-shëm
Albanian
Etymology
Tosk dialect, from Proto-Albanian *-(i)sama,[1] from Proto-Indo-European *somHós. Etymologically cognate with Old High German -sam (“-some”), Old Norse -samr (“-some”).
Pronunciation
Suffix
-shëm m (-shme f)
- Makes masculine adjectives from verbs and nouns. The most common meaning the suffix carries is comparable to -able in English.
- këndje (delight) — i këndshëm (pleasant, delightful)
- zellje (zeal) — i zellshëm (zealous)
Usage notes
While there are certain exceptions, there are some general rules for adding this suffix.
- Verbs that end in -oj generally replace -oj with -ueshëm.
- adhuroj (“I adore; I worship”) + -shëm → adhurueshëm (“absorbing, fascinating; adorable, charming, lovely”)
- admiroj (“I admire”) + -shëm → admirueshëm (“admirable; delightful, lovely”)
- Verbs ending in -ej will replace the -ej with -yeshëm.
- shkëlqej (“I excel; I shine, glow”) + -shëm → shkëlqyeshëm (“excellent, brilliant; bright, brilliant”)
Alternative forms
Derived terms
References
- ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (2000) A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian[1], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 164