Lingua Franca Nova - Affixes

Affixes

LFN has a small number of regular affixes that help to create new words.

The most common suffixes are -or, -ador, and -eria, which refer to a person, a device, and a place respectively. They can be added to any noun, adjective, or verb. For example:

• carne (meat) + -or > carnor (butcher)
• carne + -eria > carneria (butcher's shop)
• lava (wash) + -eria > laveria (laundry)
• lava + -ador > lavador (washing machine)

Another useful suffix is -i which, added to an adjective and some nouns, means "to become" or "to cause to become." It is also used with names for tools, machines, or supplies with the meaning "to use." For example:

• calda (hot) + -i > caldi (to heat)
• telefon (telephone) + -i > telefoni (to telephone)

Two more common suffixes are -eta, which means a small version of something, and -on, which means a large version of something. (They are not, however, simply synonyms for small and large!) For example:

• bove (cow, cattle) + -eta > boveta (calf)
• tela (cloth) + -on > telon (sheet, tablecloth)

There are a few suffixes that turn nouns into adjectives: -al means "pertaining to...," -in means "similar to...," -osa means "full of..." For example:

• nasion (nation) + -al > nasional (national, de la nasion)
• serpente (serpent) + -in > serpentin (serpentine, como un serpente)
• mofo (mold) + -osa > mofosa (moldy, plen de mofo)

Other suffixes include -able (-able), -isme (-ism), and -iste (-ist).

There are also three common prefixes. Non- means not, re- means again or in the opposite direction, and des- means to undo. For example:

• non- + felis (happy) > nonfelis (unhappy)
• re- + pone (place) > repone (replace)
• des- + infeta (infect) > desinfeta (disinfect)

Other prefixes include pos- (post-), pre- (pre-), supra- (super-), su- (sub-), media- (mid-), vis- (vice-), inter- (inter-), and auto- (auto-, self-)

Words may also be created by joining two existing words (compounds). Most compounds in LFN are nouns constructed from a verb and its object:

• porta (carry) + candela (candle) > portacandela (candlestick)
• pasa (pass) + tempo (time) > pasatempo (pastime)
• para (stop) + pluve (rain) > parapluve (umbrella)

Similarly, bon (good) and mal (bad) can be joined to other words:

• bon + dise (say) > bondise (bless)
• mal + dise > maldise (curse, badmouth)

Two nouns are rarely joined (as they often are in English), but are linked with de or other prepositions instead:

• avia de mar - seabird
• casa per avias - birdhouse
• xef de polisia - police chief

A complete list of LFN affixes can be found at the LFN wiki.