Editing Augmentative

{{Short description|Linguistic morphological form}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2009}}

An '''augmentative''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''aug'''}}) is a [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size but also in other attributes. It is the opposite of a [[diminutive]].

Overaugmenting something often makes it grotesque and so in some languages, augmentatives are used primarily for comical effect or as [[pejorative]]s.

Many languages have augmentatives for [[noun]]s, and some have augmentatives for [[verb]]s.

== Germanic languages ==

=== English ===
In modern [[English language|English]], augmentatives can be created with the prefixes:
*’’over-’’: e.g., ’’overlord’’ and ’’overqualified’’.
*’’grand-’’: e.g., ’’grandmaster’’ and ’’grandparent’’.
*’’super-’’: e.g., ’’supermarket’’ and ’’superpower’’.
*’’mega-’’: e.g., ’’megastore’’ and ’’megastar’’.
*’’arch-’’: e.g., ’’archrival’’ and ’’archangel’’.

Since the early 1990s, the prefix ’’über-’’ or ’’uber-’’ has also frequently been used as a borrowing from German.<ref>{{Dictionary.com|uber}}</ref> The suffix [[-zilla]] (from ''[[Godzilla]]''), expressing a monstrous quality, can also be considered an augmentative form.

* ’’-zilla’’: e.g., ’’momzilla’’ and ’’bridezilla’’.

In some parts of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[Republic of Ireland]], the prefix "old" is used as an augmentative, and a pejorative in some cases. An example of this is using "old’un" or "old one" to describe one's parents/grandparents.

=== Dutch ===
In modern [[Dutch language|Dutch]], as in English, augmentatives are usually created with the prefixes:
*{{Lang|nl|over-}}: e.g., {{Lang|nl|overgewicht}} and {{Lang|nl|oververhitting}} ("overweight" and "overheating")
*{{Lang|nl|groot-}}: e.g., {{Lang|nl|grootmeester}} and {{Lang|nl|groothandel}} ("grandmaster" and "wholesaler")
*{{Lang|nl|super-}}: e.g., {{Lang|nl|supermarkt}} and {{Lang|nl|supermacht}} ("supermarket" and "superpower").
*{{Lang|nl|mega-}}: e.g., {{Lang|nl|megacontract}} and {{Lang|nl|megabioscoop}} ("a very big contract" and "a very large movie theater")

There are also prefixes that can be used for some adjectives:
*{{Lang|nl|bloed-}} (blood) : e.g., {{Lang|nl|bloedmooi}} and {{Lang|nl|bloedeigen}} ("very beautiful" and "very own")<ref>Note that Dutch ''bloed-'' is unrelated to English ''bloody''. The former is formed in analogy with {{Lang|nl|bloedeigen}} ('very own'), {{Lang|nl|bloedrood}} ('very red'), etc. wherein it originally had its proper meaning 'blood' ('of your own blood', and 'blood red') whereas the latter's origin is uncertain but according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]] might refer to the habits of the aristocracy (those of the blood): ''bloody drunk''.</ref>
*{{Lang|nl|steen-}} (stone): e.g., {{Lang|nl|steenrijk}} and {{Lang|nl|steengoed}} ("very rich" and "very good"; lit. "stone rich" and "stone good")
*{{Lang|nl|kei-}} (boulder): e.g., {{Lang|nl|keihard}} and {{Lang|nl|keileuk}} ("very fast/hard/etc." and "very fun", lit. "boulder hard" and "boulder fun")

=== German ===
In [[German language|German]], there are different ways to build augmentatives. They are rarely used [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefixes]]:
*''un-'', for instance in ''Unzahl'' "huge number", ''Unsumme'' "huge sum", ''Unmenge'' "huge quantity". Mostly used for negation, however (e.g. ''Unglück'' "bad luck", ''Unsinn'' "nonsense"), and occasionally in a pejorative sense (''Unwetter'' "bad weather", ''Untier'' "monster", lit. "un-animal").
* ''ur-'', for instance, ''uralt'' "ancient"
* ''über-'', for instance, ''[[Übermensch]]'' (q.v.)
* ''aber-'', for instance, ''abertausend'' "thousands"
* ''mega-'', for example ''megageil'' "mega-cool"
* ''ultra-'', for example ''ultrageil "ultra-cool"''
* ''voll-'', for example ''Vollidiot'' "utter idiot"
* ''riesen-'' (from ''Riese'', meaning "giant"), for example ''riesengroß'' "enormous" <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dwds.de/wb/riesen- | title=Riesen- – Schreibung, Definition, Bedeutung, Beispiele | date=August 31, 2022 }}</ref>
* ''stein-'', for example ''steinalt'' "very old, ancient", ''steinreich'' "very rich, wealthy" (lit. "stone-old", "stone-rich")

=== Swedish ===
In [[Swedish language|Swedish]], the way to build an augmentative is to add one of many prefixes before the main word, typically a noun, adjective or adverb. Some common prefixes are: ''jätte''-, ''super''-, ''bauta''-, and ''mega''-. For example:

*''jätte''- (meaning "giant"), for example ''jättesnabb'' "very fast" 
*''super''-, for example ''supermycket'' "very much"
*''bauta''- (from ''bautasten'', meaning "boulder"), for example ''bautaportion'' "very large serving (of food)"
*''mega''-, for example ''megahus'' "gigantic house"

There are many synonyms to the augmentative ''jätte''-. Some of these synonyms are: ''as-'', ''gör-'', ''svin-'', ''skit-'', and ''ur-''. These do not refer to size, only intensity, e.g. ''gul'' "yellow" to ''jättegul'' or ''skitgul'' "very yellow". Like many other augmentative prefixes, ''jätte''- is also a noun that can be part of a compound word, e.g. ''jättelik'' "enormous" (literally "giantlike"), as opposed to ''jättelik'' "very similar".

The use of prefixes to build augmentatives in Swedish is colloquial and is seldom used in formal text and speech, where adjectives and adverbs are used instead.

== Greek language ==
In [[Modern Greek]] the usage of augmentative is very common in everyday speech but not quite as common as diminutive forms. The usage of augmentative is considered colloquial and it is not present at all in formal speech. There are a variety of augmentative suffixes

: Fem. -α, -άρα, -άκλα
: Masc. -αράς, ΄-αρος,-ακλάς, -ακλας

Most nouns in their augmentative form are feminine. This means neuter and masculine nouns become feminine and then an augmentative suffix is added.

{{interlinear|number=eg.
|{Ο παίχτης} → {Ο παιχταράς}
|{The player (MASC)} {} {The great player (MASC)}|c2= (Could also be η παιχτάρα (FEM))|}}

{{interlinear|number=eg.
|{(Η) κούκλα} → {(Η) κουκλάρα}
|{beautiful woman} {} {very beautiful woman}|}}

In some neuter cases just changing the original gender of the noun is enough for augmentation to take place

{{interlinear|number=eg.
|{Το σπαθί} → {Η σπάθα}
|{The sword} {} {The great sword}|}}

== Iranian languages ==

=== New Persian ===
In [[Persian language|Persian]], the suffix -ū (ـو) is used for augmentative;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dehkhoda |first=Ali Akbar |title=Loğatnāme Dehxodā (Dehkhoda's Dictionary) |url=https://www.parsi.wiki/fa/wiki/429529/%d9%88 |website=Parsi Wiki}}</ref> for instance:

* ''ریش'' (rīš "beard" ) → ''ریشو'' (rīšū "bearded, having a long beard" ) 
* ''شپش'' (šepeš "louse" ) → ''شپشو'' (šepešū "unhygine, having a lot of lice in hair/body hair" )
* ''ریغ'' (rīğ "puke" ) → ''ریغو'' (rīğū "unstable, puker, having a huge amount of vomiting / puking" ) 
* ''شاش'' (šāš "piss" ) → ''شاشو'' (šāšū "bedwetter, having a big piss" )
* ''دماغ'' (damāğ "nose" ) → ''دماغو'' (damāğū "having a long nose" )
* ''نفرین'' (nefrīn "curse" ) → ''نفرینو'' (nefrīnū "curser, who is always cursing a lot" )
* ''شکم'' (šekam "stomach" ) → ''شکمو'' (šekamū "gluttonous; having a big stomach to eat more" )
* ''پت'' (pot "body hair" (in [[Kermani (disambiguation)|Kermani's]] dialect) ) → ''پتو'' (potū "hairy" ) 
* ''اخم'' (axm "frown" ) → ''اخمو'' (axmū "frowny, who is always frowning a lot" )

== Romance languages ==

=== Italian ===

[[Italian language|Italian]] has several augmentatives:

* ''-one'', ''-ona'', found also in several English [[loanword]]s from Italian, often via French:<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', 3rd edition, ''s.v.'' -oon</ref> [[minestrone]] (< ''minestra'' 'soup'); [[provolone cheese]] (< ''provola'' 'a kind of cheese'); ''cartone'' (< ''carta'' 'paper') appears in English ''[[carton]]'' and ''[[cartoon]]''; ''balloon'' (this may have been formed in Italian, though the usual form is ''pallone'', or in French)<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]], ''s.v.'' ''balloon''</ref>); ''milione'' 'million' (< ''mille'' 'thousand');
Suffixes ''-accio'', ''-accia'', and ''-astro'', ''-astra'', also exist, but they are used to form [[pejorative]] words, with no properly augmentative meaning: ''coltellaccio'' (< ''coltello'' 'knife'; gives English ''[[cutlass]]''); the family name ''Carpaccio''.

=== Portuguese ===
In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], the most common augmentatives are the masculine ''-ão'' (sometimes also ''-zão'' or ''-zarrão'') and the feminine ''-ona'' (or ''-zona''), although there are others, less frequently used. E.g. ''carro'' "car", ''carrão'' "big car"; ''homem'' "man", ''homenzarrão'' "big man"; ''mulher'' "woman", ''mulherona'' "big woman".

Sometimes, especially in [[Brazilian Portuguese]], the masculine augmentative can be applied to a feminine noun, which then becomes grammatically masculine, but with a feminine meaning (e.g. ''"o mulherão"'' instead of ''"a mulherona"'' for "the big woman"); however, such cases usually imply subtle meaning twists, mostly with a somewhat gross or vulgar undertone (which, nonetheless, is often intentional, for the sake of wit, malice or otherwise; so, ''mulherão'' actually means not a big woman, but a particularly sexy one).

=== Romanian ===
In [[Romanian language|Romanian]] there are several augmentative suffixes: ''-oi/-oaie'', ''-an/-ană'' etc. (masculine/feminine pairs). They originate from Latin ''-ō'' (acc. sg. ''-ōnem''), the origin of the other Romance augmentative suffixes. The archaic form has survived unchanged in Banat (and in Aromanian) as ''-on''', ''-oan'e''. As in other Romance languages, a feminine base word may have masculine or feminine forms in the augmentative. Examples:
* casă (f.) → căsoi (n.), căsoaie (f.)
* piatră (f.) → pietroi (n.)
* băiat (m.) → băiețoi (m.)
* băiat (m.) → băietan (m.)
* fată (f.) → fetișcană (f.)

=== Spanish ===
In [[Spanish language|Spanish]], -o becomes -ón and -a becomes -ona most frequently, but -ote/-ota and -azo/-aza (also meaning ''-blow'') are also commonly seen.  Others include  -udo/-uda, -aco/-aca, -acho/-acha, -uco/-uca, -ucho/-ucha, -astro/-astra and -ejo/-eja. ''More detail at [[Spanish nouns#Diminutives.2C augmentatives and suffixes|Spanish nouns]]''.

==Slavic languages==

===Bulgarian===
In [[Bulgarian language#Diminutives and augmentatives|Bulgarian]], as in Russian, mainly with ''-ище''.

===Polish===
In [[Polish language|Polish]] there is a variety of augmentatives formed with suffixes, for example: żaba (a frog) → żabucha / żabsko / żabisko / żabula; or kamień (a stone) → kamulec / kamior / etc.
* -ica, e.g. igła, f. ("needle") + ica → iglica ("spire")
* -yca, e.g. wieża, f. ("tower") + yca → wieżyca
* -ch, e.g. Stanisław, m. ("Stan") + ch → Stach (short form of the name, but not diminutive)
* -chu e.g. Krzysztof, m ("Christopher") + chu → Krzychu ("Chris")
* -cha, e.g. kiełbasa f. ("sausage") + cha → kiełbacha ("large sausage")
* -ucha, e.g. dziewa, f. archaic ("girl") + ucha → dziewucha ("wench")
* -oja, e.g. dziewa, f. archaic ("girl") + oja → dziewoja ("wench")
* -uch, e.g. uparty, adj. m. ("stubborn") + uch → uparciuch
* -ocha, e.g. śpi, v. ("sleeps") + och → śpioch ("sleepyhead")
* -och, e.g.  tłusty, adj. m. ("fat") + och → tłuścioch ("fatso", "fatty")
* -al, e.g. nos, m. ("nose") + al → nochal ("large nose")
* -ula, e.g. smark, adj m. ("snot") + ula → smarkula ("snotty young person")
* -ała, e.g. jąkać się ("to stutter") + ała → jąkała ("stutterer")
* -isko, e.g. wąs, m. ("mustache") + isko → wąsisko ("large mustache")
* -sko, e.g. baba, f. ("woman") + sko → babsko ("hag")
* -ysko, e.g. biedak m. ("pauper") + ysko → biedaczysko ("poor fellow")
* -or, e.g. but m. ("shoe") + or → bucior ("large or dirty shoe")
* -er, e.g. bóbr m. ("beaver") + er → bober ("large beaver")

===Russian===
In [[Russian language|Russian]] there is a variety of augmentatives formed with prefixes (including loans from Latin) and suffixes, including  -ище and -ина for example: дом ('house') дом'''ище''' ('great house') дом'''ина''' ('huge house'). To provide an impression of excessive qualities the suffix -га can be used for example: ветер ('wind'), ветрю'''га''' ('strong wind').

===Serbo-Croatian===
In [[Serbo-Croatian]] there is a variety of augmentative nouns formed with suffixes:<ref>{{cite web|title=Augmentativ i deminutiv – Opšte obrazovanje|url=http://www.opsteobrazovanje.in.rs/srpski-jezik/gramatika/augmentativ-i-deminutiv/|website=www.opsteobrazovanje.in.rs|access-date=13 January 2018|language=sr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Karakaš|first1=Jure|title=Gramatika u stihu}}</ref><ref name="enciklopedija">{{cite web|title=augmentativ|url=https://www.enciklopedija.hr/clanak/augmentativ|website=www.enciklopedija.hr|access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="gramatika1997">{{cite book |last1= Barić |first1= Eugenija |last2= Lončarić |first2= Mijo |last3= Malić |first3= Dragica |last4= Pavešić |first4= Slavko |last5= Peti |first5= Mirko |last6= Zečević |first6= Vesna |last7= Znika |first7= Marija |title= Hrvatska gramatika |publisher= [[Školska knjiga]] |year= 1997 |isbn= 953-0-40010-1 }}</ref>

* -ina, e.g. brdo, n. ("hill") + ina → brdina
* -čina, e.g. majmun, m. ("monkey") + čina → majmunčina
* -etina, e.g. kuća, f. ("house") + etina → kućetina
* -erina, e.g. kuća + erina → kućerina
* -urina, e.g. pti'''c'''a, f. ("bird") + urina → pti'''č'''urina
* -ešina, e.g. glava, f. ("head") + ešina → glavešina
* -uština, e.g. bara, f. ("pond") + uština → baruština
* -ušina, e.g. pijetao, m. ("rooster") + ušina → pjetlušina

Augmentative nouns are either [[pejorative]]s, although distinct pejorative suffixes also exist. All augmentative nouns have female grammatical gender. Some nouns can have their augmentatives formed with different suffixes, for example, see 'kuća' above.

In ''Hrvatska gramatika'', Barić et al. do not classify adjectives formed with suffixes which intensify an action or property as augmentatives.<!-- They list the suffixes -cat, e.g. cijel ("whole") → cjelcat, and -ov(j)et(a)n, e.g. ist'''i''' ("same") → istov(j)etan. -cijat and -acat are also used in place of -cat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hrvatski jezični portal|url=http://hjp.znanje.hr/index.php?show=search_by_id&id=f11gWhA%3D&keyword=cat|website=hjp.znanje.hr|access-date=2 February 2018|language=hr}}</ref>--> The augmentative prefixes for adjectives listed in ''Hrvatska gramatika'' are pre- ("excessively"; or excess of a favorable property),<ref name="HRpre">{{cite web|title=pre-|url=http://hjp.znanje.hr/index.php?show=search_by_id&id=eVhlWhg%3D&keyword=pre|website=Hrvatski jezični portal|access-date=2 February 2018|language=hr}}</ref> hiper- ("hyper-"), super- and ultra-.<ref name="gramatika1997" /> According to ''Hrvatska enciklopedija'', augmentative verbs surpass their base verb with their intensity.<ref name="enciklopedija" /> However, by defining augmentative verbs as an action done excessively,<ref>{{cite web|title=Glagolski vid § 234.6|url=https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/podzim2013/CHA301/um/Gl._vid.txt|publisher=Masaryk University}}</ref> ''Hrvatska gramatika'' only lists pre- ("over-") as an augmentative verb.<ref name="gramatika1997" />

==Semitic languages==

===Arabic===

[[Arabic grammar#Stem formation|Form II]] of the Arabic verb often has an augmentative sense, which may indicate intensity ([[intensive]]) or repetition ([[frequentative]]).<ref>Mark W. Cowell, ''A Reference Grammar of Syrian Arabic''. Georgetown University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|1-58901-051-5}}. p. 253</ref>

==Bantu languages==
Bantu languages' [[noun class]] markers often double as augmentative and diminutive markers, and some have separate classes that are used only as an augmentative or a diminutive.

===Chichewa===

[[Chewa language|Chichewa]] noun class 7 prefix ''chi-'' doubles up as augmentative marker. For example, '''''chi'''ndege'' which is a huge plane as opposed to ''ndege'' which is just a regular plane.

==International auxiliary languages==

=== Esperanto ===
In [[Esperanto]], the ''-{{not a typo|eg}}-'' [[infix]] is included before the final part-of-speech vowel. For example, ''domo'' (house) becomes ''domego'' (mansion). See [[Esperanto vocabulary#Affixes|Esperanto vocabulary]].

=== Interlingua ===
[[Interlingua]] does not have an augmentative suffix, but [[Free word-building in Interlingua|international prefixes]] such as ''super-'', ''hyper-'', ''mega-'' can be used as augmentatives. See also [[Interlingua grammar]].

==See also==
* [[Diminutive]]
* [[Affect (linguistics)]]
* [[Comparison (grammar)]]

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Linguistic morphology]]
[[Category:Suffixes|*]]