Thread by @vakibs

In this thread, I will discuss new word forming suffixes in Telugu. I will compare with examples from English, which is rich in the fluid use of suffixes, making it an effective language for science and technology. I hope similar fluidity and ease will come in Indian languages.

I am writing this thread in English so as to inform speakers of other Indian languages as well. Please think of corresponding suffixes in your languages and comment below. This exercise will help us learn how to improve technically rich expression of concepts in Indian languages.

This thread is not about etymological roots, or full scale word derivation for complex scientific concepts. It is about suffixes that change the part of speech, a much simpler concept that all speakers should know. In fact, this facility with suffixes is very natural in English.

Essentially, there are 3 parts of speech, which we often want to transform from to another when discussing technical concepts: nouns (నామవాచకాలు), verbs (క్రియాపదాలు) and adjectives (విశేషణాలు). So there are 3*3=9 types of transformations (N->N, N->V, N->A,...) for such suffixes.

So I will go through these 9 groups of suffixes, one by one. This will not be exhaustive, but hopefully, will give you a flavor of what is possible in English. I believe an equivalent expressiveness can be developed in all Indian languages. But currently, it is not there.

Here is a nice reference which lists the various suffixes in English. It is not exhaustive. But it is a good starting point to roll the discussion. The website also groups the suffixes into those which create nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
englishstudyonline.org/suffix/

Let's start with noun suffixes.

1.1) Noun -> Noun transformations:

Examples for this include

-ist (person who practices an art or sport) cartoonist, cyclist ..
-hood (being in the state of something) motherhood, victimhood ..
-ery (a trade or grouping) machinery, armory ..

I will try to translate them to Telugu. Some words are in spoken usage, but often, they're not. But with a good suggestion, they should be *intelligible*. This is our goal.

-ist: -కుడు, -కరి, -జ్ఞుడు, -కర్త
cartoonist వ్యంగ్యచిత్రకారుడు bicyclist ద్విచక్రీకుడు florist పుష్పకరి

There will not be a one-to-one mapping with suffixes in English and Telugu (o any language). They arise from historical usage, how the words are borrowed etc. But it will still be helpful to study them in this grouping, to see which suffixes can be easily applied in new contexts.

-ship (position held): -త్వం, -యం, త్యం .. 
friendship మితృత్వం membership సభ్యత్వం partnership భాగస్వామ్యత్వం ownership యజమానత్వం 

-hood (a role): త్వం
motherhood మాతృత్వం victimhood బలిభావనత్వం 

These are often Sanskrit suffixes borrowed into Telugu, but not always trivially.

English fluidly creates new words with such suffixes, and we don't find it too odd. People understand them. For example, I create
-programmerhood: విధికారత్వం, ప్రోగ్రామరత్వం 
-ondophonist: తరంగనాదకుడు 

Some suffixes will be comprehensible in new contexts.

-ery (business or trade): -అంగము, -దళము, -శాల -కొట్టము 

bakery భర్జనీశాల కాల్చుడుకొట్టము, brewery కాచుడుశాల, machinery యంత్రాంగము, creamery పీయూషశాల మీగడశాల 

-ery (condition) - త్వం 
slavery బానిసత్వం 

Some suffixes are from dēśya words in Telugu, which must be also explored.

Now, we come to the most important group.

1.2) Verb -> Noun transformations:
There are thousands of such words in English. These suffixes include:

-ance, -ence, -tion, -sion, -son (state of being)
-al, -ure, -tion, -ment, -ness (resulting state, quality)
-age, -ing (process)

In my system of classification, there are just 9 groups of suffixes. But this is not an easy task to discuss them all in one go. My brain also needs some breaks. 😀So I will keep coming back to this thread, and hopefully finish this off in a week or so.

The energy in any language is present in its verbs (called Ākhyāta आख्यात in Sanskrit). It is through verbs that meaning is "made known" to us. So the words generated from verbal roots (Dhātus) are the most extensive in any language.

Sanskrit is extraordinarily powerful in this.

In Telugu, sadly, these verbal roots are not adequately explored for dēśya words. For example, there are many common verbs: వచ్చు come, పోవు go, ఇచ్చు give, తెచ్చు bring, పంపు send, పెట్టు put, కట్టు build and so on.

These verbs are typically not used in creating new words.

I was once very concerned by this non-usage of dēśya verbal forms in Telugu. I wrote a set of 4 blogs trying to literally translate a few commonly used Latin roots into Telugu, using only dēśya verbs. In principle, these verbs can generate a huge cache of scientific terminology.

I will briefly link them here, for people who want to see these forms.

Mittere: commit, submit, permit ..
Vertere: convert, invert, pervert ..
Ferre/Latus: infer, differ, confer, translate, relate ..

And many others.
kiran.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/%e0…

When discussing verbal nouns, I will try to include both the tatsama/tadbhava (Sanskrit derived) verbs as well as the dēśya verbs.

Although currently the dēśya verbs are rather unexplored, my experience was that, these words can also be made comprehensible and rather powerful.

By the way, English doesn't use its native verbal roots (put, go, bring etc.) in creating scientific terminology, but mostly uses Greek and Latin. But German does this very effectively. German has a more elegant grammar, which makes it possible to extend verbs and verbal phrases.

English may not have sophistication with verbal roots, but it does have a very effective engine for transforming the verbs (once given) into nouns and vice-versa. This is what makes it a great language for science.

So this facility must be developed for all Indian languages.

Let’s start with the verbal nouns that describe the entire action or process.

Examples include:
-sion: revision, division
-tion: elimination, contemplation
-ment: entertainment, abandonment, retirement
-age: passage

Or with a gerund form:
-ing: singing, landing, walking

In Telugu, the gerund form is made by adding -ట -డము -ट -डमु. These forms are dry common, but not suitable for word compounding.

e.g. singing పాడుట/పాడడము walking నడుచుట/నడవడము landing స్థానీకరించుట/స్థానీకరించడము

In Hindi, such forms are made with the -ना suffix गाना, चलना.

Verbal nouns meaning “action” can also be made in Telugu with the -డు डु suffix for dēśya words, or -న, -ణ -न, -ण suffix for tatsama words. This method is not widely used, especially the dēśya form.

e.g. Revision తిరిగిచూడుడు పునర్వీక్షణ पुनर्वीक्षण Division పంచుడు విభజన विभजन

Elimination తొలగించుడు/తొలగింపుడు బహిష్కరణ बहिष्करण Contemplation కూడి సమాలోచింపుడు समालोचना ధ్యానము ध्यान Entertainment ఆహ్లాదించుడు ఆహ్లాదన आह्लादन వినోదము विनोद Abandonment వదిలివేయుడు/వదిలివేత పరిత్యాగము परित्याग Retirement విరమణ विरमण Passage గడుచుడు గడుపు గమనము गमन

In the above examples, I gave the literal translation in the beginning, which is also comprehensible in Telugu but rarely used in such forms. The alternatives in the end are more and more Rūdha रूढ़, which are in usage. We can see the Sanskrit forms are the most in usage.

The verbal noun forms can also be used instead of the Gerund form. The Sanskrit suffix -न -ण is often softened as -नमु-णमु in Telugu.

e.g, walking నడుచుడు చలనము चलनमु singing పాడుడు గానము गानमु muttering సణుగుడు జపము जपमु eating తినుడు భోజనము भोजनमु

Now, let’s consider verbal nouns which signify a state through that action. Examples include:

-al: dismissal, arrival, approval
-ance: acceptance, preference
-sion: confusion, depression, decision
-ure: pressure, erasure, enclosure
(verb reused as noun): walk, call

Sanskrit has very precise forms for such words. For Telugu dēśya verbs, suitable noun forms are made with -త -त (like in Sanskrit), or often with -పు -पु or -క -क.

e.g. Dismissal కొట్టివేత విసర్జనము विसर्जनमु Arrival వచ్చుక/రాక ఆగమనము आगमनमु Approval ఒప్పుక అంగీకృతి अंगीकृति

Preference మెప్పు అభిరుచి अभिरुचि Confusion కూడగలుపు అస్పష్టత अस्पष्टत Depression క్రిందినొచ్చుక నిమ్నత निम्नत Decision నిర్ణయము निर्णयमु Selection ఎంపిక వరణము वरणमु Enclosure చుట్టిపట్టుక ఆవరణము आवरणमु Pressure ఒత్తిడి పీడనము पीडनमु Departure వెళ్లుపోక నిష్క్రమణము निषिक्रमणमु

Dēśya verbs in Telugu get noun forms through suffixes like -క -త -పు -డు. Some examples:

Call: పిలుచు -> పిలుపు
Bend: వంచు -> వంపు
Love: వలచు -> వలపు
Walk: నడుచు -> నడక
Give: ఇచ్చు -> ఇచ్చుక
Receive: పుచ్చు-> పుచ్చుక
Bring: తెచ్చు -> తెచ్చుక
Pour: పోయు -> పోత
Take: తీయు -> తీత

Please note that English verbs are used as they are in noun form. This also happens in Telugu, but rarely with ట్టు etc.

Drop: వేయు -> వేత
Turn: తిప్పు -> తిప్పుడు, తిరుగు -> తిరుగుడు
Meet: కలయు -> కలయిక
Build: కట్టు -> కట్టు
Hold: పట్టు -> పట్టు

These words can be extended.

https://twitter.com/VeevenV/status/1353786451977150469

Another widely used verb suffix in English is “-er” to refer to the actor of an action. In Telugu, equivalent words can be very easily created using -కుడు -గాడు -కరి suffixes which are derived from the Sanskrit -कः.

Examples include:
- teacher అధ్యాపకుడు -dancer నాట్యగాడు

Sanskrit words can also be used directly, just adding the -డు or -రి suffix, replacing the Visarga. The derivation in Sanskrit can follow in many ways from the Dhātu (verbal root).
- teacher ఉపాధ్యాయుడు उपाध्यायुडु villager గ్రామీణుడు ग्रामीणुडु jeweller స్వర్ణకారుడు स्वर्णकारुडु

The nouns made from dēśya verbs can also be easily extended to the actor form, through the addition of -అరి -కాడు or -రాలు suffixes. But this cannot be done with the gerund form -ట -డం.

Examples: తీతరి (తీయువాడు) పోతరి (పోయువాడు) ఇచ్చుకరి (ఇచ్చువాడు) పట్టరి (పట్టువాడు)

The suffix -అరి is gender neutral, which is a huge plus when we want to create words for professionals. I hope this will be used more often.

In our internet era, a great word to translate is “caller” పిలవరి, from “call” పిలుపు. We can use “పిలు” instead of “కాల్ చెయ్యి”.

Reader - చదువరి
Dropper - వేతరి
Builder - కట్టరి
Turner - తిప్పరి
Driver - నడుపరి
Pourer - పోతరి
Writer - వ్రాతరి
Lifter - లేపరి
Cutter - కోతరి

We can see how easily the suffixes are given in English, even for new words. The same ease must be given for these simple Telugu words.

The word generating capacity in Sanskrit is many folds higher than in English. Essentially, Sanskrit gives the ability to coin words not only for the doer of an action (ప్రథమ విభక్తి, प्रथमविभक्ति) but also for all the 7 cases (విభక్తి). What more, we can create compound words.

These compound words in Sanskrit are created through the Tatpurusha Samāsa. All these Samāsa can be used as they are in Telugu (Siddham). They can also be made partially or fully with dēśya words, using the appropriate Sandhi.

https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1317830602540896257

Due to the extraordinary power of Sanskrit, as a general rule, the derived word in Sanskrit should often be shorter than in English and also able to compactly combine many constituent words. If it is not, it means the suggested word is bad, it must be improved.

The 2nd case noun form (ద్వితీయవిభక్తి द्वितीयविभक्ति) is sometimes created in English using the -ee suffix. Examples:
payee, attendee. Uncommon words can also be jokingly created: kickee, punchee (which are understood).

They can be translated easily with -ఇత -इत suffix. (+డు).

Now we come to the third group.

1.3) Adjective -> Noun transformations.

Examples in English include:
-ness (quality of a condition) happiness etc
-ity (state of a condition) probability etc
-ty (condition) honesty, certainty etc
-th (state or quality) warmth, birth etc

These noun forms describing the quality or state of a condition are typically coined by the Sanskrit suffixes -త్వ -త -त्व -त which is softened in Telugu as -త్వము त्वमु.

Examples: Usefulness ప్రయోజకత్వం प्रयोजकत्वं Quietness నిశ్శబ్దత్వం निश्शब्दत्वं Cruelty క్రూరత్వం क्रूरत्वं

Sometimes, there are adjectival nouns directly available in Sanskrit through other grammatical means of derivation.

Examples: Happiness ఆనందము आनन्द Kindness కరుణ Cleanliness శౌచ్యం शौच्यं Difficulty కష్టం कष्टं Loyalty శ్రద్ధ श्रद्धा

-fulness can be translated as శీలత్వం शीलत्वं

Examples: Truthfulness సత్యశీలత్వం सत्यशीलत्वं sorrowfulness శోకశీలత్వం शोकशीलत्वं plentifulness సమృద్ధశీలత్వం समृद्धशीलत्वं

Words like -శీల शील -యోగ్య योग्य -పూర్ణ पूर्ण -ఆత్మక आत्मक can be used extensively in word compounding.

In fact, the palette of suffixes available in English for creating adjectival nouns (or adjectives themselves) is much smaller than in Sanskrit. So we can create many subtle shades of meaning through multiple alternative words in Sanskrit, and thus in Telugu.

There are also certain suffixes available for dēśya words in Telugu for adjectival nouns. The suffix -తనము तनमु or -దనము दनमु is typically used. Rarely, -మి मि or -త त are also used.

- goodness మంచితనం creamy-ness కమ్మదనం softness మెత్తదనం

-heat వేడిమి camaraderie చెలిమి

The Sanskrit suffixes are also used pretty regularly for dēśya words as well. Here are some examples

-loyalty నమ్మకస్త్వం -steadiness నెమ్మదస్త్వం

These words are derived from a person having this quality:
నమ్మకస్తుడు, నెమ్నదస్తుడు

The words for various shades of probability in science:

Certainty: ధృవత్వం धृवत्व​, కచ్చితత్వం
Probability: అవకాశత్వం, సంభావ్యత संभाव्यत​ లభ్యత लभ्यत​
Plausibility: సంభవనీయత संभवनीयत​
Rareness: దుర్లభ్యత दुर्लभ्यत​
Abruptness: ఆకస్మికత్వం आकस्मिकत्व​
Possibility: శక్యత शक्यत

Impossibility: అసాధ్యత असाध्यत అశక్యత్వం अशक्यत्व​
Robustness: ధృఢత్వం धृढत्व​
Randomness: యాధృచ్చికత్వం याधृच्छिकत्व​ అనియమత్వం अनियमत्व​
Approximateness: అస్ఫుటత్వం अस्फुटत्व
Exactness, Definiteness: నిర్దిష్టత్వం निर्दिष्टत्व​
Fuzziness: అస్పష్టత్వం अस्पष्टत्व

The next group of suffixes are
2.1) Noun -> Verb transformations:

Examples in English include suffixes like
-ify, fy: solidify, liquify, classify
ize: digitize, colonize, characterize, colorize, optimize
(none): station, finger

They can be translated with suffixes -ఇంచు -కరించు

Solidify ఘనీకరించు घनीकरिंचु
liquify ద్రవీకరించు द्रवीकरिंचु ద్రవించు द्रविंचु
squarify చతురస్రీకరించు चतुरस्रीकरिंचु
digitize సంజ్ఞీకరించు संज्ञीकरिंचु
colorize వర్ణలేపించు वर्णलेपिंचु
station స్థానీకరించు स्थानीकरिंचु

Splitting the verbs with చేయు (करना) is not elegant.

Characterize: లక్షణీకరించు लक्षणीकरिंचु
Optimize: ఉత్తమీకరించు उत्तमीकरिंचु

I am not happy with the other word used to translate “optimize” ఆదర్శీకరించు आदर्शीकरिंचु (it sounds more like “idealize”)

Optimal: ఉత్తమ उत्तम
Optimization: ఉత్తమీకరణం उत्तमीकरणं
Optimum: ఉత్తమం उत्तमं

Sometimes, verb forms are made with -ing, a variant of (no) suffix transformation. The same methods as above can be used to translate them.

Denoising: విమలీకరించు
Surfing: ఝరించు
Biking: ద్విచక్రించు
Lounging: ఉల్లాసించు

Such compact verb forms improve the speed of expression.

The cunning way of reusing verbs as nouns (and vice-versa) is a great strength in English. It looks like grammatical frailty or imprecision, but it makes the expression more compact and fluid. I see this when comparing English with German (grammatically, a more elegant language).

But German is able to create verb forms or even phrases (aufrechterhalten: maintain-in-working-condition) into single words. In Indian languages, this capacity is being unnecessarily muted, splitting verbs with do-something (करना, చేయి). It is not good for technical expression.

Now, we get to the next group

2.2) Verb -> Verb transformations:

These suffixes in English are tense related transformations (-ed, -ing, -s) which we can ignore.

Indian languages have better verb compounding, and better verb suffixes:
make-do-an-action, do-for-oneself etc.

Sanskrit grammar has extraordinary power of verb transformations. Very long and complex sequence of actions and their constraints can be crammed into a single word. They can be phenomenally compact. I will just skip this part here. No alternative to proper learning of grammar.

The next group of suffixes is more interesting.

2.3) Adjective -> Verb transformations

Examples for such suffixes are:
-ate, -fy, -ize(to make a state/condition) captivate, decorate, animate, stabilize, equalize

-en (to become a state/condition) awaken, broaden, flatten

Generally, the same suffixes as previously -కరించు -ఇంచు would work for these transformations. But sometimes, alternative Sanskrit derivations can be more compact and precise. This is especially true if the English word is borrowed from Latin/Greek.

In Telugu, the suffix -పరుచు can also be used to mean “bring into some state/condition”.

Broaden: వెడల్పరుచు
Flatten: చదునుపరుచు
Awaken: మెలకువపరుచు
Tighten: బిగించు
Shorten: కుదించు
Brighten: తెల్లబరుచు

The noun form can be made with -పు ending. e.g. Flattening: చదునుపరుపు

The same can also be translated into innumerable Sanskrit tadbhava forms.

Broaden: విస్తరించు విస్తృతపరుచు
Flatten: సమతలీకరించు
Awaken: జాగరించు జాగృతపరుచు
Tighten: సంకర్షించు
Shorten: సంక్షేపించు
Brighten: విరాజయించు భాసించు ప్రకాశించు

The next group of suffixes are

3.1) Noun -> Adjective transformations

Examples include:
-al, -ary, -ic, -ous (related to, pertaining to): natural, criminal, planetary, budgetary, organic, photographic, cautious, nervous

Generally, they can be translated with -ఇక -इक suffix.

But there are usually many context sensitive derivations from Sanskrit.

Natural ప్రాకృతిక प्राकृतिक criminal నేరపూరిత नेरपूरित inter-planetary గ్రహాంతర ग्रहान्तर budgetary ప్రణాళికీయ प्रणीलिकीय organic సజీవ सजीव cautious జాగరూక जागरूक nervous నాడీమయ नाडीमय

Other suffixes include:

-ful (containing): hopeful, skillful
-less (lacking): worthless, restless
-y (made up of): dirty, hearty
-ish, -ical, -ous, -ive (quality or nature): childish, selfish, historical, statistical, mysterious, expensive, creative
-like: childlike, warlike

The -ful can be translated with -మయ मय, - ప్రద प्रद, -శీల शील

Hopeful ఆశాప్రద आशाप्रद skillful నైపుణ్యశీల नैपुण्यशील

The -less can be translated with -హీన हीन or with the negative prefix -అ अ ని नि

Worthless మూల్యహీన मूल्यहीन restless అశాంత अशांत

-ish, -ical, -ous, -ive (quality or nature) can be translated through -ఇక इक or with -ఆత్మక आत्मक -శీల शील etc. But they should preferably be combined into a compound word with the noun. Sanskrit and Telugu are good with word compounding (Samāsa సమాసము समास), more so than German.

If people are really lazy and don’t want to learn anything but only one Samāsa, I recommend the Avyayī Bhāva Samāsa అవ్యయీభావసమాసం अव्ययीभावसमास. It will already cure them from thinking in English and bluntly translating word per word.

https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1317837339041943552

The dēśya nouns in Telugu can be converted into adjectives by suffixing -వంటి or -దనపు.

Sheepish గొర్రెవంటి Girlish కన్నెదనపు Festive పండుగదనపు

The plural possessive case of a noun can also be used as an adjective.

Fruity పళ్ల spotty మచ్చల flowery పూల

Some examples of dēśya adjectives: Dirty మురికి Beautiful అందమైన useless పనికిరాని faultless తప్పులేని thick దలసరి

The possessive case of a noun is used as an adjective.

Eye glasses కంటి అద్దాలు
Tooth ache పంటి నొప్పి

There is also the suffix -like that creates adjectives. It can be translated with -సామ్య साम्य (similar to) or -సారూప్య सारूप्य (similar form)

Childlike బాల్యసామ్య बाल्यसाम्य
Lifelike జీవసామ్య जीवसाम्य
Warlike యుద్ధసారూప్య युद्धसारूप्य

Childish బాలచేష్టక बालचेष्टक
(acts)

The next group of suffixes is for

3.2) Verb -> Adjective transformation

Examples in English include:
-able -ible (capable) adaptable, predictable, credible
-ant (inclined to, tending to) reliant, vigilant, brilliant
-ing (with that action) halting, rising, overbearing

-able can be translated with -నీయ नीय or యోగ్య योग्य (-గల for dēśya verbs).

Adaptable గతియోగ్య गतियोग्य
Predictable పూర్వానుమేయ पूर्वानुमेय మునుచెప్పగల పూర్వోవాచనీయ पूर्वोवाचनीय
Credible విశ్వాసనీయ विश्वासनीय
Preventable నివారణీయ निवारणीय అడ్డగల
Edible భక్షయోగ్య भक्षयोग्य తినగల

The suffix -ant can be translated with -శీల -शील or -పూర్వక पूर्वक, or -ఎడి for dēśya verbs.

Vigilant జాగృతశీల जागृतशील
Defiant అవిధేయపూర్వక अविधेयपूर्वक ఎదురించెడి
Reliant నిర్భరశీల निर्भरशील నమ్మికపెట్టెడి
Dependant ఆశ్రిత आश्रित పట్టిబ్రతికెడి

The suffixes with -ing or -ative can be translated with -ఈయ -ईय, or more often by direct Sanskrit derivation from the Dhātu (verbal root).

Halting విశ్రమీయ विश्रमीय
Rising ఆరోహ आरोह
Overbearing అహంకారపూరిత अहंकारपूरित అతిశయభృత अतिशयभृत
Fetching ఔచిత్యశీల औचित्यशील

The suffix -ative (related) with Latin origin verbs can be translated with -ఆత్మక आत्मक, or whichever other derivation seems apt at that context.

Communicative సందేశాత్మక सन्देशात्मक
Preventative నివారణాత్మక निवारणात्मक
Informative సమాచారశీల समाचारशील విజ్ఞదాయక विज्ञदायक

The last group seems to be not popular in English.

3.3) Adjective -> Adjective transformations

In Indian languages, adjectives and nouns are treated very similarly, they both take the same Vibhakti. So whatever we discussed in group 1 is generally also applicable to group 3.

The morphology for adverbs or other parts of speech is not that complex. Like word morphology due to tense, Vibhakti etc, these are very widely known.

But the above expressions will help achieving an equivalence to various English suffixes for technical language. (End of thread)