-ette
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English -ette, a borrowing from Old French -ette, from Latin -itta, the feminine form of Latin -ittus.
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ette
- (diminutive) Used to form nouns meaning a smaller form of something.
- Used to form nouns meaning or implying the female equivalent of.
- Used to form nouns meaning an imitation or substitute of something.
- leather + -ette → leatherette
- (Polari) Used to form nouns with a Polari context or an association with gay subculture.
- 1967, Barry Took, Marty Feldman, “Gaslight Son of Flicker”, in Round the Horne, spoken by Sandy (Kenneth Williams):
- You may have vada'd one of our tiny bijou masterpiecettes, heartface.
- 2002, Gilda O'Neill, The Sins Of Their Fathers (Eastend Trilogy; 1):
- 'Shame, eh, my little cherry? I was really bonar for him and all. It'll be a lonely old arthur for me tonight as usual. Ah well, let's have another little drinkette then, shall we? And perhaps, Poppett,' he sighed histrionically. 'I'll learn to keep my queeny old polari for them what appreciates it. Or for them what admints it,'
Synonyms edit
- (diminutive affix): mini-, micro-, nano-, -ee, -y, -icle/-cule/-ule/-ole
- (female affix): -a, -ess, -ine, -ress, -rix, she-
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "diminutive"): super-, supra-, hyper-, ultra-, uber-, macro-, arch-, over-, mega-, giga-, -zilla, grand, great
- (antonym(s) of "female affix"): he-
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Anagrams edit
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ette f (masculine -et)
- female equivalent of -et
Derived terms edit
Hungarian edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From -ett (past-tense suffix) + -e (third-person singular suffix).
Suffix edit
-ette
- (past-tense suffix) Forms the third-person singular past tense of verbs (definite conjugation).
- (verbal-participle suffix) Forms the verbal participle of verbs, always following the agent noun.
- jelent (“to present”) → [kalózok] jelentette [veszély] (“[the danger] presented by [pirates]”, literally “pirates-presented danger”)
Usage notes edit
- (past-tense and verbal-participle suffix) Variants:
- -ta is added to most back-vowel verbs
- -te is added to most front-vowel verbs
- -tta is added to back-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (hí, rí, szí; ó, ró; fú)
- -tte is added to front-vowel verbs ending in a vowel (lő, nő, sző; nyű)
- -otta is added to back-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (fut, nyit, except lát)
- -ette is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (vet)
- -ötte is added to rounded front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or a long vowel + t, or to monosyllables ending in -t (köt, süt, üt)
- (noun-forming suffix) Variants:
- -ta is added to most back-vowel verbs
- -te is added to most front-vowel verbs
- -tte is added to front-vowel verbs that originally ended in a vowel (like jön, originally jő)
- -ata is added to back-vowel verbs that form the infinitive with a linking vowel (like hall)
- -ete is added to front-vowel verbs that form the infinitive with a linking vowel (like kell)
Etymology 2 edit
From -et (causative suffix) + -t (past-tense suffix) + -e (third-person singular suffix).
Suffix edit
-ette
- (past-tense causative suffix) Forms the third-person singular causative past tense of verbs (definite conjugation), used with -val/-vel, e.g. vele, velük etc., otherwise coinciding with the above forms.
- fest (“to paint”) + -ette → festette (“he/she/it had someone paint (it/them)”)
- megért (“to understand”) + -ette → megértette (“he/she/it made someone understand (it/them)”)
- Megértette velük, hogy nem tehetnek ilyet. ― She made them understand that they couldn't do such a thing.
- szerkeszt (“to edit”) + -ette → szerkesztette (“he/she had someone edit (it/them)”)
- Velünk szerkesztette az újságját. ― He had us edit his newspaper.
Usage notes edit
Homonymy exists between regular and causative past tense forms of consonant + t types of front-vowel verbs, in all the six persons, both with definite and indefinite endings, except for the third-person singular indefinite form (-ettem, -ettél, –, -ettünk, -ettetek, -ettek; -ettem, -etted, -ette, -ettük, -ettétek, -ették; -ettelek). On the other hand, other types of front-vowel verbs as well as back-vowel verbs take different forms for the regular and the causative past tense (e.g. -ottam and -attam, e.g. ugrottam and ugrattam among similar back-vowel verbs, other front-vowel verb types having clearly distinct forms: kértem vs. kérettem, kerestem vs. kerestettem). However, the -val/-vel argument is compulsory with the causative sense, so it makes the distinction easier (e.g. megértettem velük a különbséget – “I made them understand the difference”).
Etymology 3 edit
Suffix edit
-ette
- (obsolete) Synonym of -ve (adverbial participle), approx. a- (as in asleep, awake, alive etc.); it was possible to add a personal suffix afterwards
- émik (“to wake up, to be/keep awake”) + -ette → émette, imette, émetten, imetten, émett, imett, ímett (“awake”, literally “keeping awake”)
- beszél (“to speak”) + -ette → beszélette (“while speaking”)
- éhezik (“to starve”) + -ette → éhezette (“while starving”)
- él (“to live”) + -ette → élette (“(while) alive”)
- elmegy (“to go away, leave”) + -ette → elmenette (“on leaving”)
- felkel (“to get up, to rise”) + -ette → felkelette (“while/on getting up”)
- jön (“to come”) + -ette → jövette (“on coming”)
- ül (“to sit”) + -ette → ülette (“while sitting”)
Usage notes edit
- Variants:
See also edit
Further reading edit
- Károly, Sándor. Az istenadta-féle szerkezetek személyragos tagjának szófaji jellegéről (“On the part of speech of the personal-suffixed elements of istenadta [‘God-given’]-like structures”). In: Nyelvtudományi Közlemények (“Linguistic Publications”), vol. 59 (1957), pp. 130–150.
- Simonyi, Zsigmond. Isten-adta (“God-given”). In: Magyar Nyelvőr (“Hungarian Language Guardian”), vol. XXXVI (1907), pp. 16–35 in the offprint (issue 5, May 15 in the original, pp. 193–205, 264–271).
Italian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ette
- used with a stem to form the third-person singular past historic of regular -ere verbs.
- Synonym: -é
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
-ette
Middle French edit
Suffix edit
-ette
Synonyms edit
- -et (forms masculine nouns and adjectives)
Old French edit
Suffix edit
-ette
- (late Old French, Old Northern French) Alternative form of -ete