-иха

Russian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʲixə] (when stressed)
• IPA^(key): [ʲɪxə] (when unstressed)

Suffix

-и́ха or -иха • (-íxa or -ixa)

1. Forms nouns referring to feminine animals.

   ‎бобр (bobr, “beaver”) + ‎-иха (-ixa) → ‎бобри́ха (bobríxa, “female beaver”)

   бегемо́т (begemót, “hippopotamus”) → бегемо́тиха (begemótixa, “female hippopotamus”)

   барсу́к (barsúk, “badger”) → барсучи́ха (barsučíxa, “female badger”)

   за́яц (zájac, “hare”) (oblique stem зайц- (zajc-)) → зайчи́ха (zajčíxa, “female hare”)

   ёж (jož, “hedgehog”) → ежи́ха (ježíxa, “female hedgehog”)

2. Forms nouns referring to feminine people, often of a colloquial nature.

   врач (vrač, “doctor”) → врачи́ха (vračíxa, “female doctor (colloquial)”)

   портно́й (portnój, “tailor”) → портни́ха (portníxa, “female tailor (normal register)”)

   чува́к (čuvák, “dude, guy (slang)”) → чуви́ха (čuvíxa, “girl, chick (slang)”)

3. Forms nouns referring to objects, of a decidedly colloquial and often pejorative nature.

   шум (šum, “noise”) → шуми́ха (šumíxa, “hype, buzz (colloquial, pejorative)”)

   не- (ne-, “not”) + разобра́ться (razobrátʹsja, “to sort out”) (present tense разберу́сь (razberúsʹ)) → неразбери́ха (nerazberíxa, “muddle, mess, SNAFU (colloquial)”)

Usage notes

The suffix has the following properties:

• The stem may or may not be stressed (more often stressed than not).
• A velar (as well as ц) normally turns into a palatal as a result of the Slavic first palatalization.
• With reducible nouns, the stem assumes its non-reduced form before the suffix.
• A stressed ё turns into е when the stressed variant of the suffix is added.

Declension

Declension of -и́ха, -иха (bian fem-form velar-stem accent-a) 

		singular	plural
nominative		-и́ха, -иха -íxa, -ixa	-и́хи, -ихи -íxi, -ixi
genitive		-и́хи, -ихи -íxi, -ixi	-и́х, -их -íx, -ix
dative		-и́хе, -ихе -íxe, -ixe	-и́хам, -ихам -íxam, -ixam
accusative	animate	-и́ху, -иху -íxu, -ixu	-и́х, -их -íx, -ix
	inanimate		-и́хи, -ихи -íxi, -ixi
instrumental		-и́хой, -и́хою, -ихой, -ихою -íxoj, -íxoju, -ixoj, -ixoju	-и́хами, -ихами -íxami, -ixami
prepositional		-и́хе, -ихе -íxe, -ixe	-и́хах, -ихах -íxax, -ixax

Derived terms

Russian terms suffixed with -иха

See also

• -есса (-essa), -исса (-issa), -иха (-ixa), -ша (-ša), -ья (-ʹja)

Ukrainian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ ˈɪxɐ] (when stressed)
• IPA^(key): [ exɐ] (when unstressed)

Suffix

-и́ха or -иха • (-ýxa or -yxa)

1. Forms nouns referring to wives

   кова́ль (koválʹ, “smith”) → ковали́ха (kovalýxa, “smith's wife”)

   Кайда́ш (Kajdáš) → Кайдаши́ха (Kajdašýxa, “wife of a man with the surname Kaydash, a married woman with the surname Kaydash”)

   Тимоше́нко (Tymošénko) → Тимоше́нчиха (Tymošénčyxa, “wife of a man with the surname Tymoshenko, a married woman with the surname Tymoshenko”)

2. Forms nouns referring to feminine animals.

   ‎бобе́р (bobér, “beaver”) + ‎-иха (-yxa) → ‎бобри́ха (bobrýxa, “female beaver”)

   борсу́к (borsúk, “badger”) → борсучи́ха (borsučýxa, “female badger”)

   за́єць (zájecʹ, “hare”) (oblique stem зайц- (zajc-)) → зайчи́ха (zajčýxa, “female hare”)

   жук (žuk, “beetle”) → жучи́ха (žučýxa, “female beetle”)

3. (uncommon) Forms nouns referring to feminine people, often of a colloquial nature.
4. (uncommon) Forms nouns referring to objects, of a decidedly colloquial and often pejorative nature.

Derived terms

Ukrainian terms suffixed with -иха