-ít

It can be traced back to the ancient multi-element Finno-Ugric (Uralic) *-kt, the elements of which are the frequentative *-k and the causative -t.

In Hungarian, regular phonological development caused this *-kt to first become -χt, then -it. The -i formed a diphthong with the vowel at the end of the stem in front of it, which is the origin of the -ajt / -ejt variants that still exists today in some old or dialect words (e.g. hullajt, veszejt). The diphthong then monophthongized to become -í, resulting in the modern colloquial -ít formant. When added to base verbs, this is most often found as a causative suffix, but it usually no longer expresses real causation, it merely changes the base verb to a transitive. For causation, it must be supplemented with the suffix -tat / -tet, as in taníttat (“to have someone taught”).^[1]

• IPA^(key):

-ít

1. (verb-forming suffix) -ify, added to a noun, adjective, verb or other stem to form a verb expressing causation (make something ...-like).

   Synonyms: -at/-et, -tat/-tet, -aszt/-eszt/-öszt, -jt/-ajt/-ejt, -dít, (obsolete in this sense) -t

   ‎alap (“base”) + ‎-ít → ‎alapít (“to found”)

   ‎szép (“beautiful”) + ‎-ít → ‎szépít (“to make more beautiful”)

   ‎áll (“to stand”) + ‎-ít → ‎állít (“to assert, claim”)

• Sometimes -ít is attached to a stem that is not used alone, only with a family of suffixes.
• Sometimes it can alternate with -ajt/-ejt and/or -aszt/-eszt, e.g. szakít ~ szakajt ~ szakaszt, taszít ~ taszajt, verít(ék) ~ verejt(ék), veszít ~ veszejt (the latter pair with slightly different meanings). In other cases, only the -ajt/-ejt and/or -aszt/-eszt form exists, e.g. szalajt ~ szalaszt, hullajt, zülleszt.

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

-ít f

1. -ite