-nyù

Khiamniungan Naga Pronunciation kix /-ɲu³¹/ Suffix kix suffix kix Patsho Augmentative suffix; a morpheme added to the end of a word to convey increased size, intensity, importance, or (often) a pejorative or coarse nuance. It is the opposite of a diminutive suffix. kix Phie a thih a painyu nü ashong amei jalouh je Log drum is crafted from massive tree kix Patsho A morpheme added to a noun (usually the base name of an animal) to explicitly indicate that the animal is female. This is a type of feminine suffix often distinct from diminutives or augmentatives. kix Yohnyu sow kix Jinyu bitch Usage notes The suffix -nyù has two distinct functions depending on context. Augmentative – attached to nouns to indicate large size, intensity, or grandeur. heu river, stream + -nyù → heu nyù huge river jam house + -nyù → jam nyù mansion / huge house Female animal marker – attached directly to an animal noun (without a male marker) to specify a female animal. yoh pig + -nyù → yoh nyù female pig (sow) veu chicken + -nyù → veu nyù female chicken (hen) ji dog + -nyù → ji nyù female dog (bitch) When the male marker pong is present, -nyù loses its female meaning and functions solely as an augmentative, even on animal nouns. veu pong nyù → huge male chicken (not huge female chicken) jang pong nyù → huge male cow / huge bull yoh lou/pong nyù → huge male pig / huge male pig(boar/hog). Thus, -nyù is ambiguous only on animal nouns lacking pong/lou; context distinguishes whether it means female or huge. On non‑animal nouns, -nyù is purely augmentative. Synonyms tshòu sǖsô hàkǜtî shông Antonyms -tshòu Derived terms kix kix hōkpōnyù lōngthàmnyù shāinyù chǖpòknyù chīunyù ākhòukìeshǖnyū hōukīpnyù jāmnyù khìamnòknyù lǖhkhùonyù māulōnglôngnyù ōuhthāunyú pīejēunyū pīokāngnyú pǖchūonyū shānglèunyū shīelēinyù tshūanyú References Coupe Alexander R. 2022 Creating bilingual dictionaries for the languages of Northeast India: A fieldworker's guide 28