Sicilian affixes in Maltese
Summary
Description
Information and examples are taken from Borg (1994:57), Borg and Azzopardi-Alexander (1997:280, 291), Saade (2020:454, 455), and other sources cited below. See also Gardani (2008:75; 2012:81).
3 singulative suffixes
- -ata ‘singulative’, e.g. xemxata ‘sunstroke’ (from xemx ‘sun’), ksuħata ‘(act of) snobbery’ (from ksuħa ‘snobbery’), as described in Borg and Azzopardi-Alexander (1997:280).
- -u ‘singulative masculine’, e.g. wizzu ‘goose’, du:du ‘worm’, fu:lu ‘bean’, see Borg (1994:57).
- -a ‘singulative feminine’, e.g. du:da ‘worm’, fu:la ‘bean’ (Borg 1994:57). Borg and Azzopardi-Alexander (1997:174, 245) also mention singulative -a, e.g. nemla ‘ant’ (from nemel ‘ants’), xirja ‘a purchase’ (from xiri ‘shopping’), but do not say whether this is borrowed.
3 nominalizers
- -ż (masculine), -ża (feminine) ‘inhabitant nouns and adjectives from place names and adjectives’, e.g. Karkariż, Karkariża ‘person from Birkirkara’, Ċiniż ‘Chinese’, Ingliż ‘English’.
- -azz ‘nominal from adjective or noun’, e.g. sakranazz ‘drunkard’ (from sakran ‘drunk’), it can have a pejorative connotation following Saade (2020:454, 455), see also Drewes (1994:94).
- -iżmu ‘deadjectival noun’, e.g. lagħqiżmu ‘servilism’ (from lagħaq ‘to be servile’), cf. Saade (2020:454, 455), see also Brincat and Mifsud (2015:3350).
1 adjectivizer
- -uż ‘adjectivizer’, e.g. nkejjuż ‘annoying’ (from nkejja ‘vexation’), as shown in Saade (2020:455), cf. also Drewes (1994:93).
1 augmentative suffix