adjectivederivation

Adjectivederivation is the process by which adjectives are formed from other words or stems through derivational morphology. The resulting adjectives describe properties, qualities, or relations and expand a language’s expressive resources.

Most common in English is affixation. Suffixes attach to nouns, verbs, or other stems to yield new adjectives. Examples include -ful (power → powerful, color → colorful), -less (hopeless), -ous (dangerous), -ive (creative), -al (national), -ic (metallic), -en (golden), -y (sunny), and -ish (childish). Prefixes such as un-, in-, il-, and im- also produce adjectives with negation or orientation, as in unhappy, invisible, illegal. Verbal bases can yield adjectives through -able or -ible (readable, movable, decidable) and -ive (creative).

Some adjectives are formed by combining a root with a derivational suffix, implying “made of” or “having the quality of.” Semantics tend to align with the suffix: -ful implies “full of,” -able/ible signals potential or capability, -ous denotes possession of a quality. Productivity varies by suffix and by register; some formations are highly common, others archaic or specialized.

Cross-linguistic notes: many languages rely on suffixes or compounding for adjective derivation (for example, Spanish -o/-a, German -isch/-ig, French -el/-elle, Japanese i-adjectives and na-adjectives). English also exhibits zero-derivation or conversion in some contexts, though derivational suffixation remains the central mechanism for adjective formation.