Mauvais genre

Generalities

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Definition

Suffixation is one of the derivational processes which imply the addition of a suffix at the end of a word or a stem. The derived word or derivative becomes then a different word from the original one and often of a different word class as well.

Only suffixes have an impact on gender of derivatives due to their final position. Prefixes (affixes added at the beginning of a word) have no effect on gender.

Suffixes should not be confused for:

1) Inflexions which do not change the original word into a new one, it just changes its form, i.e. from singular to plural or from present to past tense...

2) Latin or Greek roots in learned compound nouns such as téléphone, géographie.

3) False suffixes which might look like suffixes but don’t change the meaning, the word class nor the gender of the original nouns. They’re often found in familiar language like in cinoche m. for cinéma m. / téloche f. for télévision f..

4) Pattern endings inherited from other languages such as marketing (Eng.), question (Lat.) or enthousiasme (Gr.). Those endings generated most of French suffixes later on. From Latin suffix -(i)tas (veritas, identitas, qualitas...) originated French suffix -ité used to create new French derivatives like: banalité, nouveauté, publicité...

Pattern endings and suffixes have actually the same impact on gender. Nouns that come from an adoption like compétence (< lat. competentia f.) or from a creation like transparence (< adj. transparent) are both feminine and belong to the same family. In this chapter about suffixation, we will use the « not so elegant » term of suffix-ending when referring to them.

Some endings never made it as suffix, they are non-productive. Some of them, on the contrary, have been extremely productive.

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Suffixation patterns

The original base can be a full word, like in : table + suff. –eau > tableau m.,
or a root, like in : souffr(ir)- + suff. –ance f. > souffrance.

Between the base and the suffix, an « augment » might be inserted to ease the linkage, like in:

fabriqu(er)- + -at- + suff. –ion > fabrication f. ;

ferm(er)- + -t- + suff. -ure > fermeture f..

Just like full words, suffixes can have synonyms (same meaning but different forms), like suff. –eur, –euse and –rice are used to form names of apparels or devices such as in: baladeur / photocopieuse / calculatrice

They also might have homonyms (same form but different meanings), like suff. –eur (apparels: compteur) and –eur (qualities: grandeur).

The same suffix can also have several forms, like :
Suff. –ier / -er (trees) : pommier / oranger;
Suff. -oir / -oire (instruments/tools) : arrosoir / bouilloire;
Suff. -ion / -aison/ -çon (actions) : transmission / livraison / leçon ;

Regular suffixation

The large majority of suffixes follow the Gender Rule; this means that marked suffixes produce feminine nouns when unmarked ones, produce masculine nouns.

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List of Main French Regular suffixes

Unmarked Masculine Suffixes

Marked Feminine Suffixes

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-ail

-ain

-ais

-al

-an

---

-ant

-ard

-as

-at

-é

---

-eau

---

-ent

---

-et

-eur

---

-ien

–ier, -er

-illon

-in

-is

---

-ment

-oir

-ol

-on

–ot

---

bétail

tibétain (langue)

Bordelais (région)

signal

roman

---

collant

dossard

frimas

habitat

doigté

---

tableau

---

différend

---

boulet

compteur

---

italien (langue)

saladier ;

pommier, oranger;

portillon

tambourin

gazouillis

---

chargement

arrosoir

menthol

ballon

îlot

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-ade

-aille

-aine

-aise

-ale

-ane

-ance

-ande

-ante

-arde

-asse

-ace

-ate

-ée

-ède

-elle

-ence

-ente

-esse

-ette

-euse

-ie

-ienne

-ière

-ille

-ine

-ise

-ude

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-oire

-ole

-onne

-otte

-(r)aie

-rice

-rie

-ure

grillade (grill)

muraille (high wall)

vingtaine

Marseillaise (chant)

finale

médiane

alliance

offrande

imprimante

cuissarde

caillasse

populace

lauréate

bouchée

pinède

ruelle

résidence

permanente

sagesse

boulette

friteuse

maladie

éolienne

soupière

brindille

comptine

bêtise

exactitude

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baignoire

bestiole

bombonne

roulotte

bananeraie

calculatrice

garderie

bordure