation of belonging to any profession: saleswoman, crane operator, barmaid; also localities: Siberian, Petersburger, Muscovite, Southerner; nationalities: Ukrainian, Georgian, German, Finn.
- Subjective attitude to an object or person: a thief, a little one, a cunning, a greedy, a laughter.
Suffixes of Nouns
In high school, they begin to study morphology in detail, so for each part of speech they determine what suffixes are in the Russian language (grade 5). We analyze this morpheme from this point of view.
We will cite as an example only the most characteristic suffixes, by which we can clearly say about their morphological affiliation.
Suffixes of nouns:
Suffix | Value |
-ec - / - its- | - Belonging to a certain circle, nationality: highlander, Caucasian, circle.
- Ability: wrestler, trader, tightrope walker.
- Male animal: male, swimmer, stallion (-ec-) or female (-itz-): dipper, lioness, sloth.
- Estimated value: brother, borsch, bread, prong (colloquial and vernacular).
|
-ik- | - Diminutive value: knife, table.
- Name of sciences, subjects: mathematics, mechanics, stylistics
- Name of berries: blackberry, blueberry.
|
-Nick- | - Subject: textbook, fin, wallet.
- Mode of activity: colonel, submariner, rider.
- Territorial object: greenhouse, dressing room, sennik.
|
- Oshk - / - ear - / - yushk - / - yshk- | Diminutive: sparrows, winglet, hut, snake. |
-chik - / - shchik- | Affiliation of the profession: loader, SUV, estimator, furniture maker. |
Adjective Suffixes
Now let's talk about adjective suffixes.
This is perhaps the richest part of speech on these morphemes.
Suffix | Value |
-al - / - yal- | Quality acquired under the influence of something (time, location, etc.): stale, tired. |
-An - / - Jan- | Indicate the material from which the item is made. They are always written with one "n" (exceptions: glass, tin, wooden): clay, sand, leather. It can also indicate the purpose of the item (wardrobe) or the method of work (wind, peat). |
-ast - / - at- | Indicates an expressive sign: enlarged parts of the body (laby, caudate) or other quality (shaggy, bespectacled) |
-ev - / - ov-, -in- | With the help of these suffixes possessive adjectives are formed : grandfathers, fathers. It also indicates what the item is made or made of: pear, anise. |
-nen - / - onn- | Property (military, morning, cranberry, slow) |
-iv - / - liv - / - chiv- | Addiction, any quality, possession of something: rainy, lazy, beautiful |
-ist- -chat- | Similarity: silvery, oily. High degree of possession: vocal, tuberous; bumpy, log Propensity, similarity: sweeping, impulsive, onions (similar to turnips). |
teln | Performing action or capable of it, having a connection: observant, amazing, selective. Object of action, its purpose: swimming; desirable. |
Verb Suffixes
What are the suffixes of verbs in Russian? Most often formative (we wrote about them earlier). However, there are those that are endowed with certain values. So -ova - / - yva- will tell us that the action has not ended, but is in the process (to plan, fantasize, care) - these are all verbs of imperfect form.
The suffixes -sya - / - sy-, although they form a reflexive verb, are not inflectional. They are based on the whole.
Pronoun Suffixes
The last thing left to talk about is what pronoun suffixes are. There are only three of them: something, anything. All of them are written with a hyphen and participate in the formation of indefinite pronouns: someone, any, something.