UNIT SIXTEEN
    
     Word formation in nouns and verbs.
    
    Chuvash is a synthetic or agglutinative language, which means that rather long words may be built up out of basic root morphemes plus more morphemes of tense, mood, possibility, and of many other meanings. Chuvash is more flexible than a language like German at times. One of the chief differences between it and similar formation in English is that Chuvash usually uses only one morpheme, where several may be required in English. For instance, in the English words baker, motorist, electrician there are three distinct suffixes, each with the essential meaning of “the man who does it.“ In Chuvash, the single suffix -şă/-şĕ serves for this purpose. In addition to specific suffixes for forming nouns and verbs in Chuvash, there are also compound nouns of the following sort:
    

	al hand + şyrăvĕ its writing	alşyrăvĕ manuscript (itself of similar formation)
	(< şyru - to write)
	pilĕk five + şullah		pilĕkşullah five-year plan
	(< şul year)
	şul road + şüren		şulşüren traveller
	(< şüre - to go, travel)

	şur half + utrav island 	şurutrav peninsula 

    The student with experience in other languages will quickly recognize many loan-translations and formations similar to already known ones, and the new student will also be able to analyze the parts to determine the constituents.
     Some of the suffixes most frequently used to form nouns from other stems will be given next, but we must restrict ourselves to the most important ones with but a few examples, to which the student may add his own.
    
    A. The suffix -şă/-şĕ denotes the occupation of the person, or the person logically associated with some object and its function.
    

	pulă		fish		pulăşă		fisherman
	timĕr		iron		timĕrşĕ		smith
	kĕtü		herd		kĕtüşĕ		herdsman
	jură		song		jurăşă		singer
	jĕrke		order, System	jĕrkeşĕ		director

    B. An extremely important suffix of wide application is the one in -lăh/-lĕh. Its most important usage is to denote a concept derived from the main word, like English -ness, -ship and some other endings. It also denotes the purpose of an object, and the locality where that thing is naturally found or located.
    

	juman		oak		jumanlăh	oakgrove
	hăjăr		sand		hăjărlăh	sandbank
	şĕlen		snake		şĕlenlĕh	snakepit
	kuş		eye		kuşlăh		glasses
	săhman		caftan		săhmanăh	material for a caftan
	şăvar		mouth		şăvarăh		bit (in a horse‘s mouth)
	tus		friend		tuslăh		friendship
	tasa		clean		tasalăh		cleanliness
	jultash		comrade 	jultashlăh	comradeship
	vată 		old 		vatălăh		age
	syvă		well, healthy	syvlăh		health
	pujan		rich		pujanlăh	wealth
	pur		there is	purlăh		property
	şuk		there is not	şuklăh		lack, insufficiency
	etem		man		etemlĕh		mankind, humanity
	patsha		king		patshalăh	kingdom

    C. A somewhat similar suffix, -shă/-shĕ denotes the concept of the quality or attribute involved, e.g.
    

	tarăn		deep		tăranăshă	depth
	şülĕ		high		şülĕshĕ		height
	sarlaka		wide		sarlakăshă	width
	jyvăr		heavy		jyvărăshă	weight

    In reality, this suffix is none other than the possessive morpheme met with in some terms of relationship, but the Chuvash grammarians consider it to belong here.
    
    D. The suffix -u/-ü (after consonants) or -v (after vowels) is a very useful one to form nouns of action from verb stems.
    

	şyr-		to write	şyru		letter
	pĕl-		to know		pĕlü		fact, knowledge
	vĕren-		to study	vĕrenü		studies
	sujla-		to choose	sujlav		elections
	puple-		to speak	puplev		speech
	kul-		to laugh	kulu		laughter
	puh-		to gather	puhu		collection

    In addition to these, there are quite a few other suffixes forming nouns from nouns or verbs, but it will be just as practical for the student to learn these through texts, as not all of them are equally productive. Some of the are: -an/-en, -ăk/-ĕk, -ăm/-ĕm, -ăş/-ĕş, -chăk/-chĕk, -kă/-kĕ, -kăch/-kĕch, -măsh/-mĕsh, -shka/-shke, -ske, and -uk/-ük.
    In the realm of the verb, it is also possible to form quite a few variations on the basic idea inherent in that verb, and this not by employing any separate words, but by adding certain morphemes of fixed meaning to that stern. For instance, there is no separate verb “can“ in Chuvash. This idea, however, can easily be expressed with every Chuvash verb by infixing the morpheme -aj/-ej. This is called the potential infix.
    

	kil-				to come
	kllej-				to be able to come
	kllejmest			he cannot come
	tupajman			they could not find (him)
	ĕlkĕrejmesen			when you are not able to get to me 
	tupajăn-i			will you be able to find (them)? 
	pyrajmastăp			I cannot go
	tupajmarămăr			we were unable to find him
	ănlanajmastăr-i-ha		are ye not able to understand? (Mark 4,13)

    Another extremely important morpheme, which, like the preceding, maybe infixed with every Chuvash verb, is the causative, which denotes actions brought about by someone at the command or behest of another. It uses the morphemes -tar/-ter, and -ttar/-tter, and -t. Be careful not to confuse this morpheme with the ending of the 3rd p. sg. imperative ..tăr/-tĕr, as in:
    

	pultăr			let there be
	vakantăr		let it be chopped to pieces
	jultăr			let it remain

    Some examples of the causative are these.
    

	tutarsa kil-		go and have made
	şuntarsa		causing to be burned, branding
	kür-t-se		bringing in, causing to be brought in
	pytantar-		to cause to secrete, to hide (trans.)
	şitersen		when you feed me (cause to eat)
	şyrtar-			to have write, to make write
	vulattar-		to make read, to have someone read
	ĕşletter-		to make work, to cause to work
	vĕrent-			to cause to study, to make to learn

    The reflexive and passive formations in Chuvash are those in which the action is reflected back on the subject itself, or when subject and object of the action coincide in one person. Its morphemes are -ăn/-ĕn, -n, and -ăl/-ĕl, as in the following examples
    

	şăvan-			to wash oneself
	kasăl-			to cut oneself up (of a tree in a folktale)
	vitĕn-			to cover oneself
	sarăl-			to enlarge
	sirĕl-			to shun, avoid
	şilen-			to grow angry, anger oneself
	uşăl-			to open itself (as of a door)

    Such a passive verb does not require an agent to be expressed.
    Another important verbal formation in Chuvash is the reciprocal voice, which denotes actions taking place in a reciprocal manner between several subjects or objects. It has the suffixes -ăsh/-ĕsh, -sh‚ or ăş/-ĕş, -ş.
    

	pulăsh-			to help one another, be of assistance to each other
	pallash-		to become acquainted with each another
	kalash-			to discuss together with someone else (something)
	kăshkărash-		to cry, shout (of several persons)

    Verbs may also be formed from nominal stems, hence‚ they are called denominal verbs. The suffixes used for this are: -la/-le, -al/-el/-ăl, -ar/-er and -n.
    

	puş		head		puşla-		to begin
	şuta		light		şutăl-		to dawn
	jün		cheap		jünel-		to cheapen
	hura		black		hural-		to blacken
	jeshĕl		green		jesher-		to become green
	ăsh		warmth		ăshăn-		to heat
	kăvak		blue		kăvakar-	to become blue

    Verbs formed with these suffixes may also have forms in the other voices, as reflexive-passive, reciprocal and causative, yielding the suffixes: -lăn/-len, -lash/-lesh, and -lat/-let.
    

	tumlan-		to undress oneself
	sudlash-	to judge one another
	pĕrlesh-	to join with one another, unite
	părlat-		to freeze (trans.)

    Chuvash also has some onomatopoetic verbs, formed with the suffixes -tat-/-tet- and -lat-/-let-, viz.,
    

	shătărtat-	to crackle
	chĕriklet-	to chirp
	mărlat-		to purr

    The iterative suffix denoting repeated or strengthened action in Chuvash is -kala-/-kele-.
    

	şyrkala-	to write a bit, write a few lines
	şürkele-	to go for a little walk
	ĕşlekelenĕ	He worked as opportunity presented itself.
	kăshkărashkala-	to cry or shout repeatedly (of several persons)
	shăhărkala-	to whittle