English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. plural of -um
2. plural of -on

Usage notes

• Whereas the regular pluralization in English involves adding -s or -es, English words derived from a Latin/Greek where the Latin/Greek would pluralize from -on (Greek) or -um (Latin) to -a do not always do so. Usage of -a instead of -s differs between words: sometimes the two are interchangeable (e.g. memorandums/memoranda, polyhedrons/polyhedra), sometimes one is far more common than the other (e.g. neurons over neura, automata over automatons), and sometimes one is completely absent from usage (e.g. bacteria over bacteriums, dendrons over dendra)

Derived terms

See also

Translations

Etymology 2

Possibly due to the propensity in some non-rhotic dialects to pronounce words ending in -er as if they ended in an -a.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /æ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æ/

Suffix

-a

1. (Northern England) Same as -er in Standard English.

   me fatha was a corka burna doon the shipyard — “My father was a corker burner at the shipyard.”

2. (Black English and slang) Used to replace -er in nouns.

   gangsta — “gangster”

   brotha — “brother”

See also

• -z

Etymology 3

Representing the nominative singular case ending of Latin first-declension feminine nouns.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ə, IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a ‎(plural -ae or -æ)

1. Marks singular nouns, with a foundation in Greek or Latin, often implying femininity, especially when contrasted with words terminating in -us.

Synonyms

• -ess
• -ette
• -euse
• -or
• -rix
• she-

Derived terms

• incuba

Etymology 4

From Latin -a.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. Changes an element or substance into an oxide.

   magnesia

Etymology 5

Shortened version of verb have.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. (slang) Alternative form of -'ve

   who'da thunk it?

   shoulda, coulda, woulda

Etymology 6

Representing Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish feminine nouns.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. Marks nouns, with a foundation in Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, implying femininity.

Etymology 7

Added to lines of poetry and verse to maintain metrics.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. Added for metrical reasons to poetry and verse

Etymology 8

Shortened version of preposition of.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. (slang) clitic form of o'

   lotta, loadsa, cuppa, kinda, sorta

   • 1946, Elizabeth Metzger Howard, Before the Sun Goes Down, p. 31:

     "Jesus Christ! Was my folks refined. My mam she wouldn't think-a lettin' us young'uns call a pee pot a pee pot. A chamber's what she called it... And by God! Us young'uns had ter call the pee pot a chamber or git our God damn necks wrang."

Etymology 9

Shortened version of verb to.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

Suffix

-a

1. (informal) to (infinitive marker)

   oughta, wanna, gotta, gonna

References

• Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 1

• Christine A. Lindberg (editor), The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition (Spark Publishing, 2007 [2002], ISBN 978-1-4114-0500-4), page 1

Dutch

Suffix

-a

1. Plural form of -um
2. feminine form of -us

Synonyms

• -ums (1)

Esperanto

Etymology

From feminine singular adjectives (and nouns) of the Romance languages, such as French ma, Italian mia, Spanish mía, fría.

Suffix

-a

1. Related to, in the manner of, of. (Ending for all adjectives in Esperanto.)

   belo; bela — “beauty; beautiful”

   dekstro; dekstra — “the right direction (as opposed to left); to the right”

   vero; vera — “truth; true”

2. Belonging to, of. (Ending for all possessive pronouns in Esperanto.)

   mia — “of me, my”

   via — “of you, your”

   ilia — “of them, their”

3. -kind of. (Ending of all correlatives of kind in Esperanto.)

   kia — “what kind of”

   tia — “that kind of”

   nenia — “no kind of”

Derived terms

Finnish

Alternative forms

• (in words with front vowel harmony) -ä

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *-da, from the Proto-Uralic ablative case *-ta. A variant form *-ta (whence Finnish -ta) was used after a syllable with secondary stress (suffixal gradation).

Suffix

-a ‎(front vowel harmony variant -ä)

1. (case suffix) Forms the partitive case of nouns, adjectives, numbers and some pronouns.

Usage notes

• This suffix is used after a short vowel or the plural marker -j-.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Finnic *-dak. Historically, a form of a lative suffix.

Suffix

-a ‎(front vowel harmony variant -ä)

1. (verbal suffix) Forms the short form of the first infinitive of verbs.

Usage notes

• The first infinitive, short form, is the citation form of verbs.

See also

• -ta
• -tta

French

Suffix

-a

1. Suffix indicating the third-person singular past historic of -er verbs.

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɒ]

Suffix

-a

1. (possessive suffix) his, her, its (third-person singular, single possession)

   ház ‎(“house”) → a háza ‎(“his/her/its house”)

Declension

Usage notes

• (possessive suffix) Variants:

  -a is added to back vowel words ending in a consonant

  -e is added to front vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ja is added to back vowel words ending in a consonant or a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-.

  -je is added to front vowel words ending in a consonant or a vowel. Final -e changes to -é-.

See also

• Category:Hungarian noun forms
• Appendix:Hungarian possessive suffixes

Icelandic

Suffix

-a

1. Used to form verbs from nouns.

   spark → sparka — a kick → to kick

   mjólk → mjólka — milk → to milk

   von → vona — hope → to hope

   ávarp → ávarpa — an address → to address

   rit → rita — a writ → to write

   rass → rassa — an ass → to spank (on the ass)

2. Used to form adverbs from adjectives.

   illur → illa — bad → badly

Derived terms

See also

• -ingi
• -ari

Ido

Suffix

-a

1. suffix denoting adjective.

   arjento ‎(“silver (noun)”) + ‎-a → ‎arjenta ‎(“silver (adjective)”)

Derived terms

Usage notes

One may elide the final a of the adjectives, but with the condition not to produce accumulation from the consonants. One advise to use the elision mainly with the derivatived adjectives and particularly when they finish with -al-(a).^[1]

References

1. ↑ “KGD”, in Kompleta gramatiko detaloza (in Ido), accessed 2015-12-23

Italian

Suffix

-a

1. Used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular present tense of -are verbs.
2. Used, with a stem, to form the second-person singular imperative of -are verbs.
3. Used, with a stem, to form the first-person singular, second-person singular and third-person singular present subjunctive of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert "isc".
4. Used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular imperative of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert "isc".

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ (forming in this case masculine nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /a/

Suffix

-a m, f ‎(genitive -ae); first declension

1. suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms (usually masculine) agent nouns

   adveniō + ‎-a → ‎advena

   caedō + ‎-a → ‎-cīda

   colō + ‎-a → ‎-cola

   cōnferveō + ‎-a → ‎cōnferva f

   cōnsolidō + ‎-a → ‎cōnsolida f

   scrībō + ‎-a → ‎scrība

Declension

First declension.

Synonyms

• (suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms masculine agent nouns): -ō¹

Derived terms

References

• “-a¹” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 2

From the Old Latin -ād, originally the ablative feminine singular form of first-declension adjectives (compare -us, suffix forming adjectives).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aː/

Suffix

-ā ‎(not comparable)

1. suffixed chiefly to the stems of adjectives terminating in -ter, forms adverbs which are frequently also used as prepositions

   cis + -ā → citrā

   exter + -ā → extrā

   in- + -ter + -ā → intrā

   uls + -ā → ultrā

Derived terms

References

• “-ā²” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 3

Declined forms of -us ‎(suffix forming adjectives).

Pronunciation 1

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /a/

Suffix

-a

1. nominative feminine singular of -us
2. nominative neuter plural of -us
3. accusative neuter plural of -us
4. vocative feminine singular of -us
5. vocative neuter plural of -us

Pronunciation 2

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aː/

Suffix

-ā

1. ablative feminine singular of -us

Etymology 4

A conjugated form of -ō³ ‎(suffix forming verbs).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /aː/

Suffix

-ā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of -ō

Latvian

Suffix

-a

1. Used to derive feminine nouns from masculine nouns (like English -ess).

Synonyms

• -e

Related terms

Feminine suffixes that include -a:

• -iņa
• -iska

Derived terms

Northern Sami

Etymology

From Proto-Samic *-ëk. Cognate with Finnish -e.

Suffix

-a ‎(with odd-syllable stems -at)

1. Forms nouns from verbs, indicating something used for performing the verb.

   loavdit ‎(“to cover the tent”) + ‎-a → ‎loavdda ‎(“tent cloth”)

2. Forms nouns from verbs, indicating something that results from having the verb's action performed.

   čállit ‎(“to write”) + ‎-a → ‎čála ‎(“writing”)

Usage notes

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable in the nominative singular and essive, and the strong grade in the other forms.

Inflection

Derived terms

Old English

Alternative forms

• -o

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *-ō.

Suffix

-a

1. Ending forming adverbs

   hwær + ‎-a → ‎hwāra ‎(“where”)

   ġilīco ‎(“similarly”)

   singal ‎(“continuous”) + ‎-a → ‎singala ‎(“continually, constantly”)

Etymology 2

Cognate with Old High German -o.

Suffix

-a m

1. nominative masculine n-stem ending

   nama ‎(“name”); scūa ‎(“shadow”)

2. used to form masculine agents from verbs

   huntian ‎(“to hunt”) + ‎-a → ‎hunta ‎(“hunter”)

   etan ‎(“to eat”) + ‎-a → ‎ǣta ‎(“eater”)

Declension

Descendants

• English -er

Old Norse

Suffix

-a

1. indicates negation; does not

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a/, IPA^(key): /ɐ/

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -a.

Suffix

-a f

1. forms feminine nouns and adjectives

   Uruguai ‎(“Uruguay”) + ‎-a → ‎uruguaia ‎(“woman from Uruguay”)

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -at.

Suffix

-a

1. forms the third-person singular present indicative of verbs ending in -ar

   João fala português.‎

   John speaks Portuguese.

Etymology 3

From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -ā.

Suffix

-a

1. forms the second-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -ar

   João, conta-nos o seu apelido.‎

   John, tell us your last name.

Etymology 4

Suffix

-a

1. forms the first-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   É importante que eu coma carne.‎

   It is important that I eat meat.

2. forms the third-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   É importante que ele coma carne.‎

   It is important that he eat meat.

3. forms the third-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   Ei você aí, coma carne.‎

   Hey you there, eat meat.

4. forms the third-person singular negative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   Ei você aí, não coma carne.‎

   Hey you there, don’t eat meat.

Usage notes

The third-person imperative isn’t used with third person pronouns, it’s used with você, which is a second-person pronoun but always takes third-person conjugation.

Romanian

Alternative forms

• -ua (used for feminine nouns ending in a stressed vowel or diphthong)

Etymology 1

From Latin illa, nominative feminine singular of ille.

Suffix

-a f

1. (definite article) the (feminine singular, nominative and accusative)

Usage notes

This form of the definite article is used for feminine nouns in the nominative and accusative cases which end in -ă or in an unstressed vowel:

• mama, from mamă, fem.
• națiunea, from națiune, fem.
• floarea, from floare, fem.

The suffix is also used with feminine adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases to make the articulated definite form, often for emphasis, and it is used before the noun it modifies:

• buna fată, from fata bună (both meaning "the good girl")
• întinsa câmpie, from câmpia întinsă (both meaning "the wide/extensive plain")

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Latin -āre, the ending of the present active infinitive form of first conjugation verbs. Cognate with Spanish -ar, French -er, Italian -are, etc.

Suffix

-a

1. A suffix forming infinitives of many verbs.

Related terms

• -e
• -ea
• -i
• -î

See also

• -re

Serbo-Croatian

Suffix

-a ‎(Cyrillic spelling -а)

1. Suffix appended to words (usually verbal stems) to create a feminine noun, usually denoting a relation or to form a proper noun.

Spanish

Suffix

-a

1. -ess. (Used to form feminine singular nouns.)

   señor; señora — “gentleman; lady”

   camarero; camarera — “waitor; waitress”

2. (Used to form the feminine singular adjectives.)

   frío; fría — “cold; cold”

3. -s. (Used to form the third-person singular (also used with usted) present indicative mood of regular -ar verbs.)

   hablar; habla — “to talk; talks”

4. (Used to form the first and third-person singular (also used with usted) singular subjunctive mood of -er and -ir verbs, also used for the imperative mood of usted.)

   comer; aunque yo coma — “to eat; even if I ate”; salir; por favor, salga Ud. — “to leave; please leave (formal)”

5. (Used to form the second-person singular imperative mood of -ar verbs.)

   hablar; ¡Habla! — “to talk; Talk!”

Derived terms

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse -a, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną.

Suffix

-a

1. (on an positive adjective) Suffix to mark that the corresponding noun is either in plural or in definite singular form
2. Marker of definiteness for noun plurals ending in -n (fourth declension).

   läten; lätena; "sounds; the sounds"

3. A verb-building suffix that can be added to noun or adjectives, such as disk ‎(“dishes”) → diska ‎(“do the dishes”) or öl ‎(“beer”) → öla ‎(“to drink beer”)
4. Create a noun from a numeral, such as tre ‎(“three”) → trea ‎(“a three; a bronze medalist; a three-room apartment”)

Usage notes

On adjectives 

Traditionally, if the noun is in definite singular form it should not refer to a male human, if it uses the suffix -a. If it refers to such a person, the suffix should instead be -e, but one should note that this rule is not universally adhered to - in particular dialects of northern Sweden does not recognize the -e suffix at all, but use -a in all instances.

Derived terms

Turkish

Alternative forms

• (after a vowel) -ya, -ye
• (after a possessive, dative only) -na, -ne
• (in words with front vowel harmony) -e

Suffix

-a ‎(in words with back vowel harmony)

1. Used to form the dative case.

   İstanbul’a — “to Istanbul”

   Ankara’ya — “to Ankara”

   İzmir’e — “to Izmir”

   babasına — “to his father”

2. Used to form gerunds.

   yürüye — “by walking”

Volapük

Suffix

-a

1. A morpheme used to mark the genitive singular of a word (such as a noun, adjective or pronoun). It is also the most common morpheme used in creating innumerable compound words, some of which can be very long (e.g., pledadinaselidöp "toy store, toy shop", tanoganilamedin "antibiotic", taglumaladälamedin "anti-depressant", natrinakarbatazüd telik "bicarbonate of soda").

   Elaf Tyrannosaurus rex älifon in taledadil, kel nu binon dil Nolüda-Meropa.

   Tyrannosaurus rex lived in an area of the earth, which is now a part of North America.

   Buks binons stumem lärnazilana (/ lärnazilanastumem / stumem lärnazilanik).

   Books are a scholar's tools.