-ès

See also: Appendix:Variations of "es"

Catalan

Alternative forms

• (Valencia) -és

Etymology

From (compare Occitan -és), from Latin -ēnsis (compare French -ais, Spanish -és, Italian -ese). Doublet of -enc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɛs]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈəs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈes]

Suffix

1. -ese; Used to form an adjective with the meaning of “pertinent thereto”.

Suffix

1. -ese; Used to form a noun with the meaning of “an inhabitant thereof”.

Suffix

1. -ese; Used to form a proper noun with the meaning of “the language used by the inhabitants thereof”.

Usage notes

• Unlike English, where the capitalization of the proper noun is retained when a suffix is added, in Catalan, when this suffix is used with a place name, the capitalization is dropped, even when forming a language name that is itself a proper noun. Hence Irlanda (“Ireland”) + -ès yields irlandès not *Irlandès.

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -ès