-ijiet

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic يات (-iyyāt), feminine plural of the derivational suffix ي (-iyy), whence Maltese -i. Natively used with nouns in -ija, then probably first extended to Sicilian borrowings in -i and finally also to consonant-final borrowings.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈjɪːt/

Suffix

-ijiet

1. a common plural suffix for nouns
   1. used with native nouns in -ija as well as some borrowings with this ending (most Romance words have -iji instead)

      tfittxija (“search”) → tfittxijiet (“searches”)

      gawwija (“seagull”) → gawwijiet (“seagulls”)

   2. used with borrowed nouns in -i or consonants as well as a small number of native nouns

      impressjoni (“impression”) → impressjonijiet (“impressions”)

      patt (“pact”) → pattijiet (“pacts”)

      sptar (“hospital”) → sptarijiet (“hospitals”)

      omm (“mother”) → ommijiet (“mothers”)

Related terms

• -iet

See also

• -ejn
• -i
• -in