Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Augmentative
An augmentative is a suffix or prefix added to a word in order to convey the sense of a larger size. It is the opposite of a diminutive.
Augmentatives are generally more common in non-English languages.
In Spanish, -o becomes -ón and -a becomes -ona most frequently, but -ote/-ota and -azo/-aza are also commonly seen. Others include -udo/-uda, -aco/-aca, -acho/-acha, -uco/-uca, -ucho/-ucha, -astro/-astra and -ejo/-eja.
In Portuguese, -o becomes -ão, and -a becomes -ona. An -e becomes either -ão or -ona depending on whether it (if it is a noun) or what it is describing (if it is an adjective) is considered masculine or feminine, respectively.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details