An
agentive suffix or agentive prefix is commonly used to form an agent noun from a verb. Examples: •
English:
-er,
-or,
-ian,
-ist •
Basque: ( 'student' from 'learn') •
Chinese: •
Coptic: , as in ⲣⲉϥⲙⲉⲓ (refmei 'loving person') from ⲙⲉⲓ (mei 'to love') •
Dutch: , , , , , •
Finnish: / ( 'speak', 'speaker'; 'hit', 'hitter'); (borrowed from '-or'/'er', probably via German) •
French: (
m.); , , , (
f.) •
Georgian: - ... - (), as in ( 'gardener') from ( 'garden'); otherwise the
nominalization of the
present participle (formed with many possible
circumfixes) may occur. •
German: , , , , , , , , (may be compounded with the feminine ending ) •
Greek: , •
Hungarian: no specific agentive suffix, the
nominalization of
present participle (suffix: , according to
vowel harmony) is used instead; examples: ('worker'), ('repairman'), ('leader', 'driver', 'electrical conductor') •
Irish: -óir (broad), -eoir (slender), -aí (broad), -í (slender) •
Khasi: prefix or , for example 'to dance', 'dancer'; 'to steal', 'thief' •
Latin: (m.) / (f.) / (n.) / , , (adj.) as in / / / ; (m.) / (f.) / (n.) / , , (adj.) as in / / / ; see also: •
Maori: •
Persian: (): from present roots; as in (; 'speaker') from (; to speak) / () : from past roots; as in (; 'wanter') from (; 'to want'). / (): from nouns; as in (; 'worker') from (; 'work'). •
Polish: see table •
Quechua: ( 'to play', 'player') •
Russian: or (m.) / or (f.) as in 'student'; (m.) / (f.) as in 'teacher' •
Spanish: , , , •
Turkish: ( 'florist' from 'flower') •
Welsh: (m.), (f.) ==See also==