Gretchen McCulloch has a blog on ish
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/06/09/ish_how_a_suffix_became_an_independent_word_even_though_it_s_not_in_all.html>
on Slate.com. There is also seems a completely unrelated slang term ish
used as a euphemism for shit
<http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ish>.

Sue poses very interesting questions. Are there are two kinds of -ish, a
noun suffix meaning -like which is derivational and fixed (childish,
mannish, foolish) and another meaning "more or less" which can be used
productively with adjectives (tallish, yellowish, temperamentalish) but
also with times (sixish, noonish) and even nouns. Childish can be
ambiguous: childish behavior, but also "Is he a child?" "He looks to be
around 15, so child-ish." The latter would accent the second syllable.

Dick Veit


On Sun, Jul 13, 2014 at 8:26 AM, Susan Behrens <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> A recent article in American Speech discusses the suffix -ish as
> lexicalizing,
> i.e., changing from a grammatical marker to separate word status. For
> example,
> "I am ish about the upcoming meeting."
>
> My question: isn't -ish a derivational marker and not inflectional/grammar
> functioning? OR are there two kinds: -ish that derives a new word (child
> vs.
> childish) and -ish that acts as a type of adjective marker of degree
> (hungry
> vs. hungryish).
>
> Thanks, Sue Behrens
> Marymount Manhattan College
>
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