-ma-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ma"

English

Etymology 1

Probably modeled on existing playful terms where -ma- is the third syllable like thingamabob, thingamajig, rigamarole, razzamatazz, whatchamacallit.[1]

Infix

-ma-

  1. (humorous) Adds ironic pseudo-sophistication to an existing word.
    ‎education + ‎-ma- → ‎edumacation
    ‎alcohol + ‎-ma- → ‎alcamahol
    ‎saxophone + ‎-ma- → ‎saxomaphone
Usage notes

(Ironic pseudo-sophistication): Usually inserted after a trochaic foot.[2]

Etymology 2

Interfix

-ma-

  1. (pharmacology) a shortened allomorph of the monoclonal antibody affix -mar-, used before the affixes -xi- and -zu- for ease of pronunciation

References

  1. ^ Michael Adams (2009) Slang, the People's Poetry
  2. ^ Yu, Alan C. L. (2007). The Phonology-Morphology Interface from the perspective of infixation.

Anagrams

Chichewa

Etymology 1

Infix

-ma-

  1. Forms the habitual aspect in verbs.
Usage notes

A high tone is placed on the subject prefix and on the penultimate syllable.

Etymology 2

Infix

-ma-

  1. Forms the past imperfective in verbs.
Usage notes

A high tone is placed on the syllable immediately following this morpheme.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.