[Lexicog] Pejorative suffixes

[John Roberts]

Fritz said:
John,

So where would the adjectives 'mannish' and 'womanish' fit according to this
classification?
How do they sound in English?

Fritz Goerling

John says:
Fritz,

Urdang (1982) says -ish1 is used in combination with a variety of related
senses, each qualified by the combining root:
1. 'Belonging to': Finnish, Swedish, English
2. 'After the manner of': boyish, childish, amateurish
3. 'Characteristic or typical of': snobbish, backwoodish, modish
4. 'Somewhat or rather': baldish, sickish, reddish
5. Of age or time, 'approximately': twentyish, sixish, fortyish

Urdang doesn't specify that any of these senses are pejorative or have
negative connotations. I would put 'mannish' and 'womanish' under (2), not
because they have negative connotations but because the are 'after the
manner of'. This sense is not necessarily negative. In the examples that
Urdang gives, while 'childish' is negative, 'boyish' is not. For example,
Collins COBUILD says of 'boyish': "1. If you say that a man is 'boyish' you
mean that he is very youthful in appearance or behaviour; used showing
approval." So 'boyish' used to describe a man has positive connotations. "2.
If you say that a girl or woman is 'boyish', you mean that she looks or
behaves like a boy, for example because she has short hair and a small
bust." This use can be negative or positive depending on the context. It is
the same with "girlish". This has positive connotations of youthfulness. So
none of the senses that Urdang gives have an intrinsically negative
connotation.

It is the same with the AHD sense that Ron Moe cites. These roughly
correspond to the Urdang senses but are arranged differently. However, AHD
also do not say that any of these senses are specifically negative. Although
the examples they give - "childish", "sheepish", "womanish" - are all
negative. Does "-isch" in German always have negative connotations?

AHD definition:
-ish. Indicates: 1.a. Of the nationality of; for example, Swedish, Finnish.
b. Having the qualities or character of; for example, childish, sheepish,
womanish. c. Tending to or preoccupied with; for example, bookish, selfish.
d. Somewhere near or approximately. Used informally in naming hours or
years: She's fortyish. 2. Somewhat or rather; for example, greenish.

Ron Moe definition:
-ish derivational affix 1. n:adj. -ish is added to a noun that refers to a
type of person or animal. The resulting adjective describes a person who
behaves, usually in a negative way, like that type of person (childish) or
animal (sheepish). -ish can also be added to a noun that refers to a thing
(bookish), and the resulting adjective can describe behavior (outlandish) or
something related to the root (hellish). 2. n:n. When added to a noun that
refers to a citizen of a country, the resulting noun refers to the language
spoken by the citizens (Swede:Swedish). 3. num:num. When added to a numeral
that refers to a point in time or a person's age, the resulting numeral
refers to a time close to the root (six (o'clock): sixish; forty (years
old): fortyish). 4. n:adj. When added to a noun that refers to a primary
color term, the resulting adjective describes something that is close in
color to the root (bluish).

What strikes me as interesting in all of this is that the range of usage
does not match the range of sense distribution. In his search for words
ending in "-ish" Ron showed that nearly all were adjectives and nearly all
were pejorative. But if you look at the senses described then a pejorative
connotation only goes with one or two senses. For Urdang it is senses 2 and
3, for ADH it is 1b and 1c, and for Ron Moe's it is sense 1 (out of 4). So,
what is the prototypical meaning of "-ish"? For example, in Ron's
arrangement the 'approximate' meaning from 3 and 4 has a wider range than
the 'pejorative' meaning from 1. I have also had this conversation with
someone: "Have you finished your dissertation?" "I have -ish." (meaning I
have almost finished it). I would say for this speaker the prototypical
meaning of "-ish" is 'approximately'.

John Roberts




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