-i

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

Languages (58)

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

dawsoni

donaldtrumpi

Galloanseri

hardwicki

Hystricognathi

jamescameroni

lawsoni

leei

longi

murzini

northropi

pawlowskii

razii

salvini

Sinomacrops bondei

English

Etymology 1

A conflation of the following suffixes:

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

In English, productive from the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ē, IPA^(key): /iː/

Suffix

-i

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

   ‎Iraq + ‎-i → ‎Iraqi

   ‎Israel + ‎-i → ‎Israeli

   ‎Pakistan + ‎-i → ‎Pakistani

   ‎Bengal + ‎-i → ‎Bengali

   ‎Nepal + ‎-i → ‎Nepali

   ‎-desh + ‎-i → ‎Desi

   ‎Kabul + ‎-i → ‎Kabuli

   ‎Baghdad + ‎-i → ‎Baghdadi

Translations

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

Arabic: ـِيّ (ar) (-iyy) Galician: -í m or f Hebrew: ־ִי m (-i) Hindi: -ई (-ī) Hungarian: -i (hu) Spanish: -í (es) m or f

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