-i

See also: -ī and Appendix:Variations of "i"

Languages (67)

Translingual • English

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

From Latin -i.

Suffix

-i

1. Used to form adjectives for the species descriptor of a scientific name.

Derived terms

Translingual terms suffixed with -i

algrahami

Anurognathus ammoni

arnoldi

Bandringa rayi

bleekeri

buxi

czerskii

dawsoni

donaldtrumpi

Galloanseri

hardwicki

huanghaoi

Hystricognathi

jamescameroni

lawsoni

leei

longi

murzini

northropi

pawlowskii

prigoginei

razii

salvini

schlingeri

shapovalovi

Sinomacrops bondei

sutchariti

yaoi

English

Etymology 1

A conflation of the following suffixes:

• For Semitic-speaking places, from the Arabic ـِيّ (-iyy) (nisba suffix) and from Hebrew ־י (-i), both sharing a common Semitic root.
• For Indo-Iranian-speaking places, from Persian ـی (-ī) and Hindustani Hindi -ई (-ī) / Urdu ـی (-ī).

In English, productive since the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ē, IPA^(key): /iː/

Suffix

-i

1. Used to form adjectives, nouns and demonyms describing people of a particular city, region, or country, and the language spoken by these people.

   ‎Hindustan + ‎-i → ‎Hindustani

   ‎Hind + ‎-i → ‎Hindi

   ‎Iran + ‎-i → ‎Irani

   ‎Iraq + ‎-i → ‎Iraqi

   ‎Israel + ‎-i → ‎Israeli

   ‎Awadh + ‎-i → ‎Awadhi

   ‎Kannauj + ‎-i → ‎Kannauji

   ‎Pakistan + ‎-i → ‎Pakistani

   ‎Afghan + ‎-i → ‎Afghani

   ‎Bihar + ‎-i → ‎Bihari

   ‎Bengal + ‎-i → ‎Bengali

   ‎Punjab + ‎-i → ‎Punjabi

   ‎Chenab + ‎-i → ‎Chenabi

   ‎Kashmir + ‎-i → ‎Kashmiri

   ‎Sindh + ‎-i → ‎Sindhi

   ‎Rajasthan + ‎-i → ‎Rajasthani

   ‎Marwar + ‎-i → ‎Marwari

   ‎Gujarat + ‎-i → ‎Gujarati

   ‎Nepal + ‎-i → ‎Nepali

   ‎Kabul + ‎-i → ‎Kabuli

   ‎Baghdad + ‎-i → ‎Baghdadi

   • 2025 July 24, Mubasher Sharief Pathan, “Chenab Valley United”, in Precious Kashmir‎, archived from the original on 29 August 2025:

     According to Collins Dictionary and Wiktionary, the term was coined in 2017 by journalist Anzer Ayoob, the term Chenabi is derived from the Chenab River, with the suffix “-i”, commonly used to denote belonging.

Translations

suffix to form a demonym (especially in the Middle East)

Arabic: ـِيّ (ar) (-iyy) Galician: -í (gl) m or f Hebrew: ־ִי (he) m (-i) Hindi: -ई (hi) (-ī) Hungarian: -i (hu) Persian: ـی (fa) (-ī) Spanish: -í (es) m or f Urdu: ـی (ur) (-ī)

See also

• -er
• -stan

References

• OED, s.v. "-i, suffix²".

Etymology 2

From Latin -ī (nominative plural).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ī, IPA^(key): /aɪ/ (traditional English)
• enPR: ē, IPA^(key): /iː/ (rare; imitation of the original Latin or of Italian)

Suffix

-i

1. Forms an alternative plural ending for various words borrowed from Latin that end in ⟨us⟩ in the singular.

   ‎focus + ‎-i → ‎foci

   ‎radius + ‎-i → ‎radii

Usage notes

• Prescriptively speaking, the ending is only applicable to words that were second-declension masculine nouns in Latin, such as the above examples. Descriptively speaking, the ending is often extended to other words like octopus (a third-declension noun in Latin with plural octopodes, not *octopi) and ignoramus (a verb in Latin, not a noun).
• The ending traditionally “softens” preceding /k ɡ/ to /s d͡ʒ/, but non-softened pronunciations are also found today. Cf. loci /ˈləʊsaɪ/~/ˈləʊkaɪ/ and fungi /ˈfʌnd͡ʒaɪ/~/ˈfʌŋɡaɪ/.

References

• OED, s.v. "-i, suffix¹".

Etymology 3

From Italian -i (masculine plural), from Latin -ī (see etymology 2).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ē, IPA^(key): /iː/

Suffix

-i

1. Forms an alternative plural ending for words borrowed from Italian that end in ⟨o⟩ or ⟨e⟩ in the singular.

   ‎concerto + ‎-i → ‎concerti

   ‎calzone + ‎-i → ‎calzoni

Etymology 4

Variant of -ie or -y.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ē, IPA^(key): /iː/

Suffix

-i

1. Used to form diminutives of given names.

   Becki, Benji, Jimmi, Lexi, Nicki, Sammi, Sandi, Trini, Vicki

Afar

Pronunciation

• (masculine) IPA^(key): /-i/
• (feminine) IPA^(key): /-ˈi/

Suffix

-i or -í

1. Used to create nouns from class I verbs, denoting either the agent or the instrument of the action.

Usage notes

• Used together with the prefix t- to create feminine nouns. The stress will shift to the last syllable.
• Used together with the prefix y- to create masculine nouns. The stress will not be on the last syllable.

References

• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015), L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 118

Ahtna

Alternative forms

• -y

Etymology

Compare, perhaps, Navajo -í and -ii, which serve similar functions, as well as Lower Tanana -i.

Suffix

-i

1. Forms nouns from verbs with the meaning of 'the one who...'
2. Forms relative clauses
3. Forms numerals referring to non-human nouns

Usage notes

• The form -yi is used with verbs ending in a vowel.

Derived terms

Ahtna terms suffixed with -i

baay

cidelggezi

deniigi

-di

diłtʼaey

ggaaggi

ghalbasi

ghaldzaey

ghenaay

kuggaedi

kʼuunʼi

lggayi

naghaay

nanelyaxi

Nekʼeltaeni

nuuni

sdeʼ tʼaeni

tahwtʼaey

tsʼenlazeni

tsʼiłkʼey

udzih dastsiigi

xundelaayi

References

• Kari, James (1990), Ahtna Athabaskan Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, page 67