-iĉo
Esperanto
editEtymology
editDerived by analogy with the masculine suffix -ĉj- and the feminine suffixes -nj- and -ino.
Pronunciation
editSuffix
edit-iĉo
Usage notes
editA controversial neologism that is not formally recognized, but increasingly tolerated. Derives the masculine form of a word, parallel to feminine -ino, for example:
The derived terms iĉo (“a male individual”) and iĉa (“male, masculine”) are more commonly used than the actual suffix itself.
A widespread more traditional convention to designate male animals is to form compounds with vir- (from viro (“man”)), such as virbovo for bull, though this requires neologisms for man-animal chimeras, such as minotaŭro (“minotaur”). To designate male members of a profession, it is common to use the adjective vira (“male”), such as vira kelnero for a male waiter.
Usage of the suffix -iĉo can be semantically divided depending on how one deals with traditionally male roots:
- Traditionally male roots are used in a gender-neutral way, changing the meanings of patro from “father” to “parent”, frato from “brother” to “sibling”, etc. To make their male equivalents, -iĉo is applied. (patriĉo for “father”, fratiĉo for “brother”, etc.) This approach was the most common among early adopters of the suffix, and is heavily criticized by a significant number of speakers as being a too drastic reform of the language.
- The suffix is used with traditionally male roots for purely stylistic symmetry with words that end in the feminine suffix -ino. (E.g. patriĉo and patrino for “father” and “mother”.) In this approach the form patriĉo is considered to be synonymous with the traditional patro (“father”).
- The suffix is avoided with traditionally male roots, preserving their traditional meanings. It is only applied to root words that are not already explicitly male, e.g. junulo (“young person”) → junuliĉo (“young man”) and amiko (“friend”) → amikiĉo (“male friend”). This approach has become most common as usage of the suffix has spread.
Sometimes the third approach is combined with gender-neutral neologisms, such as parento (“parent”) and spozo (“spouse”).
Some authors, such as Jorge Camacho and Luiz Portella, have published books using this suffix.
Synonyms
editAntonyms
edit- -ino (“female”)
Derived terms
editSee also
editGender reform in Esperanto on Wikipedia.Wikipedia