-ak

Abenaki

Etymology

From Proto-Algonquian *-aki.

Suffix

-ak

1. A suffix used to form the plurals of animate words.

   sips (“bird”) → sipsak (“birds”)

   wôbigo (“he is white”) → wôbigoak (“they are white”)

Usage notes

• -ak is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of animate words. It is often used to form the plurals of words ending in letters other than the semivowel w or the vowel a; it is sometimes used to form the plurals of words ending in w; it is almost never used to form the plurals of words ending in a.
• The other suffixes used to form the plurals of animate words are:
  • -ik, often used to form the plurals of words (especially nouns denoting people who have particular occupations or activities) which end in the consonant d or t (which causes the d or t to mutate into j: nodabônkad, "baker" → nodabônkajik, "bakers"); only rarely used to form the plurals of words ending in other letters (nodkwaag, notkwahag, "pilot" → nodkwaagik, notkwahagik, "pilots"),
  • -ok, used to form the plurals of many words ending in w (which it may suppress), and of some other words (which likely ended in w at an earlier stage of the language),
  • -k, used to form the plurals of almost all words that end in a, and of some words that end in other vowels or in the semivowel w; not used to form the plurals of words ending in consonants.
• The suffixes used to form the plurals of inanimate words are:
  • -al, the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words (paskhigan, "gun" → paskhiganal, "guns"), including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a,
  • -il, used to form the plurals of some words ending in the consonant g or k; only rarely used to form the plurals of words ending in other letters,
  • -ol, used to form the plurals of some words ending in the semivowel w (which it suppresses) or other consonants (which likely ended in w at an earlier stage of the language),
  • -l, used to form the plurals of many words ending in vowels, including the semivowel w; not used to form the plurals of words ending in consonants.

References

• Joseph Laurent (1884) New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues, Quebec: Leger Brousseau, page 203
• Gordon M. Day (1994) Western Abenaki Dictionary (in Abenaki), volume 1&2

Basque

Etymology 1

Unknown. As the oblique plural forms include the vowel -e-, it has been suggested that it derives from Proto-Basque *-g, to which the epenthetic vowel was attached before case suffixes. Then, the intervocalic *-g- would be dropped due to its position.

Suffix

-ak

1. Absolutive plural suffix.

   Nire gurasoak oporretan daude. ― My parents are on holiday.

   Txakurrak katuak jan ditu. ― The dog has eaten the cats.

Declension

Etymology 2

From -a (singular definite article) +‎ -k (ergative suffix).

Suffix

-ak

1. Ergative singular suffix.

   Txakurrak katuak jan ditu. ― The dog has eaten the cats.

Declension

References

Hungarian

Etymology

From -a- (linking vowel) +‎ -k (plural suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Suffix

-ak

2. (plural suffix) -s, -es

   ‎ház (“house”) + ‎-ak → ‎házak (“houses”)

   ‎piros (“red”) + ‎-ak → ‎pirosak (“red”)

   Az almák pirosak. ― The apples are red.

Usage notes

• (plural suffix) Variants:

  -k is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  ‎nő (“woman”) + ‎-k → ‎nők (“women”)

  ‎fa (“tree”) + ‎-k → ‎fák (“trees”)

  ‎csésze (“cup”) + ‎-k → ‎csészék (“cups”)

  -ak is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant:

  ‎ház (“house”) + ‎-ak → ‎házak (“houses”)

  -ok is added to most back-vowel words ending in a consonant:

  ‎pad (“bench”) + ‎-ok → ‎padok (“benches”)

  -ek is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant:

  ‎kert (“garden”) + ‎-ek → ‎kertek (“gardens”)

  ‎könyv (“book”) + ‎-ek → ‎könyvek (“books”)

  -ök is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant:

  ‎kör (“circle”) + ‎-ök → ‎körök (“circles”)

• Note that the plural form is not used after definite and indefinite numerals in Hungarian: három könyv (“three books”), néhány óra múlva (“in a few hours’ time”). There are very few (traditional, archaic) exceptions, including háromkirályok (“the Three Magi”), mindenszentek (“All Saints”), and certain archaic phrases with összes (“all”) and minden (“every”) (see their Usage notes).
• The regular plural suffix for back-vowel adjectives is -ak, for example okosak (“smart/clever ones”). On the other hand, ethnonyms take -ok (e.g. olaszok (“Italians”), see the back-vowel terms in their category), as well as some other adjectives, including privative (“…-less”) ones (formed with -talan, -atlan, or -tlan). Rounded front-vowel adjectives normally take -ek, for example zöldek (“green ones”), except for demonyms (see rounded front-vowel terms in their category).
• If a word can be both a noun and an adjective, the form of its ending gives information about its function, e.g. játékosok (“players”, noun) and játékosak (“playful”, adjective as part of a plural predicate). The same distinction also exists with words with rounded front vowels, e.g. ismerős: ismerősök (“acquaintances”, noun) and ismerősek (“familiar”, adjective as part of a plural predicate).

See also

• Category:Hungarian noun forms
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

Ilocano

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *ʔakúʔ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)aku.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (after words ending in consonants and sometimes vowels except /a/) /ak/
• IPA^(key): (after words ending in /a/ and sometimes other vowels) /ʔak/

Pronoun

{head|ilo|pronoun}}

1. First-person singular absolutive enclitic pronoun; I, me

   Pilipinoak. ― I am a Filipino.

   Kinagatak ti aso. ― The dog bit me.

Usage notes

• When attached to the enclitic -(e)n, the pronoun becomes -akon, reflecting its old form (see etymology above).

  Nanganakon. ― I already ate.

• The pronoun is often conflated with -nak in colloquial speech. See the definition of -nak for its proper usage.

See also

Munsee

Etymology

From Proto-Algonquian *-aki.

Suffix

-ak

1. A suffix used to form the plurals of animate words.

   lúnuw (“man”) → lunúwak (“men”)

   alóhkeew (“he/she works”) → alohkéewak (“they work”)

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-akъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: ak

Suffix

-ak m

1. used to form demonyms

   ‎Warszawa + ‎-ak → ‎warszawiak

   ‎Kraków + ‎-ak → ‎krakowiak

   ‎Poznań + ‎-ak → ‎poznaniak

2. used to form various nouns, many of them colloquial

   ‎spacer + ‎-ak → ‎spacerniak

   ‎miedź + ‎-ak → ‎miedziak

   ‎buzia + ‎-ak → ‎buziak

   ‎prosty + ‎-ak → ‎prostak

   ‎pić + ‎-ak → ‎pijak

3. used to form names of dances and sports

   ‎szczypiorek + ‎-ak → ‎szczypiorniak

   ‎Kujawy + ‎-ak → ‎kujawiak

   ‎Kraków + ‎-ak → ‎krakowiak

4. used to form diminutives of animals

   Synonyms: -ę, ątko

   ‎gęś + ‎-ak → ‎gęsiak

   ‎kaczka + ‎-ak → ‎kaczak

Usage notes

This suffix usually softens the preceding consonant, causing an i or y to be added.

Declension

Personal declension (e.g. demonyms):

Animate declension (e.g. dances, sports, some colloquial nouns):

Inanimate declension (some colloquial nouns):

Derived terms

See also

• -ę

Further reading

• -ak in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-ъkъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak/

Suffix

-ak (Cyrillic spelling -ак)

1. Suffix appended to words to create a masculine noun, usually denoting a performer, feature, human relation, result of an action, object, diminutive or a proper name.

See also

• -jak
• -njak

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak/

Suffix

-ak (Cyrillic spelling -ак)

1. Suffix appended to the present stem of verbs to form an adjective denoting a feature or a dimension.
   • glad (“to smooth”) + -ak → gladak (“smooth”).
   • ljub (“to love”) + -ak → ljubak (“amiable”).
   • Proto-Slavic *plyti + -ak → plitak (“shallow”).

See also

• -ek
• -ok

Turkish

Alternative forms

• -ek

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish ـاق, from Proto-Turkic *-gak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑk/

Suffix

-ak

1. Creates nouns out of verbs.
   • yat- (“to lie down”) + -ak → yatak (“bed”).
   • tara- (“to comb”) + -ak → tarak (“comb”).