Tagged Questions
2
votes
3answers
645 views
Beneficiaries of an action ending with the “-ee” suffix
To refer to the beneficiary or patient of an action, sometimes one can form a word using the verb and the -ee suffix, e.g.
assign → assignee
employ → employee
refuge → refugee
On the other hand, ...
11
votes
2answers
4k views
Word formation with the nominal suffix -tion: when and why do we insert an “a”?
Recently, a colleague became flustered when she used orientate instead of orient. She says she frequently makes this sort of "back formation error" because of the nominal form, which is orientation. ...
3
votes
1answer
294 views
“Mutexes” or “mutices”? [closed]
When we create new words ending in -ex (mutex being short for mutual exclusion), should we (may we?) use the Latin plural form because the suffix is similar to the latin suffix -ex?
(Personally I've ...
33
votes
2answers
1k views
Origin of “-ing”
What is the origin of the suffix -ing used to form gerunds and present participles?
Why is the suffix the same in both cases?
2
votes
4answers
2k views
How are diminutives formed in recent English words?
A large variety of suffixes were used to form diminutives in English. The Wikipedia page on diminutives shows these:
* -k/-ock/-uck: balk, bollock, bullock, buttock, fetlock, folk, hark, hillock, ...
