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11. Word derivation

Making new words from existing words is called word derivation. Often a new word is made by adding a prefix or suffix, such as un- and -ness in English. For example, un-happy and happi-ness are derived from the root word happy.

New words can be built freely in Pandunia! Pandunia has a word derivation system that is regular and productive.

Zero Derivation

Zero derivation means conversion of a word of a certain word class to a different word class without any change in form. This is very common in Pandunia, where most words don't belong to any fixed word classes. Instead, the word class is determined by the word's place in the sentence.

For example, the word hali can function equally as an adjective (blank or void), noun (a blank) and verb (to make blank or to get blank).

tu ha hali papir, he? – Do you have some blank paper?
don mi un hali! – Give me a blank!
tu mus hali vo lexi. – You must blank out that word.

Likewise, the word kitabi can function as a verb (to write), a noun (a writing) and adjective (written or textual).

mi kitabi letre. – I write a letter.
letre e kitabi misije. – A letter is a written message.
mi ai tu su kitabi. – I love your writings.

Compound Words

A compound word is a word that is formed of two or more simpler words in order to yield a new meaning. New compound words can be created freely and easily in Pandunia. There are two types of compound words in Pandunia.

  1. Closed compounds are written together and there is no space between the words. For example, poste 'mail' + kan 'place for working' = postekan 'post office'.
  2. Open compounds are written separately and there is a space between the words. For example, tomato 'tomato' + sos 'sauce' = tomato sos 'tomato sauce',

There is little or no difference between open compounds and closed compounds in Pandunia from grammatical point of view. Compound words that are well-established tend to be closed compounds, while unestablished and improvised compound words tend to be open compounds.

Pandunia's system of word derivation is designed to produce compound words that look and/or sound so close to international words that they are easy to recognize. They are not meant to be identical with words in English or in any other language, because international words tend to be written and pronounced in more or less different ways from language to language. In fact, compound words are built in a different way in Pandunia than in European languages, though the results usually look mostly similar.

For example, English word antidemocratic can be divided into parts thus: anti-dem-o-crat-ic. It is completely made up of bound morphemes, units that can't stand alone but that can only appear as part of another word. The corresponding Pandunia word, antidemikratika, is made up of stand-alone words and it could be written also as an open compound: anti demi krati ka. The structure of this compound word in Pandunia is identical with the corresponding word in Mandarin, fǎn mín zhǔ de (反民主的). So Pandunia's word derivation system is structurally closer to the East Asian type than the European type.

Pandunia English Mandarin
anti anti- fán
demi dem- mín
-o-
krati crat- zhǔ
ka -ic de

Affixes

Affixes, i.e. prefixes and suffixes, are very important and give great flexibility to the language. They are joined or merged to the base word.

For example, the word Geia 'planet Earth' consists of the base word gei 'earth, ground' and the collective noun suffix -ya.

       gei       'earth, ground'
   +   -ya       'collective noun suffix'
_____________
=      Geia      'planet Earth, Gaia'

Two or more roots can be put together to make compound words. The last root is the most meaningful part in the compound and the preceding roots only modify its meaning.

       pan       'all'
   +  demi       'people, public'
   +   -ka       'adjectival suffix'
_____________
= pandemika      'pandemic'

The connecting vowel -o- is inserted between the elements in Greek compounds.

       demi      'people, public'
   +  krati      'rule, govern'
   +    -ya      'collective noun suffix'
_____________
= demikratia     'democracy'

      termi      'temperature'
   +  metri      'measure'
   +     -r      'agent or apparatus'
____________
= termimetrir     'thermometer'

Pandunia has adopted international prefixes, including a-, de-, pro-, re- and su- among others, in order to re-create many international words as native Pandunia words.

         a-      'to, toward'
   +   sesi      'go, pass'
____________
=     asesi      'get past to, access'

       pro-      'forward, to the front'
   +   sesi      'go, pass'
____________
=   prosesi      'pass forward, process'

        re-      'back to'
   +   sesi      'go, pass'
____________
=    resesi      'pass back, recede'

        de-      'away, off'
   +   sesi      'go, pass'
____________
=    desesi      'pass away, die'

        su-      'good, well'
   +   sesi      'go, pass'
____________
=    susesi      'go well, succeed'

Note that these prefixes are used only in compound words that really mean the sum their parts. Fossilized words whose meanings are no longer the sum of their parts, like evolution (originally 'rolling out') and revolution (originally 'rolling back'), are not compound words in Pandunia.

Prefixes

a-

The prefix a- means that the action is directed toward or closer to the speaker.

sepe 'take, catch' → asepe 'take to oneself, accept'
liga 'tie' → aliga 'tie to oneself, ally'

an-

The prefix an- means being or doing the opposite of the base word.

deiste 'theist' → andeiste 'atheist'
alkolike 'alcoholic' → analkolike 'unalcoholic'
human 'human' → anhuman 'unhuman'
tabakiste 'smoker' → antabakiste 'non-smoker'
kluze 'closed' → ankluze 'unclosed, open'
uzebil 'usable' → anuzebil 'unusable'

de-

The prefix de- means that the action is directed away from or off something.

sepe 'take, catch' → desepe 'take away, remove'
dute 'lead, conduct' → dedute 'lead away, deduce'
parte 'part, chip' → departe 'part away, chip off'
kode 'code' → dekode 'decode, remove coding'
tape 'plug, cap, stopper' → detape 'unplug, remove the plug, cap or stopper'

dis-

The prefix dis- means that the action is directed apart or in many directions.

trata 'draw' → distrata 'draw apart, distract'

dus-

The prefix dus- adds a quality of badness to the base word.

funte 'function' → dusfunte 'malfunction, dysfunction'
rupa 'appearance, looks' → dusrupa 'bad-looking, ugly'

ex-

The prefix ex- means that the action is directed outside from something.

ex- 'out':
sepe 'take, catch' → exsepe 'take out, except'
jete 'thrust' → exjete 'thrust out, eject'

in-

The prefix in- means that the action is directed into something.

jete 'thrust' → injete 'thrust in, inject'
kluze 'close, shut' → inkluze 'close in, enclose, include'

kon- or kom-

The prefixes kon- and kom- mean that something is done together. There are two forms of this prefix. The form kom- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, and the form kon- is used in all other cases.

teni 'hold, keep' → konteni 'keep together'
strute 'structure' → konstrute 'construct, put together'

per-

The prefix per- means that something is done thoroughly or completely.

fete 'make, do' → perfete 'perfect, completely done'
uze 'use' → peruze 'use up'

pos-

The prefix pos- means that something is after in time or space.

pozi 'put, pose' → pospozi 'put after, postpone'
prodution 'production' → posprodution 'post-production'

pre-

The prefix pre- means that something is before in time or space.

pozi 'put, pose' → prepozi 'put before, prepend'
dita 'tell' → predita 'foretell, predict'
visi 'see' → previsi 'foresee, preview'

pro-

The prefix pro- means that something is moved onward or into the open.

pozi 'put, pose' → propozi 'put forward, propose'
voka 'call, summon' → provoka 'call forth, provoke'

re-

The prefix re- means that something is done back or in the opposite direction than originally.

ati 'to act' → reati 'to act back, react'
turne 'to turn' → returne 'to turn back'

ri-

The prefix ri- means repetition or doing again.

forma 'form' → riforma 'form again, reform'
nati 'be born' → rinati 'be born again'

sin- or sim-

The prefixes sin- and sim- mean that something is one and the same. There are two forms of this prefix. The form sim- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, and the form sin- is used in all other cases.

sin-, sim- 'same, equal' : kronike 'timely, temporal, chronic' → sinkronike 'synchronic, happening at the same time'
metri 'measurement' → simmetri 'symmetry, equal measurements'

su-

The prefix su- adds the quality of goodness into the base word.

sess 'pass, go by' → susess 'go well, succeed'
rupa 'appearance, looks' → surupa 'good-looking'

Suffixes

-bil

The suffix -bil means that something is possible or able to be done.

visi 'see, view' → visibil 'one that can be seen, visible'
uze 'use' → uzebil 'one that can be used, usable'

-fa

The suffix -fa means to turn into the thing that is indicated by the base word.

simpli 'simple' → simplifa 'make simple, simplify'
lau 'old, aged, outdated' → laufa 'make or become old'
un 'one' → unfa 'make one, unify'

-je

The suffix -je means something that is made of or something that consists of the thing indicated by the base word.

baga 'bag' → bagaje 'baggage, luggage'
kore 'core' koreje 'guts, the things in the core'
misi 'send' → misije 'something sent, message'
fasa 'face' → fasaje 'facade, frontage'
limon 'lemon' → limonje 'lemonade'

-ki

The suffix -ki means something that is characterized by the thing or quality indicated by the base word.

un 'one' → unki 'only, sole, single'
makin 'machine' → makinki 'machine-like, mechanical'

-li

The suffix -li means that something belongs to or is related to the thing or person indicated by the base word.

-li 'belonging or related to':
fin 'end' → finli 'final, related to the end'
dunia 'world, globe' → duniali 'global, worldly'

-ma

This rarely used suffix means a fundamental unit in the system of things that is indicated by the base word. For example, lexime 'lexeme' is the fundamental unit in the system of lexi 'words'. For example spoke and spoken are individual words but they represent the same underlying fundamental unit, which is speak in its basic form.

fone 'speech sound' → fonema 'phoneme, distinct speech sound'
lexi 'word' → lexima 'lexeme'
mite 'myth' → mitema 'mytheme, an archetypal story'

-me

The suffix -me means something that is in the position or rank that is indicated by the base word.

un 'one' → un me 'the first'
du 'one' → du me 'the second'
pre 'fore, front' → preme 'foremost, prime'
extra 'outside, exterior' → extrame 'outermost, extreme'

-r

The suffix -r means a doer or agent of the action that is indicated by the base word.

beke 'bake' → beker 'baker'
lide 'lead' → lider 'leader, the one who leads'
filsofi 'think deeply' → filsofir 'philosopher'
sapate 'shoe' → sapater 'shoemaker'
muskete 'musket' → musketer 'musketeer'
kase 'cash box, cash register' → kaser 'cashier'

-ria

This suffix is the combination of -er and -ia. It means the place for making, producing or selling the thing that is indicated by the base word.

beke 'to bake' → bekeria 'bakery'
perfume 'perfume' → perfumeria 'perfumery'
piza 'pizza' → pizaria 'pizzeria, pizza place'
enjener 'engineer' → enjeneria 'engineering'

-sme

The suffix -sme means an ideology, a way of thinking or a way of life.

alkol 'alcohol' → alkolisme 'alcoholism'
dei 'god' → deisme 'theism'

By extension, the suffix -ste means a person who tends to behave or think in a certain way or an adherent of an ideology or a religion.

alkol 'alcohol' → alkoliste 'alcoholic, alcoholist'
dee 'god' → deiste 'theist, one who believes in existence of a god or gods'

-ta

The suffix -ta means the state of being. It is used in abstract nouns of quality.

dai 'big, great' → daita 'greatness'
long 'long' → longta 'length'
huri 'free' → hurita 'freedom'

-te

The suffix -te indicates small size.

kase 'case, box' → kasete 'cassette'
pake 'pack, package' → pakete 'packet'

-vi

The suffix -vi means someone or something that typically does what the base word indicates.

ati 'act, perform' → ativi 'active, inclined to act'
explozi 'explode' → explozivi 'explosive'

-ya or -ia

The suffix -ia has a variety of meanings, but fundamentally it means a collective of things or a community of people. There are two forms of this suffix. The form -ya is used when the base word ends in a consonant or a vowel other than i, for example hua + -ya = huaya. The form -ia is used when the base word ends in i, for example logi + -ya = logia.

human 'human being' → humania 'humanity, mankind, all the human beings as a group'
kristi 'Christ' → kristia 'Christianity, all Christians as a group'
filsofi 'view, outlook, life wisdom' → filsofia 'philosophy, the discipline of wisdom'

This suffix is often (but not always) used in names of geographical areas, especially in names of countries.

arabi 'Arab, Arabic' → Arabia 'Arabia'
rus 'Russian, Ruski' → Rusia 'Russia'
turki 'Turk, Turkish' → Turkia 'Turkey'
itali 'Italic, Italian' → Italia 'Italy'
Asia 'Asia'
Indonesia 'Indonesia'

The suffix -ia is also used in names of scientific disciplines, where it can be understood as collection of scientific knowledge and practices.

kimi 'chemical' → kimia 'chemistry'
filsofi 'view, outlook, life wisdom' → filsofia 'philosophy, the discipline of wisdom'
logi 'to study and reason systematically' → logia 'systematic study, logic'
biologia 'biology, systematic study of organic life'

-yon or -ion

The suffix -yon means action or process. There are two forms of this suffix. The form -yon is used when the base word ends in a consonant or a vowel other than i, for example loga + -yon = logayon. The form -ion is used when the base word ends in i, for example fuzi + -yon = fuzion.

fuzi 'to fuse' → fuzion 'fusion, the act of fusing'
loga 'to talk' → logayon 'talking, the act of talking'

-yum or -ium

The suffix -yum means an element. There are two forms of this suffix. The form -yum is used when the base word ends in a consonant or a vowel other than i, for example Einstein + -yum = einsteinyum 'einsteinium'. The form -ium is used when the base word ends in i, for example kali + -yum = kalium 'kalium'.

kali 'base, alkali' → kalium 'kalium'
Kuri → kurium 'curium, the chemical element named after Marie Curie'
Einstein → einsteinyum 'einsteinium, the chemical element named after Albert Einstein'

-za

The suffix -za means to furnish or equip with the thing indicated by the base word.

auri 'gold' → auriza 'to gild, to coat with gold'
makin 'machine' → makinza 'to mechanize, to equip with machinery'

Affixes for chemistry

Words for chemical compounds are built in a special way with special suffixes that are not used anywhere else. When a suffix is added, the final e vowel of the base word disappears. For example, malte 'malt' + -os = maltos 'maltose' (a kind of sugar).

-al 'aldehyde':
metanal 'formaldehyde, methanal'

-an 'alkane group':
metil 'methyl' → metan 'methane'

-ate 'salt or ester':
sulfe 'sulfur' → sulfate 'sulfate'

-en 'alkene group':
meten 'methen'

-il 'alkyl group':
bute 'butter' → butil 'butyl'
metan 'methane' → metil 'methyl'

-in 'alkyne group':
metin 'methyne'

-ite 'salt or ester':
sulfe 'sulfur' → sulfite 'sulfite'

-ol 'alcoholic compound':
etan 'ethane' → etanol 'ethanol'

-on 'ketone group':
propan 'propane' → propanon 'propanone'

-os 'sugar':
frute 'fruit' → frutos 'fructose'
malte 'malt' → maltos 'maltose'