Questions tagged [word-formation]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
2 answers
66 views

What are all 3-letter (or shorter) words in Esperanto?

Is there a list of all Esperanto words of length 3 or less? Please note that I am not asking about roots. I am asking as a seasoned language learner: Short words can throw a learner off because their ...
Lover of Structure's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
102 views

La prefikseca "pri"

Laŭ PMEG estas uzo kurioza de "pri", kiu ebligas ŝanĝi frazrolon. Ekzemple, eblas per ĝi reordigi la jenan frazon X pafas Y-on al Z tiel ke ĝi iĝu la jena. X pripafas Z-on per Y Tia povo ...
Mona the Monad's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
40 views

ĉioscia kaj ĉionscia(nta)

Mi ne sukcesas trovi klarigon aŭ pravigon gramatikan por la adjektivo ĉioscia. Mi uzas ĉionscia, sed kaj PIV kaj Tekstaro listigas nur uzojn de ĉioscia (sen -n). Tamen Zamenhof uzis ĉionscianta (kun -...
Eduardo Trápani's user avatar
-2 votes
4 answers
179 views

The root of "okulo"

In my opinion, okulo comes from Kabalalah; in particular, I am talking about the Tree of life. Sefirot (in Esperanto ok) is the sign of Binah; it means understanding (mainly by eyes). Probably okulo ...
Masoud B's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
59 views

Can I say "-igiĝi" or "-iĝigi"?

For example: Ĝi ruĝigiĝis / It got turned red Li/Ŝi/Ri/Ĝi sidiĝigis / They got sat down Maybe these frases are a little complicated and unnecesary, but I feel they are still interesting and could ...
Olivro18's user avatar
  • 313
0 votes
4 answers
108 views

Is it encouraged to use an invented root word if I don't like the sound of an existing root word?

Newbie here. I really don't like the translation of the word "horse" into Esperanto: ĉevalo. Is it encouraged to use your own root word if you think people will understand you? I love the ...
J M's user avatar
  • 19
0 votes
2 answers
48 views

Double pejorative

Can one say, for example, "la najbarido fuŝkantaĉis la tutan vesperon" or "Dio, iu pagas por lia fuŝbildaĉoj" to show their unbelievable, overwhelming annoyance? Also, is fuŝ- an ...
Mare Maneski's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
74 views

Kiel vi dirus "comb-over" en Esperanto?

Ĉu ekzistas vorto aŭ termo por "comb-over" en Esperanto (ekzemple "he has a really bad comb-over")? Mi provis ĉiun kombinaĵo de "komb-" kaj "supr-" ke mi povus ...
jastako's user avatar
  • 238
6 votes
3 answers
211 views

Is "koramiko" gender neutral or always male?

amik·o, like most other nouns in Esperanto (and other than most or all Esperanto terms for specific relatives), is, as far as I know, sex- / gender-neutral. Is that also the case for kor·amik·o? Or ...
das-g's user avatar
  • 3,565
7 votes
2 answers
583 views

Is word formation of Esperanto not accurate?

We know that Esperanto has two ways to create a word: Using a root word and adding suffixes, or borrowing a word from other languages and reforming it. However, I doubt that the former method could ...
Leonel Hou's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
86 views

How I say way home in esperanto?

How I say way home in esperanto? I find hejmenvojo in google translate but I don't know if this is correct. If exist more than a way to say this expression the meaning is diferrent?
Carolina Biazotti's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
135 views

Can words be "derived" on the fly?

I recently starting learning Esperanto, and I am enjoying it so far. (I am enrolled in the Duolingo course.) The Wikipedia page for Esperanto says: Esperanto words are mostly derived by stringing ...
sugarfi's user avatar
  • 125
1 vote
2 answers
205 views

Are there no "true" antonyms in Esperanto?

I've just started learning Esperanto on Duolingo, and the only thing I don't like about the language is the formation of antonyms through "mal". It's not necessarily obvious to me why, say, &...
Lou's user avatar
  • 113
7 votes
1 answer
218 views

"a PLURALITY of the votes" in Esperanto

As per English Wikipedia: Plurality voting is an electoral system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts (a ...
Færd's user avatar
  • 323
4 votes
1 answer
210 views

"aspektas strange" aŭ "aspektas stranga"?

En la traduko de Zamenhof de "Fabeloj de Anderson", oni povas trovi: "Tio aspektis tre bele, precipe kiam la turbo turniĝis." kaj ankaŭ: "Unu vesperon la cikonia patro iom tro ...
AJWentworth's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
95 views

Difference between "multe" and "iomege"?

So, I learned the word "iomete" and when reading I saw that "iomege" also exists. Not sure exactly what the difference between that and "multe" is however. Also, between "malmulte" and "iomete"?
indjev99's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
52 views

Can one use vivio instead of biologio?

For the sake of consistency, is it possible to use the -i- affix in this context? Indeed life is vivo so the study of life should be vivio. Souce: http://www.romaniczo.com/esperanto/gramatiko/...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
46 views

Why are there differences between nation names in Esperanto? / Kial estas diferencoj inter nomoj de nacioj en Esperanto?

English: Hello. Why does one translate frenchmen, Italians, Germans and Poles to "Francoj", "Italoj", "Germanoj" and "Poloj"; but translates other nations as Iranians and Americans to "Irananoj" (Iran+...
Qàtrè's user avatar
  • 255
5 votes
2 answers
176 views

Kiel oni diras "kafon sen kafeino" unuvorte?

En aliaj lingvoj necesas nur unu vorton por diri kafon sen kafeino. Ekzemple, en la angla ekzistas decaf. Ĉu estas komunuza fojo por diri kafon sen kafeino per unu vorto? Mi ne povis trovi ĝin en ...
E_net4's user avatar
  • 196
2 votes
3 answers
107 views

Ĉu oni povas uzi la vortojn "maleta", "malolda", "malfrida"?

Mi lernis ke oni povas konstrui vortojn uzanta la prefikso "mal" por esprimi la malon de la vortoj sen la prefikso: granda ⇒ malgranda varma ⇒ malvarma juna ⇒ maljuna Sed, ĉu oni povas uzi la saman ...
user1319's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
53 views

Infinitive form of compound tenses?

Compound tenses are formed by combining the auxiliary verb "esti" with a participle (e.g. "mi estis leganta" -> "mi legantis"). Is there ever such a thing as an infinitive form of a compound (e.g. "...
Mona the Monad's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
101 views

Esperanto word formation ambiguity

Estas skribita tio en PAG: Tio troviĝas precipe ĉe la largsignifaj sufiksoidoj AĴ, IL kaj UM: porkaĵo povas esti viando aŭ maldecaĵo, kovrilo povas rilati indiferente al tiel diversaj aferoj, kiel ...
SlayerGames44's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
68 views

Ĉu -io estas sufikso?

Nu, -i- ja estas produkta sufikso en nia lingvo, almenaŭ "eks-sufikso", ekz. oni formas landnomojn, kiel Francio, Germanio, ktp. Sed la sufikso ne estas disigebla: "io" ne signifas lando kaj "ia" ne ...
SlayerGames44's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
124 views

Etymology of kato and kata

According to the Wiktionary, kato originates from French, Italian, Latin, etc... and kata comes from kato + a. But how can we say that it is not the opposite? Can we say that the root kat- comes from ...
Lepticed's user avatar
  • 438
2 votes
1 answer
142 views

Why use "librejo" to mean bookstore?

Learning Esperanto on Lernu.net, I've found that suffix -ej- is for space for placing something. There are examples from this site: lerni → lernejo = school dormi → dormejo = bedroom eliri → elirejo ...
Konstantin Morenko's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
398 views

Double suffixes?

Is there any specific rule which forbids the same suffix applied twice in a row? Context: I've randomly tried to imagine what programming variables would be called in Esperanto and realized that "...
Lazar Ljubenović's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
568 views

Is there a suffix "-or-" in Esperanto?

Today, I discovered the work ankoraŭ but I confused it with ankaŭ. If I correclty understood the meaning of those words: ankaŭ In addition to something ankoraŭ This word shows a continuity until ...
Pierre's user avatar
  • 263
6 votes
4 answers
248 views

Vortoj pri uzo de e-cigaredo

Mi ne scias ĉu ekzistas vortoj en Esperanto por la uzado de elektronikaj cigaredoj. Pri tio mi nenion trovis. Aliaj lingvoj evitas vortojn kiel fumi, fumado, ktp. rilate al e-cigaredo. Ekz. en la ...
Vidamuzo's user avatar
  • 3,439
7 votes
3 answers
223 views

Why do some compound words leave out the "o"?

I'm working through this exercise. It has labortablo and skribotablo as two of the words. Why isn't the former laborotablo instead? Furthermore, would labora tablo and skriba tablo be equivalent, ...
Caleb Koch's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
437 views

What’s the deal with “fariĝi”?

In a lot of places I see the word fariĝi when, from context, it seems that the speaker/writer just meant iĝi (to become). For example: «Mi studas por (far)iĝi kuracisto.» Why is the radical far- used ...
Timwi's user avatar
  • 171
11 votes
2 answers
320 views

Prefixes vs Suffixes: Which one is strongest?

Sometimes a prefix and a suffix collide to form a word. An example is malino (mal- + -ino) which is sometimes used in informal language to mean ”a man”. However, I’ve often wondered: Which ’fix gets ...
Bjørn's user avatar
  • 1,988
6 votes
3 answers
254 views

What's the word for "meme"

Someone used "memo" or "memeo" but I hardly agree either. The first is misguiding as "mem" means self, so "memo" makes people think "memo" is the noun form. "Memeo " is an unnecessary transliterated ...
Urso's user avatar
  • 813
12 votes
4 answers
368 views

Why "foj" is repeated in "fojfoje"?

The word fojfoje has a repetition of the root foj. Why and how does this alter the meaning of the word, compared to the word foje?
Vanege's user avatar
  • 11.1k
10 votes
2 answers
89 views

La nuanco inter du malsametaj “ni”

En ĉina mandarino estas du vortoj por "ni" Women / 我们 Ni, sed la aŭskultanto ne estas inklusivita. Do Women nur reprezentas la diranton. Zanmen/咱们 Ni, inklusive la aŭskultanto. Do Zamen inklusivas ...
Urso's user avatar
  • 813
8 votes
2 answers
93 views

Ĉu oni povas kunigi vortojn per aliaj kategoriaj finaĵoj, ol "-o"?

Mi lernis ke Esperanto permesas kunigi leksemojn nur per "-o-" inter la partoj (lunolumo) "-" inter la partoj (lun-lumo) neniu inter la partoj (lunlumo) Kaj ankaŭ ke kiam oni uzas numeralojn, la "-a-...
psychoslave's user avatar
  • 1,223
6 votes
8 answers
331 views

Why do adjective share their noun's ending?

For example, belan virinon (beautiful woman, in case I'm being unintelligible) or belaj virinoj (beautiful women). Imagine there is more sentence there. Why does the adjective share the ending of the ...
amflare's user avatar
  • 437
9 votes
4 answers
200 views

Compound Tenses

Researching the in-depth usages of Esperanto verbs, I came across this Wikipedia entry. In short, the entry claims that for compound tenses such as "mi estas kuranta" (present tense progressive, "I ...
Civitano Aliloke's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
119 views

Translating the word "workbench" into esperanto

I began learning using Esperanto in 12 Days. I had to translate this : "What is on the work-bench in our room?" What I initially thought : Kio estas sur la laborotablo en nia ĉambro. real ...
copper's user avatar
  • 123
8 votes
3 answers
209 views

What's the difference between the words "aĵo" and "esto" and "estaĵo"

They all seem to be defined as "being", "entity", or "thing", though "estaĵo" also seems to be "creature." Where does this nuance come from? Why do each of these words exist, and how can I use each to ...
Thomas Kagan's user avatar
7 votes
3 answers
122 views

Is there a list of words with the -um- ending?

Since the -um- suffix is undefined, is there any list of words that use it and say what they mean?
Donĉjo Frazoro's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
614 views

Converting verbs to nouns

Suppose I have a verb, for example kunfandiĝi (hopefully something like to merge), but I want a noun describing a process of that word (in this case, to merge would in English become merging). Is ...
Nikolaj's user avatar
  • 153
5 votes
2 answers
75 views

Which if any esperanto words are not viable as affixes for constructing new words?

For example it seems to me that la probably isn't viable. Is this really the case?
esperblue's user avatar
  • 1,124
5 votes
2 answers
50 views

Kiel mallongigi kunmetitajn vortojn?

En Esperanto, oni mallongigas nomojn aŭ esprimojn, plejparte uzante la komencan literon de ĉiu vorto en la nomo/esprimo, ekz.: UEA = Universala Esperanto-Asocio TEJO = Tutmonda Esperantista ...
Lyubomir Vasilev's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
132 views

Word construction with an adjective

It seems to me that sometimes one uses a root that is really an adjective in building a word, but if the pronunciation is hard, it seemed to me that PMEG states I should put in o. Example found in ...
Jiri Lebl's user avatar
  • 1,500
5 votes
3 answers
93 views

How do you say "to scoff" as distinct from "to mock" (moki)?

This question came up as an example in a more general question about Esperanto. The specific question here, though, does warrant an answer. How do you express the different shades of meaning in ...
Tomaso Alexander's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
227 views

Is "oi" a valid pair of letters in esperanto?

I haven't run into any words that have oi in them that I recall. Is it a valid construction? How is it pronounced if so?
esperblue's user avatar
  • 1,124
8 votes
1 answer
117 views

"Ĉionmanĝanta ŝafo" or "Ĉiomanĝanta ŝafo"? Can you build a word with the accusative like that?

I want to build an adjective for a sheep that eats everything. I had the idea to put together the last part of the sentence "Ŝafo manĝanta ĉion", giving ĉionmanĝanta. However, this word is very ...
Vanege's user avatar
  • 11.1k
6 votes
4 answers
378 views

What are some example-words to show how well affixes work?

I've seen malsanulejo in many places; a good example for how logically roots and affixes can be combined to make useful words. Malsanulejo has a clear meaning, and can easily be translated into ...
Antonia Montaro's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
221 views

What is the equivalent of compound words created by joining them with hyphen?

In English, when using two or more words as attributive I join them with hyphens. If you're desperate for dual-GPU performance, the 18.4-inch Alienware 18 has a dual-GeForce GTX 880M option That ...
apaderno's user avatar
  • 1,715
8 votes
1 answer
137 views

Policisto or Policano

I've always used policano but today I discovered that policisto, while not as common, is in fairly wide use. It is even found in some reputable dictionaries. Is there a reason to prefer one term or ...
Tomaso Alexander's user avatar