tional

Tional is an English derivational suffix used to form adjectives. It attaches to bases such as nouns or verbs to express relation to, or characteristic of, the base concept. Many -tional adjectives describe something that has the quality or scope of the root word, as in functional, national, rational, conditional, emotional, or educational.

The suffix -tional originates from Latin -tion- (the production of nouns from verbs or other bases) plus the adjectival ending -al, and it entered English through French and Latin pathways. In practice, -tional often follows a stem that ends in a consonant, producing forms like function + al → functional, situation + al → situational, emotion + al → emotional. Some -tional forms are transparently built from a noun or verb plus -al, while others are more opaque due to historical sound changes and borrowing.

Pronunciation of -tional typically features the "tion" as a /ʃən/ cluster, followed by an /əl/ or a syllabic /l/, as in /ˈfʌŋk.ʃən.əl/ for functional or /ˈnæʃ.ən.əl/ for national. In many contexts, stress patterns align with the base word, and the suffix itself remains unstressed or lightly stressed.

Usage notes: -tional adjectives are common in academic, technical, and formal writing, providing precise descriptors of relations or properties. They contrast with other suffix families like -al or -ful, and while productive, they also include historical exceptions where meaning reflects more than a simple “relating to” sense. Examples mentioned here illustrate the range from concrete functions to abstract concepts.