Afffixation (सर्ग प्रक्रिया) is the process which involves attaching an affix to a root or stem. Affixation in Nepali can be of two types and they are suffixation (प्रत्यय प्रक्रिया) and prefixation (उपसर्ग प्रक्रिया). In this blog post, we will discuss in details about derivation due to affixation.
Inflections v/s Derivations
- Inflectional morphemes encode grammatical meaning while derivational morphemes carry lexical meaning.
- Inflectional morphemes do not change the lexical category and meaning of root while derivational morphemes may.
- In Nepali, suffixes can be inflectional or derivational while prefixes are derivational only.
NOTE: There are no derivational/inflectional infixes and circumfixes in Nepali.
Suffixation
Suffixation is a process of word formation by the addition of bound morpheme to the end of the root. The bound morpheme involved in suffixation is called suffix (प्रत्यय/परसर्ग). On the basis of the root they attach to, there are two types of suffixes in Nepali and they are:
- Primary Suffix (कृत् प्रत्यय)
- Secondary Suffix (तद्वित प्रत्यय)
A primary suffix (कृत् प्रत्यय) is added to the end of a verb root to form a primary derivative word (कृदन्त शब्द). A primary derivative word belongs to noun (नाम), verb (क्रियापद), adjective (विशेषण) or adverb (क्रियाविशेषण).
| Primary Suffix (कृत् प्रत्यय) | Verb Root | Derivative Word (कृदन्त शब्द) | Category of Derivative Word (कृदन्त शब्दको शब्दवर्ग) |
|---|---|---|---|
| अत (ata) अनी (anii) उवा (uwa) आउरी(aaurii) | बच् (bach) थाल् (thal) बढ् (badh) जित् (jit) | बचत (bach-ata) थालनी (thal-anii) बढुवा (badh-uwa) जिताउरी (jit-aaurii) | नाम (Noun) |
| अ (a) दै (dai) एको (eko) ए (e) | पढ् (padh) सुत् (sut) खोस् (khos) खा (kha) | पढ (padh-a) सुत्दै (sut-dai) खोसेको (khos-eko) खाए (kha-e) | क्रियापद (Verb) |
| आहा (aahaa) अन्ते (ante) इलो (ilo) आलु (aalu) | ठग् (thag) पढ् (padh) हाँस् (haas) बढ् (badh) | ठगाहा (thag-aahaa) पढन्ते (padh-ante) हँसिलो (has-ilo) बढालु (badh-alu) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| एर (era) ता (ta) न (na) ई (ii) | देख् (dekh) उठ् (uth) उड् (ud) भुल् (bhul) | देखेर (dekh-era) उठ्ता (uth-ta) उड्न (ud-na) भुली (bhul-ii) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
A secondary suffix (तद्वित प्रत्यय) can be applied to anything but a verb root to form a secondary derivative word (तद्वितान्त शब्द). Such suffixes act on noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb and primary derivative word.
| Root | Category of Root | Secondary Suffix (तद्वित प्रत्यय) | Derivative Word (तद्वितान्त शब्द) | Category of Derivative Word (तद्वितान्त शब्दको शब्दवर्ग) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| गफ (gaf) | नाम (Noun) | आडी (aadii) | गफाडी (gaf-aadii) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| राम्रो (ramro) | विशेषण (Adjective) | अरी (arii) | राम्ररी (ramr-ari) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| घर (ghar) | नाम (Noun) | आन (aan) | घरान (ghar-aan) | नाम (Noun) |
| त्यो (tyo) | सर्वनाम (Pronoun) | नै (nai) | त्यही (tyahi) | सर्वनाम (Pronoun) |
| बाहिर (bahira) | नाम (Noun) | इया (iya) | बाहिरिया (bahir-iya) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| अघि (aghi) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) | लो (lo) | अघिल्लो (aghil-lo) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| त्यो (tyo) | सर्वनाम (Pronoun) | अरी (ari) | त्यसरी (tyas-ari) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| सफा (safa) | विशेषण (Adjective) | आइ (aai) | सफाइ (safa-ai) | नाम (Noun) |
On the basis of their ability to maintain or change the lexical category of the base they get attached to, suffixes in Nepali can be of two types. They are:
- Class Maintaining Suffix
- Class Changing Suffix
A class maintaining suffix maintains the lexical category of the root after suffixation. Some of the class maintaining suffixes in Nepali are given in Table 3.
| Root | Suffix (प्रत्यय) | Derivative Word | Category(शब्दवर्ग) |
|---|---|---|---|
| राज (raaj) | आइँ (aai~) | रजाइँ (raj-aai~) | नाम (Noun) |
| उच्च (uchcha) | तम (tam) | उच्चतम (uchcha-tam) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| त्यो (tyo) | नै (nai) | त्यही (tyahi) | सर्वनाम (Pronoun) |
| पण्डित (pandit) | याइँ (yaai~) | पण्डितयाइँ (pandit-yaai~) | नाम (Noun) |
| पछि (pachhi) | आडी (aadi) | पछाडी (pach-aadi) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
A class changing suffix changes the lexical category of the root after suffixation. Some of the class maintaining suffixes in Nepali are given in Table 4.
| Root | Category of Root | Suffix (प्रत्यय) | Derivative Word | Category of Derivative Word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| गफ (gaf) | नाम (Noun) | आडी (aadii) | गफाडी (gaf-aadii) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| राम्रो (ramro) | विशेषण (Adjective) | अरी (arii) | राम्ररी (ramr-ari) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| बाहिर (bahira) | नाम (Noun) | इया (iya) | बाहिरिया (bahir-iya) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| अघि (aghi) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) | लो (lo) | अघिल्लो (aghil-lo) | विशेषण (Adjective) |
| त्यो (tyo) | सर्वनाम (Pronoun) | अरी (ari) | त्यसरी (tyas-ari) | क्रियाविशेषण (Adverb) |
| सफा (safa) | विशेषण (Adjective) | आइ (aai) | सफाइ (safa-ai) | नाम (Noun) |
Prefixation
Prefixation is the process of word formation in which a bound morpheme is attached to the beginning of a root. Prefix (उपसर्ग) is the bound morpheme which is involved in the process of prefixation. In Nepali, the process of prefixation produces noun, adjective and adverb only.
Prefixes in Nepali can have various effects in the meaning of the base they get attached to. Some of the possible effects of prefixation on meaning of the root are listed below.
- Express the lack of.
- Express too much of.
- Express negative meaning of the root.
- Add special meaning to.
Prefixes in Nepali can be divided into three types and they are:
- Prefixes from Sanskrit (तत्सम उपसर्ग)
- Prefixes from Nepali (तत्भव उपसर्ग)
- Prefixes from other sources (आगन्तुक उपसर्ग)
Prefixes from Sanskrit are the prefixes that are taken from Sanskrit language. Some of such prefixes and their meanings are given in Table 5.
| Prefix | Meaning | Derivative Words |
|---|---|---|
| अति (ati) | excess | अत्यन्त (aty-anta), अतिवादी(ati-badi) |
| अधि (adhi) | superiority and very much | अधिकार (adhi-kar), अध्यात्म(adhy-atma) |
| अनु (anu) | order, method and in proximity | अनुरुप (anu-rup), अनुशरण (anu-sharan) |
| अप (apa) | bad and negative | अपजस (apa-jas), अपहेलना (apa-helana) |
| अभि (abhi) | excess, towards and in proximity | अभियोग (abhi-yog), अभिमुख (abhi-mukh) |
| उत् (ut) | high or ascent | उत्कृष्ट (ut-krishta), उत्सर्ग (ut-sarga) |
| उप (upa) | part and in proximity | उपहार (upa-haar), उपनाम (upa-naam) |
Prefixes from Nepali are the prefixes that are from Nepali language itself. Some of such prefixes and their meanings are given in Table 6.
| Prefix | Meaning | Derivative Words |
|---|---|---|
| अ (a) | opposite, lack, forbidden | अबुझ(a-bujh), अकाल(a-kaal) |
| अन (ana) | lack, forbidden | अनपढ (ana-padh), अनजान(ana-jaan) |
| स (sa) | order, method and in proximity of | सहित (sa-hit), सगुण (sa-gun) |
| उन/उनन् (una/unan) | less in number | उनन्चालीस (unan-chaalis), उन्नाइस (unn-naais) |
| बे (be) | except | बेकाम (be-kaam), बेनाम (be-naam) |
| बै (bai) | lack | बैगुन (bai-gun), बैराग (bai-raag) |
Prefixes from other sources are the type of prefixes that are taken from sources other than Sanskrit and Nepali. Some of such prefixes and their meanings are given in Table 7.
| Prefix | Meaning | Source | Derivative Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| कम (kam) | less | Farsi | कमसल (kam-sal), कमजोर (kam-jor) |
| गैर (gair) | forbidden, absence | Arabic | गैरकानुनी (gair-kaanuni), गैरजिम्मेवार (gair-jimmewar) |
| बद् (bad) | bad | Farsi | बदनाम (bad-naam), बदमास (bad-maas) |
| सब (sab) | helping, lower | English | सबकमिटी (sub-kamiti), सुबस्टेसन (sub-stesan) |
| ट्रान्स (trans) | sender | English | ट्रान्सपोर्ट (trans-port), ट्रान्सफर (trans-fr) |
References
