suffixni

Suffixni is a term used in linguistic literature to refer to a hypothetical derivational suffix that attaches to stems to form new words. The concept is employed mainly in typology and pedagogy to illustrate how suffixes can alter meaning and part of speech without changing the root's core semantics. The name suffixni combines "suffix" with a generic -ni suffix, used as an exemplary marker rather than a description of any particular language.

In morphological analyses, suffixni is described as a derivational suffix that can pattern as agentive, resultative, or nominalizing, depending on the language's grammar. It commonly attaches to verbs to create nouns denoting an actor or product, and to adjectives or other nouns to form abstract nouns or relational terms. The exact distribution of suffixni forms is language-specific. Phonologically, suffixni is described as having several allomorphs, typically surface forms such as -ni, -nin, or -nɪ, conditioned by stem-final consonants, vowel harmony, or stress.

In illustrative linguistics, suffixni is used as a didactic device to show interaction with stem changes, assimilation, and cliticization in phrase structure. For example, in a constructed language used for teaching, the root vak- meaning "to build" takes suffixni to create vakni meaning "a builder" or "the act of building" depending on the case. Similar suffixes exist in natural languages with different functions, and suffixni serves as a neutral placeholder to compare patterns across systems.

See also derivational suffix, morphology, typology, linguistic illustration.