-ít
Hungarian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]It can be traced back to the ancient multi-element Finno-Ugric (Uralic) *-kt, the elements of which are the frequentative *-k and the causative -t.
In Hungarian, regular phonological development caused this *-kt to first become -χt, then -it. The -i formed a diphthong with the vowel at the end of the stem in front of it, which is the origin of the -ajt / -ejt variants that still exists today in some old or dialect words (e.g. hullajt, veszejt). The diphthong then monophthongized to become -í, resulting in the modern colloquial -ít formant. When added to base verbs, this is most often found as a causative suffix, but it usually no longer expresses real causation, it merely changes the base verb to a transitive. For causation, it must be supplemented with the suffix -tat / -tet, as in taníttat (“to have someone taught”).[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-ít
- (verb-forming suffix) -ify, added to a noun, adjective, verb or other stem to form a verb expressing causation (make something ...-like).
Usage notes
[edit]- Sometimes -ít is attached to a stem that is not used alone, only with a family of suffixes.
- Sometimes it can alternate with -ajt/-ejt and/or -aszt/-eszt, e.g. szakít ~ szakajt ~ szakaszt, taszít ~ taszajt, verít(ék) ~ verejt(ék), veszít ~ veszejt (the latter pair with slightly different meanings). In other cases, only the -ajt/-ejt and/or -aszt/-eszt form exists, e.g. szalajt ~ szalaszt, hullajt, zülleszt.
Derived terms
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ -ít in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
Irish
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-ít f