-z

See also: Appendix:Variations of "z"

English

Etymology

Eye dialect spelling variant of -s.

Suffix

-z

1. (urban slang, lolspeak) Used as a substitute for -s in marking the plural of nouns. Usually used in words in which the -s suffix is actually pronounced /z/.

   Boyz are always trouble.

   Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs (Gen 1:1, LOLcat Bible)

2. (urban slang) Used as a substitute for -s in marking verb inflections.

   He lovez me.

See also

• -a

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Basque

Etymology

Unknown.

Suffix

-z

1. Forms the instrumental case.

   ‎autobus (“bus”) + ‎-z → ‎autobusez (“by bus”)

Derived terms

Basque words suffixed with -z

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Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *-ta-. The preceding vowel, if any, is from the original stem of the root word.

Suffix

-z

1. (verb-forming suffix) Appended to a noun to form a verb.

   só (“salt”) → sóz (“to salt”)

2. (obsolete noun-forming suffix) Found in igaz, száraz. See the main variant -sz.

Usage notes

• (verb-forming suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -z is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  -oz is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -az is added to other back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ez is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -öz is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -áz is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

Note: Certain words take another, synonymous suffix, -zik/-ozik/-azik/-ezik/-özik or -l/-ol/-al/-el/-öl/-ál.

Derived terms

Hungarian verbs suffixed with -z

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

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Old French

Suffix

-z

1. Replaces -ts at the end of a word.

   mort (“dead”) (oblique singular) → morz (“dead”) (oblique plural)

   • c. 1100s, Marie de France, “Equitan”:

     Femme espuse ot li seneschals,

     Dunt puis vient el païs granz mal[s]

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Swahili

Suffix

-z

1. (Sheng) "urbanizes" a word, makes it more hip with youth

Usage notes

In Kenya, (-z) can be applied to nouns and verbs. In Tanzania, (-z) is usually only applied to nouns, like mtotoz.