pandunia

Word derivation

Making new words from existing words is called word derivation. Often a new word is made by adding a prefix or suffix, such as un- and -ness in English. For example, un-happy and happi-ness are derived from the root word happy.

New words can be built freely in Pandunia! Pandunia has a word derivation system that is regular and productive.

Zero derivation

Zero derivation means conversion of a word from one word class to another by changing the word-class marker only. No derivational affix is used. Zero derivation is very common in Pandunia.

For example, the adjective hali ‘empty’ is converted to a verb simply by replacing the adjective ending -i with the verb ending -a: hala ‘to empty, to make empty’.

Compound Words

A compound word is a word that is formed of two or more simpler words in order to yield a new meaning. The last word is the most meaningful part in the compound and the preceding words only modify its meaning. New compound words can be created freely and easily in Pandunia. There are two types of compound words in Pandunia, open compounds and closed compounds.

An open compound is simply a series of base words put next to each other. They are written separately and there is a space between each pair of words. For example, tomato ‘tomato’ + sos ‘sauce’ = tomato sos ‘tomato sauce’,

Closed compounds are written together and there is no space between the words. For example, poste ‘mail’ + kan ‘place for working’ = postekan ‘post office’. Typically closed compounds include affixes. Affixes are word-like units that have special properties. Some of them are not stand-alone words, they can only appear as part of another word.

Pandunia’s system of word derivation is designed to produce compound words that look and/or sound so close to international words that they are easy to recognize. They are not meant to be identical with words in English or in any other language, because international words tend to be written and pronounced in more or less different ways from language to language, anyway. In fact, many compound words are built in a different way in Pandunia than in European languages, though the results usually look mostly similar.

Derivational affixes

Affixes, i.e. prefixes and suffixes, are very important and give great flexibility to the language. They are joined together with the base word.

Pandunia has adopted international prefixes, including a-, de-, pro-, re- and su- among others, in order to re-create many international words as native Pandunia words.

         a-      'to, toward'
   +   cesa      'go, pass'
____________
=     acesa      'get past to, access'

       pro-      'forward, to the front'
   +   cesa      'go, pass'
____________
=   procesa      'pass forward, process'

        re-      'back to'
   +   cesa      'go, pass'
____________
=    recesa      'pass back, recede'

        de-      'away, off'
   +   cesa      'go, pass'
____________
=    decesa      'pass away, die'

        su-      'good, well'
   +   cesa      'go, pass'
____________
=    sucesa      'go well, succeed'

Prefixes

a- ~ ad-

The prefix a- means that the action brings the agent and the object together.

cepa ‘take, catch’ → acepa ‘take to oneself, accept’
liga ‘tie’ → aliga ‘tie to oneself, ally’

ana- ~ an-

‘to opposite direction or directions’ (again, against)

liza ‘to break’ → analiza ‘to break apart, to analyze’
tomia ‘cutting, section’ → anatomia ‘dissection, anatomy’
arkia ‘leadership’ → anarkia ‘anarchy’
nim ‘name’ → ananim ‘ananym, one’s name backwards’

de- ~ dez-

The prefix de- means that the action is directed away from or off something.

cepa ‘take, catch’ → decepa ‘take away, remove’
duta ‘lead, conduct’ → deduta ‘lead away, deduce’
parta ‘part, chip’ → departa ‘part away, chip off’
koda ‘code’ → dekoda ‘decode, remove coding’
tapa ‘plug, cap, stopper’ → detapa ‘unplug, remove the plug, cap or stopper’
information ‘information’ → dezinformation ‘disinformation, information that is meant to lead away from the truth’

dis-

The prefix dis- means that the action is directed apart or in many directions.

trata ‘draw’ → distrata ‘draw apart, distract’
turba ‘whirl, spin’ → disturba ‘disturb’

dus-

The prefix dus- adds a quality of badness to the base word.

funta ‘function’ → dusfunta ‘malfunction, dysfunction’
rupe ‘appearance, looks’ → dusrupi ‘bad-looking, ugly’
forma ‘form’ → dusforma ‘malform’

en- ~ em-

The prefix en- indicates position in something, when it is prefixed to words with a static meaning. There are two forms of this prefix. The form em- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, and the form en- is used in all other cases.

demi ‘populational’ → endemi ‘endemic, occuring in a population’
tena ‘keep, hold’ → entena ‘keep in, hold in, inhold’

It indicates motion or transformation into something when it is prefixed to words with an active meaning.

jeta ‘thrust’ → enjeta ‘thrust in, inject’
kluza ‘close, shut’ → enkluza ‘close in, enclose, include’
koda ‘code’ → enkoda ‘encode’
amu ‘love’ → enamu ‘fall in love, enamor’
porta ‘transfer, bring’ → emporta ‘bring in, import’
sirka ‘circle’ → ensirka ‘encircle, surround’

epi-

‘upper, top-, outer (away from the core or center)’

derme ‘dermis, tissue of the skin’ → epiderme ‘epidermis, outer layer of the skin’
log ‘talk, text’ → epilog ‘epilog, afterword’

ex- ~ exo- ~ e-

The prefix ex- means that the action is directed outside from something.

kluza ‘close’ → exkluza ‘close out, excluse’
cepa ‘take, catch’ → ecepa ‘take out, except’
jeta ‘thrust’ → ejeta ‘thrust out, eject’

in- ~ im-

The prefix in- reverses the meaning of the adjective or noun to which it is prefixed. There are two forms of this prefix. The form im- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, and the form in- is used in all other cases.

kredabli ‘credible, believable’ → inkredabli ‘incredible, unbelievable’
populi ‘popular’ → impopuli ‘unpopular’
perfeti ‘perfect’ → imperfeti ‘imperfect’
deviste ‘theist’ → indeviste ‘atheist’
alkoli ‘alcoholic’ → inalkoli ‘unalcoholic’
homani ‘humane’ → inhomani ‘unhumane’
uzabli ‘usable’ → inuzabli ‘unusable’

kon- ~ kom- ~ ko-

The prefixes kon- and kom- mean ‘together’. There are three forms of this prefix. The form kom- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, the form ko- is used when the following word begins with an n, r or l, and the form kon- is used in all other cases.

tena ‘hold, keep’ → kontena ‘keep together’
struta ‘build, structure’ → konstruta ‘construct, put together’
patia ‘suffering’ → kompatia ‘suffering together, compassion’

per-

The prefix per- means that something is done completely, entirely or all the way through.

feti ‘done’ → perfeti ‘perfect, completely done’
uza ‘use’ → peruza ‘use up’

pos-

The prefix pos- means that something is after in time or order.

poza ‘put, pose’ → pospoza ‘put after, postpone’
prodution ‘production’ → posprodution ‘post-production’

pre-

The prefix pre- means that something is before in time or order.

poza ‘put, pose’ → prepoza ‘put before, prepend’
dita ‘tell’ → predita ‘foretell, predict’
viza ‘see’ → previza ‘foresee, preview’

pro-

The prefix pro- means that something is moved onward or into the open.

pozita ‘put, pose’ → propozita ‘put forward, propose’
voka ‘call, summon’ → provoka ‘call forth, provoke’

re-

The prefix re- means that something is done back or in the opposite direction than originally.

ata ‘to act’ → reata ‘to act back, react’
turna ‘to turn’ → returna ‘to turn back’

ri-

The prefix ri- means repetition or doing again.

forma ‘form’ → riforma ‘form again, reform’
natu ‘be born’ → rinatu ‘be born again’
pleya ‘play’ → ripleya ‘play again, replay’

sin- ~ sim-

The prefixes sin- and sim- mean ‘(for, to or at) the same’. There are two forms of this prefix. The form sim- is used when the following word begins with a b, p or m, and the form sin- is used in all other cases.

kroni ‘timely, temporal, chronic’ → sinkroni ‘synchronic, happening at the same time’
metria ‘measurement’ → simmetria ‘symmetry, equal measurements’
patia ‘suffering’ → simpatia ‘feeling ~ suffering the same, sympathy’
mixa ‘to mix’ → simmixa ‘to mix together, blend’

su-

The prefix su- adds the quality of goodness into the base word.

cesa ‘pass, go by’ → sucesa ‘go well, succeed’
rupe ‘appearance, looks’ → surupi ‘good-looking’

ta- ~ tan-

The prefix ta(n)- is about getting oneself to do the action, which the root refers to.

fikra ‘to think’ → tafikra ‘to get lost in thoughts’
shukra ‘to thank’ → tashukra ‘to be thankful’
refa ‘to know’ → tarefa ‘to acknowledge’

In nouns it denotes the effect or resulting state of performing the action, especially to oneself.

Suffixes

-aje

The suffix -aje means something that is made of or something that consists of the thing indicated by the base word.

bage ‘bag’ → bagaje ‘baggage, luggage’
kore ‘core’ koraje ‘guts, the things in the core’
misa ‘to send’ → misaje ‘something sent, message’
fase ‘face’ → fasaje ‘facade, frontage’
limon ‘lemon’ → limonaje ‘lemonade’

-al ~ -ial

The suffix -al means that something belongs to or is related to the thing or person indicated by the base word.

fin ‘end’ → final ‘final, belonging to the end’

When -al is suffixed to a base word that ends in -ia, the endings merge together into -ial.

dunia ‘world’ → dunial ‘worldly’
imperia ‘empire’ → imperial ‘imperial’
nasia ‘nation’ → nasial ‘national’
sosia ‘society’ → sosial ‘societal, social’ uneversia ‘universe, everything’
→ uneversial ‘universal, something that concerns everything and everyone’

-bli

Indicates possibility.

viza ‘to see’ → vizabli ‘that can be seen, visible’

-em ~ -tem

This rarely used suffix means a fundamental unit in the system of things that is indicated by the base word. For example, lexem (‘lexeme’) is the fundamental unit in the system of lexe ‘words’. For example, spoke and spoken are individual words but they represent the same underlying fundamental unit, which is speak in its fundamental form. So the other forms are identified as variations of the fundamental form.

fon ‘speech sound’ → fonem ‘phoneme, distinct speech sound’
lexe ‘word’ → lexem ‘lexeme, fundamental unit of a family of words’
mite ‘myth’ → mitem ‘mytheme, an archetypal story’

-ende

Indicates ‘what should be, or needs to be, done’.

aga ‘to do’ → agende ‘agenda, list of things that need to be done’
ada ‘to add’ → adende ‘addendum, something to be added’
dela ‘to delete’ → delende ‘delenda, something to be deleted or removed’
kreda ‘to believe’ → kredende ‘credendum, something to be believed’
korega ‘to correct’ → koregende ‘corrigendum, something to be corrected’

-er

The suffix -(t)er means ‘a person who is occupied with the action of the base word’. It implies often but not always a professional occupation.

aga ‘to do, to act’ → agter ‘doer, actor, one who does or acts’
baka ‘to bake’ → baker ‘baker’
lida ‘to lead’ → lider ‘leader, the one who leads’
filosofa ‘to think deeply’ → filosofer ‘philosopher’
sapat ‘shoe’ → sapater ‘shoemaker’
musket ‘musket’ → musketer ‘musketeer’
kas ‘box, cash box’ → kaser ‘cashier’

-eria ~ -teria ~ ria

This suffix is the combination of -(t)er + -ia. It means the place for making, producing or selling the thing that is indicated by the base word.

baka ‘to bake’ → bakeria ‘bakery’
perfum ‘perfume’ → perfumeria ‘perfumery’
enjener ‘engineer’ → enjeneria ‘engineering’

In some rare cases this suffix is trimmed into -ria.

piza ‘pizza’ → pizaria ‘pizzeria, pizza place’

-ifa

The suffix -(i)fa means to make or turn into the thing that is indicated by the base word.

mei ‘beautiful’ → meifa ‘make beautiful, beautify’
komple ‘complex’ → komplifa ‘make complex, complexify’
long ‘long’ → longifa ‘make long, lengthen’
un ‘one’ → unifa ‘unite, unify’
klar ‘clear’ → klarifa ‘make clear, clarify’

-filia ~ ofilia

The suffix -(o)filia means ‘extraordinary or abnormal liking of something’.

bash ‘language’ → baxofilia ‘glossophilia, linguaphilia, the love of language’
rusi ‘Russian’ → rusofilia ‘Russophilia, strong liking of Russia or Russians’
tekne ‘technology’ → teknofilia ‘technophilia, the love of technology’

-fobia

The suffix -fobia means ‘extraordinary or abnormal dislike of something’.

arane ‘spider’ → aranofobia ‘arachnophobia, the fear of spiders’
pan ‘all-embracing’ → panfobia ‘panphobia, the fear of everything’
→ rusofobia Rus ‘Russia’ → rusofobia ‘Russophobia, strong dislike of Russia or Russians’

-ia ~ -ya

The suffix -ia has a variety of meanings, but fundamentally it means a collective of things or a community of people.

nes ‘island’ → nesia ‘archipelago’
lexe ‘word’ → lexia ‘vocabulary’
homan ‘human being’ → homania ‘humanity, mankind, all the human beings as a group’
kriste ‘Christ’ → kristia ‘Christianity, all Christians as a group’

This ending is often used in place names, especially in country names. However it is not always used, and there are also many country names that do not end in -ia.

arab ‘Arab, Arabic’ → Arabia ‘Arabia’
rus ‘Russian, Ruski’ → Rusia ‘Russia’
turke ‘Turk, Turkish’ → Turkia ‘Turkey’
ital ‘Italic, Italian’ → Italia ‘Italy’
Asia ‘Asia’
Indonesia ‘Indonesia’

The same suffix is sometimes used also in names of smaller establishments.

sushi ‘sushi’ → sushiya ‘sushi place or restaurant’

The suffix -ia is also used in names of scientific disciplines, where it can be understood as collection of scientific knowledge and practices.

kim ‘chemical’ → kimia ‘chemistry’
filsof ‘view, outlook, life wisdom’ → filsofia ‘philosophy, the discipline of wisdom’
loj ‘to study and reason systematically’ → lojia ‘systematic study, logic’
biolojia ‘biology, systematic study of organic life’
geolojia ‘geology, systematic study of the ground’

-ik-

The suffix -(t)ik means something that is characterized by the thing or quality indicated by the base word.

baz ‘base, basis’ → bazik ‘basic’
fiz ‘body’ → fizik ‘physical’
un ‘one’ → unik ‘only, sole, single’
makin ‘machine’ → makinik ‘machine-like, mechanical’
tema ‘theme’ → tematik ‘thematic’

-im

The suffix -im means something that is in the position or rank that is indicated by the base word.

un ‘one’ → unimi ‘the first’
pre ‘fore, front’ → primi ‘foremost, prime’
extre ‘outside, exterior’ → extrimi ‘outermost, extreme’

-ion ~ -tion

The suffix -(t)ion means ‘an action or process’. ate ‘act’ → ation ‘action’
dit ‘say’ → dition ‘saying, diction’
konsum ‘consume’ → konsumion ‘consumption’
rota ‘wheel; to turn like a wheel’ → rotation ‘turning, rotation’

-isme

The suffix -isme means an ideology, a way of thinking or a way of life.

alkol ‘alcohol’ → alkolisme ‘alcoholism’
ativ ‘active’ → ativisme ‘activism’
deo ‘god’ → deisme ‘theism’

-iste

The suffix -iste means a person who tends to behave or think in a certain way or an adherent of an ideology or a religion.

alkol ‘alcohol’ → alkoliste ‘alcoholic, alcoholist’
ativ ‘active’, → ativiste ‘activist’
deo ‘god’ → deiste ‘theist, one who believes in existence of a god or gods’

-it ~ -lit

The suffix -(l)it expresses ‘small size’.

pak ‘pack’ → pakit ‘packet’
kas ‘case’ → kasit ‘cassette’
sigar ‘cigar’ → sigarit ‘cigarette’

-ita ~ -ta

The suffix -(i)ta creates abstract nouns that represent a quality or a state.

nov ‘new, novel’ → novita ‘newness, novelty’
un ‘one’ unita ‘oneness, unity’

-ium ~ -um

The suffix -(i)um means ‘chemical element’.

kali ‘base, alkali’ → kalium ‘kalium’
Kuri → kurium ‘curium, the chemical element named after Marie Curie’
Einstein → einsteinium ‘einsteinium, the chemical element named after Albert Einstein’

-ivi

The suffix -ivi means someone who tends to do what the base word says. aga ‘act, perform’ → agtivi ‘active, inclined to act’
explozu ‘explode’ → explozivi ‘explosive’
dika ‘point at, indicate’ → dikativi ‘indicative’

-iza

The suffix -(t)iza means ‘to furnish or equip with something’.

aur ‘gold’ → auriza ‘to gild, to coat with gold’
makin ‘machine’ → makiniza ‘to mechanize, to equip with machinery’

-kratia

The suffix -kratia means ‘rule, government’.

demo ‘people, public’ → demokratia ‘democracy, rule by the people’
tekne ‘technology’ → teknokratia ‘technocracy, rule by the technology’
media ‘the (mass) media’ → mediakratia ‘mediacracy, rule by the media’

-metre

The suffix (o)metre means ‘measurement’.

terme ‘temperature’ → termometrer ‘temperature measurer, thermometer’
sim- ‘same’ → simmetria ‘equal measurements, symmetry’

-n-

Active participle suffix. It is added after a complete verb, so it retains the verb endings -a and -u.

yama ‘to eat’ → yamani ‘that eats, eating’
viza ‘to see’ → vizani ‘that sees, seeing’

It also functions as the causative verbal suffix, that indicates means that someone causes someone to do something.

sava ‘to know’ → savana ‘to make (someone) know (something), to inform (someone)’
yama ‘to eat’ → yamana ‘to make (someone) eat (something), to feed (someone)’

This suffix has the combining form -nt-, which is used before other suffixes.

esen + -ia → esentia ‘being, essence’

-nomia

The suffix -nomia means ‘arrangement, management’.

astre ‘celestial body’ → astronomia ‘astronomy’
agre ‘farming’ → agronomia agronomy

-on

The suffix -on indicates great size.

bol ‘ball’ → bolon balloon’

-or ~ -tor

The suffix -(t)or means an apparatus, device or machine for doing the work that is incidated by the base word.

trat ‘drag, haul’ → trator ‘tractor’
fotograf ‘to photograph’ → fotografor ‘photograph apparatus, camera’

-t-

Passive participle suffix. It is added after a complete verb, so it retains the verb ending -a. (Only verbs ending in -a can be converted passive.)

sava ‘to know’ → savati ‘known’

It also functions as the causative verbal suffix, that indicates that someone causes something to be done to someone or something.

sava ‘to know’ → savata ‘to make (something) known’
yama ‘to eat’ → yamata ‘to make (something) eaten, to feed (something)’

-ul ~ -kul

The suffix -(k)ul indicates intensification or concentration, frequently but not necessarily into a smaller size.

kum ‘mound, hill’ → kumul ‘small hill, hillock, heap, pile’
bande ‘band, group of things tied together’ → bandul ‘bundle’
mira ‘stare in awe’ → mirakul ‘wonder, miracle’
liti ‘small’ → litul ‘little’

-ur ~ -tur

The suffix -(t)ur means something that is the result or product of the action that is indicated by the base word.

kulta ‘to cultivate (a way of life)’ → kultur ‘culture’
mixa ‘to mix’ → mixur ‘mixture’

Affixes for chemistry

-al ‘aldehyde’:
metanal ‘formaldehyde, methanal’

-an ‘alkane group’:
metil ‘methyl’ → metan ‘methane’

-at ‘salt or ester’:
sulfe ‘sulfur’ → sulfat ‘sulfate’

-en ‘alkene group’:
meten ‘methen’

-il ‘alkyl group’:
bute ‘butter’ → butil ‘butyl’
metan ‘methane’ → metil ‘methyl’

-in ‘alkyne group’:
metin ‘methyne’

-it ‘salt or ester’:
sulfe ‘sulfur’ → sulfit ‘sulfite’

-ol ‘alcoholic compound’:
etan ‘ethane’ → etanol ‘ethanol’

-on ‘ketone group’:
propan ‘propane’ → propanon ‘propanone’

-os ‘sugar’:
frut ‘fruit’ → frutos ‘fructose’
malte ‘malt’ → maltos ‘maltose’

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