-a

From Latin -a.

-a

1. Used to create genus names from proper nouns
2. Used to take the form of certain plural Latin-derived taxonomic names

Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -um (nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: -er, -or (in non-rhotic accents)

-a

1. plural of -um

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek -α (-a, nominative second declension neuter plural suffix), plural counterpart to -ον (-on, nominative second declension neuter singular suffix).

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophones: -er, -or (in non-rhotic accents)

-a

1. plural of -on

Learned borrowing from Latin -a (nominative first declension neuter singular suffix)

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ə, IPA^(key): /ə/

-a (plural -as or -ae)

1. Marks singular nouns, with a foundation in Greek or Latin, often implying femininity, especially when contrasted with words terminating in -us.
2. Changes an element or substance into an oxide.

   ‎magnesium + ‎-a → ‎magnesia

• (feminine suffix): -ess, -ette, -ine, -ress, she-, -trix

• (antonym(s) of “feminine suffix”): he-

• incuba

Borrowed from Italian -a, Spanish -a and Portuguese -a, all feminine noun suffixes from Latin -a.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

-a

1. Marks nouns, with a foundation in Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, implying femininity.

   donna

   signora

• (female suffix): -ess, -ette, -ine, -ress, she-, -trix

• (antonym(s) of “female suffix”): he-

Added especially for metrical reasons, or as an empty filler syllable.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/, /eɪ/

-a

1. Added for metrical reasons to songs, poetry and verse, or as an empty filler syllable to other speech.

   Alternative forms: a, a-

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     A merry heart goes all the day
     Your sad tires in a mile-a

   • 1936 July 18, Leon Schlesinger (producer) / Norman Spencer (music), I Love to Singa:

     I love to sing-a / about the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a, / I love to sing-a / about a sky of blue-a, or a tea for two-a.

   • 1980s, Herb Owen, “Wanna”, in Kids Sing Praise‎^[3], performed by Kids Sing Praise:

     I wanna wanna wanna wanna wanna wanna really wanna be just like the Lord
     So every day Im gonna gonna read the Book and rest upon-a God's own holy Word
     Of good in me there's none-a none-a that's okay because I'm gonna trust upon the work that's done-a on the Cross
     and Jesus is the one-a one-a God the Father's Son-a Son-a and my sin He cures!

   • 1981, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, performed by Men At Work, Down Under:

     Buying bread from a man in Brussels
     He was six-foot-four and full of muscle
     I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
     He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich […]

   • 2014, Don Pendleton, California Hit, Open Road Media, →ISBN:

     "I'm-a tell-a you why you better be. I named you in my will, Franco."

Contraction of have.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

-a

1. (slang) Alternative form of 've.

   who'da thunk it?

   shoulda

   coulda

   woulda

Contraction of of.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

-a

1. (slang) Clitic form of o' (contraction of of).

   buncha, cuppa, kinda, loadsa, lotta, sorta

   • 1946, Elizabeth Metzger Howard, Before the Sun Goes Down, page 31:

     "Jesus Christ! Was my folks refined. My mam she wouldn't think-a lettin' us young'uns call a pee pot a pee pot. A chamber's what she called it... And by God! Us young'uns had ter call the pee pot a chamber or git our God damn necks wrang."

Contraction of to.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

-a

1. (informal) to (infinitive marker)

   oughta

   wanna

   gotta

   gonna

Contraction of do.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ə/

-a

1. (informal) do (infinitive marker)

   whatta

   • 1988, Living Colour, “Funny Vibe”, Epic:

     Yeah, Flav, I'm tired of them dissing brothers in the P.E. out there, we got to do something about this/(What-a we do? What-a we do?)

A pronunciation spelling of -er, representing the unstressed schwa /ə/ in non-rhotic dialects.

-a

1. (chiefly US, African-American Vernacular, non-rhotic) Pronunciation spelling of -er (the agent noun suffix).

   busta, hustla, killa, stunna, sucka

2. (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, non-rhotic) Pronunciation spelling of -er (the colloquial clipping suffix).

   Macca, rugga

• -z
• -zza

• Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “-a”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 1.
• Christine A. Lindberg, editor (2002), “-a”, in The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Spark Publishing, →ISBN, page 1.

• IPA^(key): /-a/

-a

1. indicates intensity or repetition of a verbal action

SIL International (2020), “Abau Dictionary”, in Webonary.org‎^[4]

-a^[1]

2. alternative form of -ya

Continues Common Albanian *-ó, which became -a after colliding with -ë in feminine words. It did remain an -o in ajo, which was formed in this period. Inherited from Proto-Albanian *háh (“the, she”), identical to the Pre-Proto-Albanian form, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂.^[1] Related to e (“of, the, to”) and -e.

-a f

1. feminine singular nominative suffixed definite article. the

   Coordinate terms: (masculine) -i, -u, (plural and neuter) -të

   ‎ditë f (“day”) + ‎-a → ‎dita (“the day”)

   ‎natë f (“night”) + ‎-a → ‎nata (“the night”)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. forms the plural forms for many nouns. -s

   ‎burrë m (“man”) + ‎-a → ‎burra (“men”)

   ‎vetull f (“eyebrow”) + ‎-a → ‎vetulla (“eyebrows”)

-a

2. (added to verbs) A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
4. (added to nouns, chiefly denoting occupations) A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.
6. (added to numbers, measurements or nouns denoting quantified sets) A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.
8. (added to a proper noun) Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
10. (added to certain adjectives and adverbs, now especially short ones) More; used to form the comparative.

-a

1. Absolutive singular suffix.

   Liburua ekarri al duzu? ― Did you bring the book?

• The suffix -a is usually described as an article. However, its usage is not equivalent to that of English the or a. In Basque, every nominal phrase must carry a determiner, which usually takes the final position in the phrase. Although many others exist, -a is the default determiner which introduces no additional meaning. Compare the following sentences. In the first two, the determiners (-a and hau (“this”)) apply to the noun phrase etxe handi (“big house”); while in the last two they apply separately to etxe (“house”) and handi (“big”):

  Etxe handia da. ― It is a big house.

  Etxe handi hau da. ― It is this big house.

  Etxea handia da. ― The house is big.

  Etxe hau handia da. ― This house is big.

• In Standard Basque, nouns ending in -a in their indefinite form (known in Basque as a itsatsia (literally “attached a”)) don't change when the article is added:

  ‎neska + ‎-a → ‎neska

• “bat zenbatzailea / -a artikulua (batzuk/-ak)”, in Euskara Batuaren Eskuliburua [Handbook of Standard Basque], Euskaltzaindia, 2023
• “a itsatsia”, in Euskara Batuaren Eskuliburua [Handbook of Standard Basque], Euskaltzaindia, 2023

-a

1. (Navarro-Lapurdian) Used to form yes/no questions.

   Liburua ekarri duzuia? ― Did you bring the book?

• It takes different forms depending on the ending of the verb:

  ‎-a + ‎-a → ‎-ea

  ‎-e + ‎-a → ‎-ea

  ‎-o + ‎-a → ‎-oa, -oia

  ‎-u + ‎-a → ‎-uia, -ia

• Other dialects use the unrelated particle al.

• “-a galde-partikula”, in Euskara Batuaren Eskuliburua [Handbook of Standard Basque], Euskaltzaindia, 2023

• (post-vocalic) -wa

Inherited from Proto-Algonquian *-a (animate singular suffix).

Cognate with Fox -a.

-a

1. marks singular proximaty in animate nouns

Apheretic form of -wa (third person singular proximate suffix).

-a

1. post-consonantal form of -wa

• Frantz, Donald G.; Genee, Inge (2016–2023), Blackfoot Online Dictionary‎^[5], University of Toronto Press
• Donald G. Frantz; Norma J. Russell (1989), Blackfoot Dictionary of Stems, Roots, and Affixes, 3rd edition, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, published 2017

-a

1. third person singular object

   A longa ― I heard it.

• René van den Berg and Brent Wiebe, Bola Grammar Sketch, p. 54

Inherited from Latin -am, from Proto-Italic *-ā, from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂.

-a f (noun-forming suffix, plural -es)

1. -ess forms feminine singular nouns

   ‎senyor (“gentleman”) + ‎-a → ‎senyora (“lady”)

   ‎cambrer (“waiter”) + ‎-a → ‎cambrera (“waitress”)

-a

1. forms feminine singular adjectives

   ‎fred (“cold”) + ‎-a → ‎freda (“cold”)

Inherited from Latin -at, the third-person singular present active indicative ending of first conjugation verbs.

-a (verb)

1. forms the third-person singular (also used with vostè) present indicative mood of regular -ar verbs

   ‎parlar (“to talk”) + ‎-a → ‎parla (“talks”)

Inherited from Latin -ā (second-person singular present active imperative ending of first conjugation verbs).

-a (verb)

1. forms the second-person singular imperative mood of -ar verbs

   ‎parlar (“to talk”) + ‎-a → ‎Parla! (“Talk!”)

• -ha — after vowels without glottal stops

From Proto-Austronesian *-a (“imperative suffix”).

-a (Badlit spelling ᜀ)

1. creates imperative forms of verbs

   ‎kuha + ‎-a → ‎kuhaa

   ‎patay + ‎-a → ‎patya

2. added to nouns to refer to a specific sort

   ‎isda + ‎-a → ‎isdaa

3. added to preposed indirect-marked pronouns

   ‎ako + ‎-a → ‎akoa

   ‎inyo + ‎-a → ‎inyoha

4. creates exclamatory forms of adjectives

• John U. Wolff (1972), A dictionary of Cebuano Visayan‎^[6] (overall work in Cebuano and English), Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press

-a

1. Durative aspect/present participle marker

• Only used in non-negative statements; with negated verbs, the durative/present participle is expressed with -i.

• Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1975), Ao Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, pages 50-51
• Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, page 20

From Proto-Brythonic *-aβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *-a-mā.

-a

2. Verbal suffix

   Synonyms: -i, -ya

   ‎les (“width”) + ‎-a → ‎lesa (“to expand”)

   ‎byw (“alive”) + ‎-a → ‎bewa (“to live”)

From Proto-Brythonic *-haβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *-isamos. Cognate with Welsh -af.

-a

2. Forms superlative adjectives

   ‎gwell (“better”) + ‎-a → ‎gwella (“best”)

• IPA^(key): [ a]

-a m anim (noun-forming suffix)

1. forms agent nouns referring to male people

   ‎posrat (“to shit oneself”) + ‎-a → ‎posera (“coward”)

   ‎nafouknout (“to inflate, to blow up”) + ‎-a → ‎náfuka (“bighead, conceited person”)

-a f (noun-forming suffix)

1. forms nouns referring to results of processes

   ‎radit (“to advise”) + ‎-a → ‎rada (“advice, counsel”)

   ‎naladit (“to tune in”) + ‎-a → ‎nálada (“mood”)

• -a in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

• Audio:

  (file)

-a

1. plural of -um

   Synonym: -ums

2. feminine of -us

From feminine singular adjectives (and nouns) of the Romance languages, such as French ma, Italian mia, Spanish mía, fría.

• IPA^(key): /-a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: -a

-a

1. Related to, in the manner of, of. Ending for all adjectives in Esperanto.

   ‎belo (“beauty”) + ‎-a → ‎bela (“beautiful”)

   ‎dekstro (“the right direction”) (as opposed to left) + ‎-a → ‎dekstra (“to the right”)

   ‎vero (“truth”) + ‎-a → ‎vera (“true”)

2. Belonging to, of. Ending for all possessive pronouns in Esperanto.

   ‎mi (“I; me”) + ‎-a → ‎mia (“of me, my”)

   ‎vi (“you”) + ‎-a → ‎via (“of you, your”)

   ‎ili (“they; them”) + ‎-a → ‎ilia (“of them, their”)

4. Used to form the ordinal numeral.

   ‎unu (“one”) + ‎-a → ‎unua (“first”)

   ‎du (“two”) + ‎-a → ‎dua (“second”)

   ‎dek tri (“thirteen”) + ‎-a → ‎dek-tria (“thirteenth”)

   ‎cent (“hundred”) + ‎-a → ‎centa (“hundredth”)

5. -kind of. Ending of all correlatives of kind in Esperanto.

   ‎ki- + ‎-a → ‎kia (“what kind of”)

   ‎ti- + ‎-a → ‎tia (“that kind of”)

   ‎neni- + ‎-a → ‎nenia (“no kind of”)

• “-a”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “-a”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

-a

1. Used to form verbs from nouns.

   ‎týskur (“a German”) + ‎-a → ‎týska (“Germanize”)

2. Used to form adverbs from adjectives.

   ‎illur (“bad”) + ‎-a → ‎illa (“badly”)

• -ä (in words with front vowel harmony)

From Proto-Finnic *-da (variant of *-ta, whence -ta), from the Proto-Uralic ablative case *-ta.

-a (front vowel harmony variant -ä, linguistic notation -A)

1. (case suffix) Forms the partitive case of nouns, adjectives, numbers and some pronouns.

• This suffix is used after a short vowel or the plural marker -j-.
• See the appendix on Finnish nominal cases for more information on how the partitive case is used.

From Proto-Finnic *-dak.

-a (front vowel harmony variant -ä, linguistic notation -A)

1. (verbal suffix) Forms the short form of the first infinitive of verbs.

• The first infinitive, short form, is the citation form of verbs.

From Latin -āt, short counterpart to -āvit.

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the third-person singular past historic of -er verbs

• IPA^(key): /ɑ/

-a

1. alternative form of -ä during vowel harmony with back vowels

-a

1. neutral, unmarked tense-aspect marker

In addition to present time, it often shows habitual action, and can also past and future

-a

1. romanization of -𐌰

• IPA^(key): [ɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

From the Proto-Uralic *sᴕ̈ third-person personal pronoun of the ancestor language after it was appended to the word of possession. According to some linguists this attachment happened in the Proto-Uralic era, while others think it happened much later when the Hungarian language became independent.^[1]

-a

2. Possessive (and genitive) suffix: [from 1055]
   1. (with no possessor or with the 3rd‑person pronoun as possessor, usually construed with the definite article) his, her, its …

      ház → (a) háza, az ő háza (“his/her/its house”) élet → (az) élete, az ő élete (“his/her/its life”) barát → (a) barátja (“his/her/its friend”) kapu → (a) kapuja (“his/her/its gate”) palota → (a) palotája (“his/her/its palace”) kert → (a) kertje (“his/her/its garden”) betű → (a) betűje (“his/her/its letter”) vese → (a) veséje (“his/her/its kidney”)

   2. (with a singular possessor) …-'s, of … (third-person singular, single possession)

      Anna háza (“Anna’s house”), a felkelő nap háza (“the house of the rising sun”) Anna élete (“Anna’s life”), a város élete (“the life of the city”) a király palotája (“the king’s palace”) a ház kapuja (“the gate of the house”) Anna kertje (“Anna’s garden”), a tulipán kertje (“the garden of the tulip”)

   3. (with a plural possessor) …-s’, of …-s (third-person plural, single possession)

      a szüleim háza (“my parents’ house”), a trópusi növények háza (“[the] house of [the] tropical plants”, literally “the tropical plants’ house”) a szüleim élete (“my parents’ lives”, literally “my parents’ life”), a könyvek élete (“[the] lives of [the] books”, literally “the books’ life”) az uralkodók palotája (“the rulers’ palace”) a szüleim kertje (“my parents’ garden”), Az elágazó ösvények kertje (“The Garden of Forking Paths”)

   4. (with instantaneous time expressions) … ago (referring to a preceding point in time considered as an instant)

      Egy évszázada / két éve / egy órája / sok/hosszú ideje ment el. ― S/he left one century / two years / one hour / a long time ago.

      Synonym: -val/-vel ezelőtt (e.g. egy évszázaddal, két évvel ezelőtt)

   5. (with durative time expressions) for … (referring to some duration that precedes the point of time in question)

      Egy évszázada / két éve / egy órája / sok/hosszú ideje várunk rád. ― We have been waiting for you for a century / two years / an hour / a long time.

      Synonym: óta (less common in this sense; more commonly means “since”)

   6. (mostly with quantities, often following -ik) of …, out of … (partitive sense)

      Synonym: (only with countable quantities) közül

      jó (jav-) (“the greater/better part”) → a java még hátravan (“the best/bulk is yet to come”, literally “its best/bulk is…”)

      legnagyobbik (“the biggest one”) → a bikák legnagyobbika (“the biggest [one] of the bulls”, synonymous with a legnagyobb bika)

4. (personal suffix) [from the end of the 12th century]
   1. Third-person singular personal suffix in back-vowel verbs. Today it can be found in the third-person singular definite forms (indicative past and imperative conjugations) as part of the suffix -ja/-je, -ta/-te.

      tud (“to know”) → tudta (“he/she knew it”)

      tud → tudja (“he/she knows it (indicative mood)”)

      tud → tudja (“he/she should know it (subjunctive mood)”)

      kér (“to request, ask for sth”) → kérte (“he/she requested it”)

      kér → kérje (“he/she should request it (subjunctive mood)”)

   2. Third-person singular personal suffix in back-vowel conjugated infinitives and in the declined and postposition forms of the third-person personal pronoun ő (“he/she/it”).

      tanulni (“to study”) → tanulnia kell (“he/she must study”, literally “it is necessary for him/her to study”)

      kérni (“to request, ask for”) → kérnie kell (“he/she must request [it]”, literally “it is necessary for him/her to request”)

      -ról (“about”) → róla (“about him/her/it”)

      -től (“from”) → tőle (“from him/her/it”)

      után (“after”) → utána (“after him/her/it”)

      fölött (“above”) → fölötte (“above him/her/it”)

• (possessive suffix) Variants:

  -a is added to back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -e is added to front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ja is added to back-vowel words ending in a consonant or a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-; final -o changes to -ó-.

  -je is added to front-vowel words ending in a consonant or a vowel. Final -e changes to -é-; final -ö changes to -ő-.

  • This suffix (in all forms) is normally used for the third-person singular possessive (single possession) but, after an explicit plural possessor, it also expresses the third-person plural possessive (single possession), e.g. “the children’s ball” (a gyerekek labdája). If the possessor is implicit (not named, only marked by a suffix), the plural possessive suffix must be used, e.g. “their ball” (a labdájuk, see -juk and its variants).
• (personal suffix) Variants:

  -a is added to back-vowel words

  -e is added to front-vowel words

Note that the corresponding (third-person singular) indicative mood of front-vowel verbs is -i, e.g. kéri (“s/he requests it”).

• Category:Hungarian noun forms
• Appendix:Hungarian possessive suffixes

First attested in 1055. It can be traced back to Proto-Uralic *-i̮ which with the word-final vowel created the diphthong -ai̮/-ei̮. This had simplified to -á/-é, finally in the Old Hungarian era it had shortened to -a/-e. It was a productive suffix at that time, the back-vowel variant was used even in front-vowel words such as the Old Hungarian female given names Fehéra and Szépa, derived from fehér (“light in color”) and szép (“beautiful”), respectively.^[1]

-a

2. (diminutive suffix) The back-vowel variant of the -a/-e diminutive suffix pair. In the past it could be found in common nouns, as well, but today it is used mostly in given names.

   cic (“the sound for calling a cat”) → cica (“kitten”)

   Zsigmond (“Siegmund”) → Zsiga (“Sig”)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

2. (personal suffix, archaic) Used to form the third-person singular indicative past indefinite, for back-vowel verbs. The front-vowel version is -e. The suffix currently used in this place is -t, -tt, or -ott. For the full paradigm, see the usage template.

Along with its front-vowel counterpart -e, from the diphthongs -ai̮/-ei̮, developing to -á/-é, then shortened to this form by the end of the early Old Hungarian period. After the participle suffix became fixed as -ó/-ő, the remaining words suffixed with -a/-e underwent conversion; some became adjectives, others, nouns.^[1]

-a

2. (obsolete participle suffix) synonym of -ó (present-participle suffix) From a synchronic perspective, it can be viewed as a nominal-forming suffix, preserved in some adjectives and nouns (see below). No longer productive. Its front-vowel version is -e.

From Old Norse -a (verb-forming suffix: weak class 2), from Proto-Germanic *-ōną.

-a

2. forms verbs from nouns

   ‎spark (“a kick”) + ‎-a → ‎sparka (“to kick”)

   ‎mjólk (“milk”) + ‎-a → ‎mjólka (“to milk”)

   ‎von (“hope”) + ‎-a → ‎vona (“to hope”)

   ‎ávarp (“an address”) + ‎-a → ‎ávarpa (“to address”)

   ‎rit (“a writ”) + ‎-a → ‎rita (“to write”)

   ‎rass (“an ass”) + ‎-a → ‎rassa (“to spank (on the ass)”)

3. forms verbs from adjectives
   2. inchoative

      ‎bólginn (“swollen”) + ‎-a → ‎bólgna (“to swell”), literally “to become swollen”

      ‎vakinn (“awake”) + ‎-a → ‎vakna (“to awaken”), literally “to become awake”

   4. factitive

      ‎mikill (“great”) + ‎-a → ‎mikla (eitthvað) fyrir sér (“to make a mountain out of a molehill”), literally “to make (something) big for oneself”

4. inflection of -a (weak a-stem verbs):
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular short imperative

   ‎baka (“to bake”) + ‎-a → ‎baka (“(I) show; show!”)

   ‎kalla (“to call”) + ‎-a → ‎kalla (“(I) call; call!”)

- According to the traditional classification these weak a-stem verbs form class 2 of the Germanic weak verbs. It is the most productive class of Icelandic verbs. The -a is part of the stem and occurs in most endings:

From Old Norse -a, the result of a merger of various Proto-Germanic verb suffixes.

-a

1. infinitive ending of most verbs:

   Synonyms: -ja, -va

   sýna (“to show”); hrjóta (“to snore”); þora (“to dare”)

2. third-person plural present indicative of -a (most verbs)

   ‎sýna (“to show”) + ‎-a → ‎sýna (“(they) show”)

   ‎hrjóta (“to snore”) + ‎-a → ‎hrjóta (“(they) snore”)

From Old Norse -a (noun-forming suffix)

-a f (noun-forming suffix, genitive singular -u, nominative plural -ur)

1. indefinite nominative singular of -a f (most weak feminine nouns)

   Synonym: -i f (weak feminine nouns)

   1. female humans

      kona (“woman”); stelpa (“girl”); frænka (“female relative”)

   2. female given names

      ‎ás m (“god”) + ‎-a → ‎Ása

      ‎-freyja f (“lady”) + ‎-a → ‎Freyja

   3. names of animals

      lóa (“golden plover”); rjúpa (“ptarmigan”); leðurblaka (“bat”)

   4. other nouns, among which many adapted loanwords

      ‎Middle Low German taske + ‎-a → ‎taska (“bag”)

      ‎Danish oliven + ‎-a → ‎ólíva (“olive”)

2. forms nouns from various bases

   ‎fljúga (“to fly”, verb) + ‎-a → ‎fluga (“fly”)

   ‎villur (“lost”, adjective) + ‎-a → ‎villa (“mistake”)

3. forms hypocorisms or short forms of female names

   ‎Sigriður + ‎-a → ‎Sigga

   ‎Þórunn + ‎-a → ‎Þóra

4. forms short forms of nouns for female people and some other nouns

   ‎stjúpmóðir (“stepmother”) + ‎-a → ‎stjúpa

   ‎vinkona (“female friend”) + ‎-a → ‎vina

   ‎lögreglumaður m (“police officer”) + ‎-a → ‎lögga f (“cop”) (both gender neutral)

5. forms names of languages from adjectives

   ‎íslenskur (“Icelandic”) + ‎-a → ‎íslenska (“Icelandic language”)

   ‎franskur (“French”) + ‎-a → ‎franska (“French language”)

-a n (noun-forming suffix, genitive singular -a, nominative plural -u)

1. indefinite nominative/accusative/dative/genitive singular of -a n (all weak neuter nouns)

   auga (“eye”); hjarta (“heart”); eista (“testicle”)

-a m (noun-forming suffix, genitive singular -a, nominative plural -ar)

1. indefinite nominative/accusative/dative/genitive singular of -a m (very few weak masculine nouns)

   Synonym: -i m (weak masculine nouns)

   herra (“Mr”, title); séra (“Reverend”, title)

From Old Norse -a (adverb-forming suffix).

-a

1. adverbial ending

   snemma (“early”); bara (“only”): varla (“barely”)

2. used to form adverbs from adjectives, especially of adjectives in -legur

   ‎illur (“bad”) + ‎-a → ‎illa (“badly”)

   ‎víður (“wide”) + ‎-a → ‎víða (“far and wide”)

   ‎fallegur (“beautiful”) + ‎-a → ‎fallega (“beautifully”)

3. used to form some adverbs from nouns

   ‎heima n (“home”) + ‎-a → ‎heima (“at home”)

   ‎býsn n pl (“wonder”) + ‎-a → ‎býsna (“very”)

From various sources, partly from the genetive plural of nouns, partly from the infinitive suffix, partly unknown.

-a

1. forms indeclinable adjectives from various bases

   ‎sam- (“same”) + ‎mál (“speech”) + ‎-a → ‎sammála (“agreed”)

   ‎ein- (“one”) + ‎man n (“slaves”) + ‎-a → ‎einmana (“lonely”)

   hissa (“surprised”); forviða (“astonished”)

From Old Norse -a (inflectional ending for nouns).

-a

1. indefinite accusative/dative/genitive singular of -i m (all weak masculine nouns)

   ‎gluggi m (“window”) + ‎-a → ‎glugga

3. indefinite accusative plural of -i m (most weak masculine nouns)

   Synonym: -ur (weak nominative/accusative plural ending)

   ‎sími m (“telephone”) + ‎-a → ‎síma

4. indefinite genitive plural (of most nouns)

   Synonym: -na (weak genitive plural ending)

   ‎taug f (“nerve”) + ‎-a → ‎tauga (“of nerves”)

   ‎skóli m (“school”) + ‎-a → ‎skóla (“of schools”)

   ‎barn n (“child”) + ‎-a → ‎barna (“of children”)

From Old Norse -a (inflectional ending for adjectives).

-a

1. inflection of -ur (most adjectives, including those in -l, -r, and -∅):
   1. indefinite accusative singular feminine
   2. indefinite accusative plural masculine
   3. definite accusative/dative/genitive singular masculine
   4. definite nominative singular feminine
   5. definite nominative/accusative/dative/genitive singular neuter

   ‎hægur (“slow”) + ‎-a → ‎hæga

   ‎grænn (“green”) + ‎-a → ‎græna

   ‎grár (“grey”) + ‎-a → ‎gráa

   ‎laus (“loose, free”) + ‎-a → ‎lausa

• IPA^(key): /a/

-a

1. suffix denoting adjective.

   ‎arjento (“silver”, noun) + ‎-a → ‎arjenta (“silver”, adjective)

One may elide the final a of the adjectives, but with the condition not to produce accumulation from the consonants. One advise to use the elision mainly with the derived adjectives and particularly when they finish with -al-(a).^[1]

From Proto-Finnic *-da. Cognates include Finnish -a and Estonian -a.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-ɑ/, [-ɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-ɑ/, [-ɑ]

-a (front vowel variant -ä)

1. Used to form the partitive case: part of

Possessive forms of -a
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	-haan	-amme
2nd person	-haas	-anne
3rd person	-haa	-asse

From Proto-Finnic *-dak. Cognates include Finnish -da.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-ɑ/, [-ɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-ɑ/, [-ɑ]

-a (front vowel variant -ä)

1. First infinitive marker

• After stems ending in -n, -l, -r, -s the alternative forms -na, -la, -ra and -sa are used, respectively.

-a

1. plural ending of certain nouns
2. plural ending of adjectives in the nominative, vocative, dative, and strong genitive cases
3. genitive singular ending of third-declension nouns

Inherited from Latin -am, from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ (forms action nouns).

-a f (noun-forming suffix, plural -e)

2. used with a stem to form a feminine singular noun, usually a deverbal

   Synonym: -o

From Latin -at.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular present tense of -are verbs

From Latin -ā.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. used, with a stem, to form the second-person singular imperative of -are verbs

From Latin -(e/i)am, -(e/i)ās, -(e/i)at.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. used, with a stem, to form the first-person singular, second-person singular and third-person singular present subjunctive of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert -isc-

From Latin -(e/i)at.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular imperative of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert -isc-

-a

1. Rōmaji transcription of ぁ
2. Rōmaji transcription of ァ

Javanese writing system
Carakan	-ꦲ
Pegon	-أَ
Roman	-a

-a

1. Imperative suffix

   Réné-a ― Come here!

   Kowé ana-a ing omah bae ― You stay home!

2. Subjunctive suffix

   bisa-a énggal dadi ― I hope it will be ready soon.

   Bêcike ditutupi bisa-a aja nganti dirubung lalêr

   It should be covered so flies can't get into it.

   Mangsa bisa-a ― As if you could do it!

3. (With doubled adjective) far more so

   Gêdhe-gêdhe-a iki ― This one is much bigger.

4. (With doubled word) not even

   Aku ora entuk layang siji-siji-a ― I didn't get a single letter.

5. (with doubled question word) [what]ever

   Sapa-sapa-a sing arêp mlêbu kudu wisuh dhisik

   Anyone who wants to come in has to wash his hands first.

   Piye-piye-a kae kowe kudu lunga ― No matter what, you have to go.

• "-a" in Elinor Clark Horne, Javanese-English Dictionary. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1974

-a

1. Form of -ə after the vowels A / I / O / U.

From Proto-Italic *-ā, from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂, from Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ (suffix originally used to form collective nouns, extended in Late PIE to also be a marker of feminine gender). For the use to form masculine agent nouns from verb roots, compare Latin poeta from Ancient Greek ποιητής (poiētḗs).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [a]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a]

-a

1. inflection of -us:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural
2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural of -s

-a f or m (genitive -ae); first declension

2. suffix used to form feminine first-declension nouns
   1. used to form a female counterpart of a masculine noun denoting a male

      ‎equus m (“horse”) + ‎-a → ‎equa f (“female horse, mare”)

      ‎flāmen m (“flamen”) + ‎-a → ‎flāmina f (“wife of a flamen”)

      ‎magister m (“master, instructor”) + ‎-a → ‎magistra f (“mistress, instructress”)

   2. used in substantivised feminine adjective forms, with ellipsis of an implicit feminine head noun

      ‎medicus (“doctor”) + ‎-īnus (adjective-forming suffix) + ‎-a → ‎medicīna f (“medicine”), a type of ars f (“art”)

      ‎cōnferveō + ‎-us (adjective-forming suffix) + ‎-a → ‎cōnferva f, a type of herba f (“plant”)

      ‎cōnsolidō + ‎-us (adjective-forming suffix) + ‎-a → ‎cōnsolida f, a type of herba f (“plant”)

   3. (Late Latin) added to the stem of a third-declension noun to adapt its inflection to that of a feminine first-declension noun

      ‎lendis, lendin- f + ‎-a → ‎lendina f

      ‎pūlex, pūlic- m + ‎-a → ‎*pūlica f

4. suffix used to form (usually masculine) agent nouns from the roots of (usually compound) verbs

   ‎adveniō + ‎-a → ‎advena

   ‎ager + ‎colō + ‎-a → ‎agricola

   ‎caedō + ‎-a → ‎-cīda

   ‎colō + ‎-a → ‎-cola

   ‎scrībō + ‎-a → ‎scrība

First-declension noun.

1. Certain masculine nouns ending in -a, especially those ending in -cola and -gena, sometimes have a short genitive plural form ending in -um instead of -ārum.

2. Feminine nouns such as fīlia (“daughter”) that have a second-declension masculine counterpart sometimes take the ending -ābus instead of -īs in the dative and ablative plural to avoid ambiguity (since fīliīs could be misunderstood as the dative/ablative plural of fīlius (“son”)). Forms in -ābus are attested earliest for the nouns fīlia and dea (“goddess”), and later on for others such as līberta (“freedwoman”), equa (“mare”) and anima.

3. Old genitive singular endings are -ās and -ā (e.g., in familiās and Titā).

• (suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms masculine agent nouns): -ō¹

• “-a¹” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

From Old Latin -ād, first-declension ablative singular ending.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a]

-ā

1. ablative feminine singular of -us

-ā (not comparable)

2. suffixed chiefly to the stems of adjectives terminating in -ter, forms adverbs which are frequently also used as prepositions

   citer + -ā → citrā

   exter + -ā → extrā

   in- + -ter + -ā → intrā

   ulter + -ā → ultrā

• “-ā²” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a]

-ā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of -ō (first conjugation)

-a

1. Used to derive feminine nouns from masculine nouns (like English -ess).

   Synonym: -e

• IPA^(key): /æ/

-a

1. alternative form of -i (nominalizing suffix)

-a

1. and (attached only to čəd, čəxʷ, čəɬ & čələp)

-a (Lontara spelling ᨕ)

1. the (definite article for common nouns)

   Ba'dai uringa.^[1] ― The saucepan is leaking.

• -ja (used after -i, -j; also another ending of different origin)
• -wa (used after -u, -w)

From Arabic ـَة (-a), reinforced by Sicilian and Italian -a, which are unrelated but used similarly.

• IPA^(key): /a/
• Homophone: -ha (distinct after -h, -ħ, -għ; may also trigger different stem alternations)

-a

1. Used to form the feminine forms of most nouns and adjectives.
2. Used to form the plurals of some nouns and adjectives.
3. Used to form singulatives from collective nouns.

-a

1. passive ending (used mainly for verbs with one or two vowels)

Cognate with Paraguayan Guarani -va.

-a

1. nominalizes the action of the verb

   pendeayvua

   that which you say

2. indicates the place of the verb

   ooa

   where he is going

3. indicates the time of the action of the verb

   nhama'etỹa ára

   the day in which we planted

Cognate with Paraguayan Guarani -ha.

-a

1. forms ordinal numbers

   mboapya

   third

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. alternative form of -ah
2. forms male given names

   Coordinate term: -i

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “-a”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

• -ja, -ya, -na

• IPA^(key): [a]

-a

1. Forms nouns denoting the action of the suffixed verb; -ing, -tion

• Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017), A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.‎^[7], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 81

From Proto-Samic *-ëk. Cognate with Finnish -e.

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈ-a/

-a (with odd-syllable stems -at)

1. Forms nouns from verbs, indicating something used for performing the verb.

   ‎loavdit (“to cover the tent”) + ‎-a → ‎loavdda (“tent cloth”)

2. Forms nouns from verbs, indicating something that results from having the verb's action performed.

   ‎čállit (“to write”) + ‎-a → ‎čála (“writing”)

• This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable in the nominative singular and essive, and the strong grade in the other forms.

Odd, no gradation
Nominative	-at
Genitive	-aga
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-at	-agat
Accusative	-aga	-agiid
Genitive	-aga	-agiid
Illative	-agii	-agiidda
Locative	-agis	-agiin
Comitative	-agiin	-agiiguin
Essive	-agin
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person -agan -ageamẹ -ageamẹt 2nd person -agat -ageattẹ -ageattẹt 3rd person -agis -ageaskkạ -ageasẹt

-a

2. the; definite marker used for
   1. the singular of feminine nouns

      Synonym: -en

   2. the plural of neuter nouns (chiefly with unchanged plurals, but standard also when replacing -er)

      Synonyms: -ene; (after stressed -r) -ne

   3. (dialectal) the plural of masculine nouns

      Synonym: (standard) -ene

3. -ed; marker of the past tense and past participle of class-1 weak verbs

   Synonym: -et

• In formal writing, the feminine definite form in -a is predominant in a couple dozen of usual nouns (e.g. bok, bygd, kone, øy). The neuter definite form in -a is predominant only in barn and be(i)n. These predominant forms are standard also in Riksmål (in the case of barna even the sole standard according to the NAOB). Various other feminine singulars, while not predominant, are also common in formal writing. To the contrary, neuter plurals in -a are overall rare, though they are common in colloquial speech. The same is true of verb forms in -a.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

2. the; definite marker used for

   Synonym: (only for strong nouns; nonstandard since 2012) -i

   1. the definite singular of (strong) feminine nouns.
   2. the definite plural of strong neuter nouns.
   3. (dialectal) the dative singular case of strong masculine nouns.
   4. (archaic, nonstandard) Used to form definite singular dative case of weak masculine and neuter nouns
4. -ed, Used for:
   1. the past tense of a-verbs.
   2. the supines of a-verbs and some preterite-present verbs (e.g. har bada, kasta, kunna, skulla, vilja).
   3. the past participles of a-verbs.
   4. adjectives (e.g. grepa, heilhjarta).
6. Used to form an infinitive form for most verbs. When using split infinitive, this only applies to a select group.
7. Used to form singular indefinite feminine form of some pronouns and adjectives (e.g. inga, lita, noka etc.).

   Synonym: -i (non-standard since 2012)

8. plural of -um
9. plural of -on
10. Used as an ending of weak nouns and adjectives. Used for:
    1. the singular of weak feminine nouns, indefinite (non-standard since 2012) and definite forms.
    2. the singular of weak neuter nouns, indefinite and definite forms (e.g. auga, hjarta, øyra).
    3. (dated or dialectal) adverbs ((pre-2012) alternative form of -e).
    4. (Landsmål, archaic or dialectal) the singular definite feminine and neuter forms of adjectives.
11. (Landsmål, archaic, nonstandard) Used to form the feminine indefinite plural of adjectives.
12. (Landsmål, archaic, nonstandard) Used to form the genitive plural of nouns.

    Synonyms: -a-, -e-

• A, a, à, -a-, 'a

• IPA^(key): /ɑ/
• Rhymes: -ɑ

From Proto-West Germanic *-ō, from Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate with Old High German -o.

-a

1. nominative masculine n-stem ending

   ācweorna ― squirrel

   fola ― foal

   draca ― dragon

   grīma ― mask

   heorra ― door hinge

2. used to form the nominative singular n-stem (weak) adjective and subsequent nominalised form

   ‎eald (“old”) + ‎-a → ‎(sē) ealda (“(the/that) old; (the/that) old one/thing”)

4. used to form masculine agents, usually from verbs

   Synonyms: -end, -ere

   ‎ġiefan (“to give”) + ‎-a → ‎ġiefa (“giver”)

   ‎dēman (“to judge”) + ‎-a → ‎dēma (“a judge”)

   ‎cuman (“to come”) + ‎-a → ‎cuma (“guest”)

Weak:

• Middle English: -e

From Proto-West Germanic *-ō, from Proto-Germanic *-ô.

-a

2. Ending forming adverbs

• Though it was common in Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic, in Old English this ending is restricted to only a few adverbs, among them sōna (“immediately”) and ġeāra (“long ago”). The competing suffix -e is much more common, along with -līċe.

• Middle English: -e (fossilised)
  • English: -e (archaic)

-a

1. Forms the nominative, accusative, and genitive plural of o-stem feminine nouns and u-stem masculine nouns

   ‎sunu (“son”) + ‎-a → ‎suna (“sons, sons'”)

   ‎talu (“tale”) + ‎-a → ‎tala (“tales, tales'”)

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *-ō, from Proto-Germanic *-ǫ̂, from the Proto-Indo-European genitive plural ending *-oHom as attached to thematic (eh₂-stem and o-stem) nouns.

-a

1. Forms the genitive plural of a-stem nouns

   ‎word (“word”) + ‎-a → ‎worda (“words'”)

• Middle English: -e

-a

1. Forms the genitive and dative singular of u-stem nouns

   ‎sunu (“son”) + ‎-a → ‎suna (“son's, son”)

Inherited from Latin -am.

-a f (plural -as)

1. feminine singular of -o

• Galician: -a
• Portuguese: -a

Inherited from Latin -at, from Proto-Italic *-āt, from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti.

-a

1. a suffix indicating the second-person singular present indicative of a verb in -ar

   ‎amar (“to love”) + ‎-a → ‎ama (“[he/she/it] loves”)

   ‎cantar (“to sing”) + ‎-a → ‎canta (“[he/she/it] sings”)

• Fala: -a
• Galician: -a
• Portuguese: -a

• IPA^(key): /-a/

From Proto-Celtic *yo, from Proto-Indo-European *Hyós.

-a

1. combines with prepositions to form a relative pronoun

   ‎ar (“for the sake of”) + ‎-a → ‎ara (“for the sake of whom/which”)

An allomorph of -iu. It derives from Proto-Celtic *-is, the neuter of *-yūs. -is was extended to -ais thanks to a rebracketing of Proto-Celtic *mais (“more”) from *ma-is to *m-ais (neuter of *māyūs from which Old Irish mó).^[1]

-a

1. forms the comparative degree of some adjectives

   Synonym: -iu

   ‎lethan (“broad”) + ‎-a → ‎letha (“broader”)

Used with a relatively small number of adjectives to form an irregular comparative. The regular, productive comparative suffix is -iu.

• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, §§ 372-73, pages 235; reprinted 2017

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• -at, -t

-a

1. indicates negation; does not (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Inherited from Proto-Germanic *-ōną.

-a

1. creates denominative verbs from nouns
2. creates factitive verbs from adjectives

From Proto-Germanic *-ê and *-ô.

-a

2. used to make adverbs from adjectives

   ‎gjarn + ‎-a → ‎gjarna

• Icelandic: -a

From Proto-Germanic *-ǭ or *-ô.

-a f or n

1. occurs in the nominative singular of feminine on-stem nouns
2. occurs in the singular of neuter an-stem nouns

• Icelandic: -a
• Old Swedish: -a
  • Swedish: -a

In the a-stems, inherited from Proto-Norse -ᚨᚾ (-an), from Proto-Germanic *-anz (a-stem accusative plural), from Proto-Indo-European *-oms (o-stem accusative plural), from *-os (o-stem suffix) +‎ *-ms (accusative plural suffix); while in the an-stems, adopted on the model of the a-stems. Compare Gothic -𐌰𐌽𐍃 (-ans), Old High German -a, -ā.

-a

1. Forms the indefinite accusative plural of masculine a-stem nouns.
2. Forms the indefinite accusative plural of masculine an-stem nouns.

• Icelandic: -a
• Faroese: -a (Suðuroy, obsolete)^[1]
• Elfdalian: -a
• Middle Norwegian: -a, -e
• Old Swedish: -a
• Old Gutnish: -a
• Old Danish: -æ, -e
  • Danish: -e
    • Norwegian Bokmål: -e

Inherited from Proto-Germanic *-ǫ̂ (and forms of it added to stems such as *-iwǫ̂), from Proto-Indo-European *-oHom (and forms of it added to stems such as *-éw-oHom).

-a

1. indefinite genitive plural (of most nouns)

• Icelandic: -a
• Faroese: -a
• Middle Norwegian: -a, -æ, -e
• Old Swedish: -a
• Old Gutnish: -a
• Old Danish: -æ, -e

Different noun forms.

1. indefinite oblique singular of -i (masculine an-stem nouns)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-a.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /a(ː)/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /a/, /ɒ/

-a f

1. forms feminine nouns
2. forms feminine names from masculine names
3. forms feminine nominative and vocative forms of short forms of adjectives

   ‎rad + ‎-a → ‎rada

From Old Norse -a.

-a

1. Creates denominative verbs from nouns
2. Creates factitive verbs from adjectives

   sighia

   to say

   hælgha

   to celebrate

• Swedish: -a

Possibly from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *-aβ, making it a doublet of -sab.

Cognate with Guajajára, Kamayurá, Mbya Guarani, and Tapirapé -a.

• IPA^(key): /a/ (unstressed)

-a

1. forms nouns from a word's stem

   ‎porang (“beautiful”, adjective) + ‎-a → ‎poranga (“beauty”, noun)

   ‎nhe'eng (“to speak”, verb) + ‎-a → ‎nhe'enga (“language”, noun)

2. forms the gerund of verbs ending in a consonant

   ‎mim (“to hide”) + ‎-a → ‎mima (“hiding”)

• Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013), “-a”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil ] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 3, column 1

• IPA^(key): /-a/

-a

1. third-person singular suffix

• -íi (with e-ending verb stems)
• -óo (with a-ending verb stems)
• -e (Biori)
• -úu (with a-ending verb stems in Biori)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. plural suffix (with a-declension nouns)

• -á (with accent-shifting nouns)
• -ée (alternation with ái-a for ai-ending nouns)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. oblique case suffix (with a-declension nouns)

• -á (With accent shifting nouns)
• -ée (Alternation with ái-a for ai-ending nouns)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. masculine plural agreement suffix

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a

1. masculine non-nominative and non-singular agreement suffix

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “-a”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[8], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Possibly from Proto-Tupi-Guarani *-aβ, from Proto-Tupian *-ap. If so, doublet of -ha.

-a

1. (no longer productive) forms nouns

• IPA^(key): /a/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: -a
• Homophones: a, a-

Inherited from Old Polish -a.

-a f

1. forms nominative feminine nouns
2. forms feminine names from masculine names

   ‎Zdzisław + ‎-a → ‎Zdzisława

3. forms feminine nominative and vocative forms of short forms of adjectives

   ‎rad + ‎-a → ‎rada.

-a m pers (feminine -yni)

1. forms masculine personal agent nouns

Inherited from Old Polish -á, from Proto-Slavic *-aja.

-a f

1. forms feminine nominative and vocative forms of adjectives

   ‎główny + ‎-a → ‎główna

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-ьja. Doublet of -ia.

-a f (neuter -e)

1. forms collective nouns, causes palatalization

-a

1. forms some plural forms, causes palatalization

   ‎brat + ‎-a → ‎bracia

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-a, from Proto-Indo-European *-éad, the thematic ablative suffix.

-a

1. used to create the masculine genitive singular, usually of animate nouns, but also of some inanimate nouns

   ‎Zdzisław + ‎-a → ‎Zdzisława

   ‎but + ‎-a → ‎buta

2. forms genitive singular of neuter nouns

   ‎zdanie + ‎-a → ‎zdania

3. used in some adverbial constructions

   od dawna

   zgoła

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-a.

-a

1. forms the nominative plural of neuter nouns

   ‎zdanie + ‎-a → ‎zdania

• “-a”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[9] (in Polish)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -a, from Latin -am, from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂, from *-h₂.

-a (non-lemma form of noun and adjective-forming suffix)

1. feminine singular of -o: forms feminine singular nouns and adjectives

   ‎uruguaio (“Uruguayan (masculine)”) + ‎-a → ‎uruguaia (“Uruguayan (feminine)”)

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -a, from Latin -at.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. a suffix indicating the third-person singular present indicative of a verb in -ar

   ‎amar (“to love”) + ‎-a → ‎ama (“[he/she/it] loves”)

   ‎cantar (“to sing”) + ‎-a → ‎canta (“[he/she/it] sings”)

• -e

From Old Galician-Portuguese -a, from Latin -ā.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the second-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -ar

   João, conta-nos o teu apelido. ― John, tell us your last name.

From Old Galician-Portuguese -a, from Latin -am, -eam.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the first-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   É importante que eu coma carne. ― It is important that I eat meat.

From Old Galician-Portuguese -a, from Latin -at, -eat.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the third-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   É importante que ele coma carne. ― It is important that he eat meat.

2. forms the third-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   Ei você aí, coma carne. ― Hey you there, eat meat.

3. forms the third-person singular negative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir

   Ei você aí, não coma carne. ― Hey you there, don’t eat meat.

• The third-person imperative is not used with third person pronouns but rather with você, which is a second-person pronoun but always takes third-person conjugation.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

-a m or f (noun-forming suffix, plural -as)

1. (Brazil, slang) used in the end of shortenings

   ‎vestibular + ‎-a → ‎vestiba (“university admittance test”)

   ‎vagabundo + ‎-a → ‎vagaba (“loafer”)

• “-a”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

-a

1. Forms the nominative plural of consonantal oikoclitic nouns

   ‎phral (“brother”) + ‎-a → ‎phrala (“brothers”)

   ‎ćhaj (“daughter”) + ‎-a → ‎ćhaja (“daughters”)

2. Forms the accusative singular of unjotated oikoclitic animate feminine nouns

   ‎daj (“mother”) + ‎-a → ‎daja

3. Forms the feminine singular oblique of consonantal oikoclitic nouns. Displaced by -e in most dialects

   ‎phuro (“old (animate)”) + ‎-a → ‎phura

• -a-

• Yaron Matras, Anton Tenser, editors (August 2020), The Palgrave Handbook of Romani Language and Linguistics, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, pages 30, 166

• IPA^(key): /a/

Inherited from Latin illa, nominative feminine singular of ille.

• -ua — used for feminine nouns ending in a stressed vowel or diphthong

-a f

1. (definite article) the (feminine singular, nominative and accusative)

This form of the definite article is used for feminine nouns in the nominative and accusative cases which end in -ă or in an unstressed vowel:

• ‎mamă + ‎-a → ‎mama
• ‎națiune + ‎-a → ‎națiunea
• ‎floare + ‎-a → ‎floarea

The suffix is also used with feminine adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases to make the articulated definite form, often for emphasis, and it is used before the noun it modifies:

• ‎fata bună + ‎-a → ‎buna fată (both meaning "the good girl")
• ‎câmpia întinsă + ‎-a → ‎întinsa câmpie (both meaning "the wide/extensive plain")

Inherited from Latin -āre, the ending of the present active infinitive form of first conjugation verbs. Cognate with Spanish -ar, French -er, Italian -are, etc.

-a

1. A suffix forming infinitives of first conjugation verbs.

• -re

-a f (Cyrillic spelling -а, noun-forming suffix)

1. suffix appended to words (usually verbal stems) to create a feminine noun, usually denoting a relation or to form a proper noun

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-a, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōd, the thematic ablative ending.

-a (Cyrillic spelling -а)

1. forms the genitive singular of masculine and neuter nouns and indefinite adjectives

• -ä

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-ę.

• IPA^(key): /a/, [a]

-a n

1. forms nouns for young animals and other diminutives

• After labio-dental and bilabial consonants -ä is used instead.

Inherited from Old Spanish -a, from Latin -a.

-a f (noun-forming suffix, plural -as)

1. -ess forms feminine singular nouns

   ‎señor (“gentleman”) + ‎-a → ‎señora (“lady”)

   ‎camarero (“waiter”) + ‎-a → ‎camarera (“waitress”)

-a f (non-lemma form of adjective-forming suffix)

1. forms feminine singular adjectives

   ‎frío (“cold”) + ‎-a → ‎fría (“cold”)

Inherited from Latin -at, the third-person singular present active indicative ending of first conjugation verbs. Cognate with French -e, Romanian -ă.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the third-person singular (also used with usted) present indicative mood of regular -ar verbs

   ‎hablar (“to talk”) + ‎-a → ‎habla (“talks”)

Inherited from Latin -eam, Latin -am, and Latin -iam the first-person singular present active subjunctive endings of second, third, and fourth conjugation verbs, respectively; and from Latin -eat, Latin -at, and Latin -iat, the third-person singular present active subjunctive ending of second, third, and fourth conjugation verbs, respectively.

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the first- and third-person singular (also used with usted) singular present subjunctive mood of -er and -ir verbs, also used for the imperative mood of usted

   ‎comer (“to eat”) + ‎-a → ‎aunque yo coma (“even if I ate”)

   ‎salir (“to leave”) + ‎-a → ‎por favor, salga Ud. (“please leave”) (formal)

Inherited from Latin -ā (second-person singular present active imperative ending of first conjugation verbs).

-a (non-lemma form of verb-forming suffix)

1. forms the second-person singular imperative mood of -ar verbs

   ‎hablar (“to talk”) + ‎-a → ‎¡Habla! (“Talk!”)

-a

1. positive indicative ending for verbs of Bantu origin

Several tenses (such as the ones which historically derive from auxiliary + main verb) keep their ending -a even in the negative.

From Old Swedish -a, from Old Norse -a, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną.

-a

1. A verb-building suffix that can be added to nouns or adjectives.

   ‎disk (“dishes”) + ‎-a → ‎diska (“to do the dishes”)

   ‎mjölk (“milk”) + ‎-a → ‎mjölka (“to milk”)

   ‎öl (“beer”) + ‎-a → ‎öla (“to drink beer”)

• For weak verbs with a voiceless ending stem:

• For weak verbs with a voiced ending stem:

The language noun sense originally comes from the definite adjective + tunga (“tongue; language”). Thus svenska (“Swedish”) was originally svenska tungan (the Swedish tongue)

-a

1. (on a positive adjective) Weak (definite) singular suffix, historically feminine
3. Transform an adjective describing a people speaking a language into the noun for that language.

   ‎engelsk (“English”) + ‎-a → ‎engelska (“the English language”)

• On adjectives: Traditionally, if the noun is in the definite singular form it should not refer to a male human if it uses the suffix -a. If it refers to such a person, the suffix should instead be -e, but one should note that this rule is not universally adhered to – in particular dialects of northern Sweden do not recognize the -e suffix at all, but use -a in all instances.

-a

1. Definite plural suffix for neuter nouns of the fourth declension with regular plurals in -n, e.g. ‎äpplen (“apples”) + ‎-a → ‎äpplena (“the apples”); see also -na.

• In informal/dialectal usage, -a may be used instead of -en to form the definite plural of the irregular fourth-declension nouns öron (“ears”), ögon (“eyes”).

-a

1. Creates a noun from a numeral.

   ‎tre (“three”) + ‎-a → ‎trea (“a bronze medalist; a three-room apartment”, literally “a three”)

• IPA^(key): [-a]

From Proto-Polynesian *-a. Cognates include Tuvaluan -a and Samoan -a.

-a

1. Creates a verb denoting an abundancy of the suffixed noun; -ful

   aiha (“ice”) → aihā (“to be icy”)

   manava (“belly”) → manavā (“to be big-bellied”)

-a

1. Added to transitive verbs when preceded by the subject pronoun.

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[10], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 1

• IPA^(key): /ɑ/

From Proto-Turkic *-ka (“dative case”).

-a (in words with back vowel harmony)

1. Used to form the dative case

   ‎İstanbul + ‎-a → ‎İstanbul’a (“to Istanbul”)

   ‎Ankara + ‎-a → ‎Ankara’ya (“to Ankara”)

   ‎İzmir + ‎-a → ‎İzmir’e (“to Izmir”)

   ‎babası + ‎-a → ‎babasına (“to his father”)

   suyu içtikten sonra suyu geri buzdolabına koydum

   I put the water back in the fridge after drinking it

From Proto-Turkic *-ü (“gerundive suffix”).

-a (in words with back vowel harmony)

1. Used to form gerunds

   Synonyms: -erek, -ip

   ‎yürümek + ‎-a → ‎yürüye (“by walking”)

From Proto-Turkic *-gey (“optative-predictive future case”).

-a (in words with back vowel harmony)

1. Used to form the optative mood of verbs

   ‎olmak (“to happen”) + ‎-a → ‎ola (“may it happen”)

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “-a¹, -a², -a³”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 73

-a

1. A morpheme used to mark the genitive singular of a word (such as a noun, adjective or pronoun). It is also the most common morpheme used in creating innumerable compound words, some of which can be very long

   pledadinaselidöp ― toy store, toy shop

   tanoganilamedin ― antibiotic

   taglumaladälamedin ― anti-depressant

   natrinakarbatazüd telik ― bicarbonate of soda

   Elaf Tyrannosaurus rex älifon in taledadil, kel nu binon dil Nolüda-Meropa.

   Tyrannosaurus rex lived in an area of the earth, which is now a part of North America.

   Buks binons stumem lärnazilana (/ lärnazilanastumem / stumem lärnazilanik).

   Books are a scholar's tools.

Inherited from Latin -āculum.

• IPA^(key): /a/

-a

1. Forming masculine nouns from verbs and nouns, having the sense of 'tool, object for a specific purpose'.

• -af (superlative; colloquial first-person singular future)

• IPA^(key): /a/

From -ha.

-a

2. Forms verbnouns from verb stems. Usually denotes an action that is often repeated, e.g. frequenting a certain place or gathering a certain item.

From -ha.

-a

1. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person singular present indicative/future

From -ha.

-a

1. (literary) verb suffix for the second-person singular present imperative
2. (colloquial) verb suffix for the second-person singular present imperative

From -af.

-a

2. (colloquial) used to form the superlative of an adjective of one or two syllables.

Like the more formal -af, this triggers causes final b, d and g to mutate to p, t and c, respectively. For example, the superlative of teg (“fair”) is teca.

From -af.

-a

1. (colloquial) verb suffix for the first-person singular future

• -ka, -ya (allomorphs)

• IPA^(key): [-a]

-a

1. Forms the nonpast tense.
2. Marks imperfective aspect in both the recent and distant past tenses.

This suffix can cause syllable reduction. The suffix takes the form -ka when the preceding syllable is reducible and has an onset of k, -ya when the preceding syllable ends in i, and -a in other contexts.

When marking the past imperfective, this suffix never occurs alone but is always accompanied by other suffixes bearing tense/aspect or at least number information. Conversely, when marking the nonpast tense, it occurs alone without other tense/aspect markers, though it can form a plural -aato.

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011), Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[11], Lyon, pages 213–224