-azzu

Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin -aceum/-acium. Compare Catalan -às/-aci, Italian -azzo/-accio, Galician and Spanish -azo, Portuguese -aço, French -asse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-ˈatt͡su/, [-ˈatt͡sʊ]
• Hyphenation: -àz‧zu

Suffix

-azzu (feminine singular -azza, masculine and feminine plural -azzi)

1. forms augmentatives of degree: nouns expressing a successful roughness

   ‎bonu (“good”) + ‎-azzu → ‎bunazzu (“way good”)

   ‎corpu (“blow”) + ‎-azzu → ‎curpazzu (“a great blow”)

   ‎piru (“pear”) + ‎-azzu → ‎pirazzu (“an impressive pear”)

   ‎sautu (“jump”) + ‎-azzu → ‎sautazzu (“an impressive jump”)

2. forms augmentatives of size

   Synonym: -uni

   ‎petra (“stone”) + ‎-azzu → ‎pitrazza (“a large stone”)

   ‎balata (“flagstone”) + ‎-azzu → ‎balatazza (“a large flagstone”)

3. forms pejoratives: nouns expressing a negative characteric

   ‎Cristu (“Christ”) + ‎-azzu → ‎Cristazzu (“fucking Christ”)

   ‎Carmelu (“Carmelu”) + ‎-azzu → ‎Carmilazzu (“fucking Carmelu”)

   ‎Vastianu (“Sebastian”) + ‎-azzu → ‎Vastianazzu (“fucking Sebastian”)

   ‎vaneḍḍa (“alley”) + ‎-azzu → ‎vaniḍḍazza (“a bad alley”)

4. forms augmentatives of praise: nouns expressing a slight adulation and/or admiration

   ‎Carmelu (“Carmelu”) + ‎-azzu → ‎Carmilazzu (“the great Carmelu”)

   ‎Vastianu (“Sebastian”) + ‎-azzu → ‎Vastianazzu (“the great Sebastian”)

Derived terms

• -azzuna
• -azzuni

Related terms

• -culu
• -ellu
• -eḍḍu
• -icchiu-
• -iceḍḍu
• -inu
• -ittu
• -olu
• -ulu
• -uni
• -uzzu
• -uḍḍu