-чия

Bulgarian

Etymology 1

Continues Old Church Slavonic -чии (-čii), of Oghur origin from Proto-Turkic *-či interpreted as *-i stem suffix. Akin to Etymology 2 and Bulgarian -джия (-džija), which were borrowed at a later time from Ottoman Turkish.

Morphologically, the suffix is declined as feminine, however, semantically, the derived terms are interpreted as masculine.

Suffix

-чия • (-čija) m

1. Forms nouns depicting a representative of profession: -er, -ist
   • кърма (kǎrma, “stern”), кормило (kormilo, “steering wheel”) → кръмчия (krǎmčija), кормчия (kormčija, “helmsman, steersman”)
   • кораб (korab, “ship)”) → корабчия (korabčija, “sailor”)
   • сан (san, “rank, administrative position”) → самчия (samčija, “administrator”) (historical)
   • книга (kniga, “book”) → книгчия (knigčija, “bookkeeper”)

Inflection

Inflection of -чия

	singular	plural
indefinite	-чия	-чии
definite	-чията	-чиите
vocative form	-чийо	-чии

Further reading

• Duridinov, Iv. (1991): "Наставки на -ии, -ия, -иѥ" in Граматика на Старобългарския език, published by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, p. 186

Etymology 2

Grammaticalization of the Turkish adjectival marker Turkish -çi/-çü (when appended to stems with front root vowel), -çı/-çu (when appended to stems with back root vowel). Encountered with Ottoman Turkish loanwords.

Morphologically, the suffix is declined as feminine, however, semantically, the derived terms are interpreted as masculine.

Suffix

-чия • (-čija) m

1. Forms nouns depicting a representative of profession: -er, -ist
   • занаят (zanajat, “craft”) → занаятчия (zanajatčija, “craftsman”)
   • топ (top, “rook”), топуз (topuz, “shell, grenade”) → топчия (topčija, “gunner, gunman”)
2. Forms nouns depicting a maker of some product or an applier of some skill: -er, -ist
   • ибрик (ibrik, “container for fluids”) → ибрикчия (ibrikčija, “ibrik-maker”)
   • чекрък (čekrǎk, “spinning wheel, chakra”) → чакръкчия (čakrǎkčija, “chakra-maker”)
3. Forms nouns depicting an owner of property:
   • чифлик (čiflik, “administrative unit, village”) → чифликчия (čiflikčija, “owner of chiflik”)
   • интерес (interes, “interest”) → интересчия (interesčija, “interest-seeker”)

Usage notes

Applied to stems ending in a voiceless consonants.

Inflection

Inflection of -чия

	singular	plural
indefinite	-чия	-чии
definite	-чията	-чиите
vocative form	-чийо	-чии

Alternative forms

• -чийка f (-čijka)
• -чийче n (-čijče) — diminutive
• -джия m (-džija), -джийка f (-džijka) — after vowels or voiced consonants

Related terms

• -шия (-šija, “pertaining to”) (from Turkish -şu)
• -лия (-lija, “of, from”) (from Turkish -li, -lu)