Maltese

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Etymology

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From Arabic ـِيَّات (-iyyāt), feminine plural of the derivational suffix ـِيّ (-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

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Suffix

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-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) + ‎-ijiet → ‎tfittxijiet (searches)
      gawwija (seagull) + ‎-ijiet → ‎gawwijiet (seagulls)
    2. used with borrowed nouns in -i or consonants as well as a small number of native nouns
      impressjoni (impression) + ‎-ijiet → ‎impressjonijiet (impressions)
      patt (pact) + ‎-ijiet → ‎pattijiet (pacts)
      sptar (hospital) + ‎-ijiet → ‎sptarijiet (hospitals)
      omm (mother) + ‎-ijiet → ‎ommijiet (mothers)
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See also

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  NODES
see 2