-ijiet

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic ـِيَّات (-iyyāt), feminine plural of the derivational suffix ـِيّ (-iyy), whence Maltese -i. Natively used with nouns in -ija, then probably first extended to Sicilian borrowings in -i and finally also to consonant-final borrowings.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈjɪːt/

Suffix

-ijiet

1. a common plural suffix for nouns
   1. used with native nouns in -ija as well as some borrowings with this ending (most Romance words have -iji instead)

      ‎tfittxija (“search”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎tfittxijiet (“searches”)

      ‎gawwija (“seagull”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎gawwijiet (“seagulls”)

   2. used with borrowed nouns in -i or consonants as well as a small number of native nouns

      ‎impressjoni (“impression”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎impressjonijiet (“impressions”)

      ‎patt (“pact”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎pattijiet (“pacts”)

      ‎sptar (“hospital”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎sptarijiet (“hospitals”)

      ‎omm (“mother”) + ‎-ijiet → ‎ommijiet (“mothers”)

Related terms

• -iet

 

See also

• -ejn
• -i
• -in