Affixes (word formation)
There are a few affixes for key concepts and to transform a word into a different part of speech. These affixes were all chosen to be easy to hear and easy to say and to also preserve the root word so you can easily break the word down and recognize its derived meaning.
Making Nouns
-(o)nik : Agent, doer of the root, both professionally and unprofessionally. Does not change stress pattern. From Slavic -ник.
werku "work" > werkunik "a worker"
parla "speak" > parlanik "a speaker"
-dor : Inanimate agent, machine or tool that does something related to the root. Does not change stress pattern. From Romance -ador.
jua "to play" > juador "a player machine"
hati "hot" > hatidor "a heater device"
Note: It is conceivable that someone would want to make "hatifador" (heat-make-er), but in this project we opt for the shortest root to keep the word simple, despite possible ambiguity. In the event where there are important distinctions between different items, those forms may be considered for the dictionary.
-xip : a generic vehicle or ship. Does not change stress pattern. From Germanics Schiff, skepp, ship, skip, schip.
swevu "to hover" > swevuxip "hovercraft"
aro "air" > aroxip "airship"
-tat : General state of root. Does not change stress pattern. From Romance -idad, -itat and further Germanic cousin -had.
boni "good" > bonitat "goodness"
frendo "friend" > frendotat "friendship"
-(o)rum : A place connected to the root. Changes stress to before the affix / before -r. From Latin -arium, -etum, -ium.
itar "to eat" > ita "eat" > itarum "eating place"
vendar "to sell" > venda "sell" > vendarum "selling place"
la : nominalize a verb root or infinitive. With an infinitive, it means, "the repeated activity / activity in general."
kupa "buy" > la kupa "the purchase" (a specific one) OR la kupar "the buying" (the activity in general)
skuta "discuss" > la skuta "the discussion" (a specific one) OR la skutar "the discussing" (the activity in general)
Making Verbs
-(i)gu : Intransitive "becoming root" affix. Does not change stress pattern. From German -igen, Esperanto -iĝ.
tristi "sad" > tristigu "to become sad"
parlativ "talkative" > parlativigu "to become talkative"
-(i)fa : Transitive / causitive "make root" affix. Does not change stress pattern. From Romance faire/a face/fare, etc.
koru "run" > korufa "make run"
blui "blue" > bluifa "make blue"
-(i)ze : Generate a root. Does not change stress pattern. From Latin -izare, Greek -izein (many PIE descendants) "-ize"
-r : Make the infinitive form / activity noun of a verb. Changes stress to the final syllable. From Romance infinitive verb forms.
parla "talk" > parlar "to talk / talking"
saltu "jump" > saltur "to jump / jumping"
Making Adjectives
-nti : Makes present participle from verb. Changes stress to before the "t", the final consonant. From Romance -nte/-nta, Germanic -ende, and many others.
glidu "slide" > glidunti "sliding"
ita "eat" > itanti "eating"
-d : Makes past participle from verb. Does not change stress pattern. From Germanic -t/-d (makes both passive participles from transitive verbs and active participles from intransitive verbs)
brenu "burn" > brenud "burned" : Example: la brenud domo (the house that burned)
tuxa "touch" > tuxad "touched" : Example: la tuxad faso (the face that was touched by someone/something)
-(i)tiv : Makes adjective from verbs and nouns "exemplifying the qualities of the root". Changes stress pattern to final syllable. From Latin -ivus and other descendants as "-ive"
roko "rock" > rokotiv "rocky"
barbo "beard" > barbotiv "bearded"
zorgu "worry" > zorgutiv "worrisome, tending to worry"
nasio "nation" > nasiotiv "national"
-ex : Somewhat exemplifying the root. Does not change stress pattern. From PIE -iskos, English -ish, Germanics -esk/-isk, Slavic -ьskъ.
alti "high, tall" > altiex "high-ish, somewhat tall"
vio "road" > vioex "road-ish, like a road"
-(i)n : Making a possessive. Does not change stress pattern. From many -n, -ens, forms.
dokto "doctor" > la dokton ofiso "the doctor's office"
Or with plural: doktos > la doktosin ofiso "the doctors' office"
Fransien "a citizen of France" > la Fransienin pano "the French person's bread"
-bar : Make an adjective from a verb showing possibility. Does not change stress pattern. From many Germanic -bar forms, originally PIE bēriz.
andu "walk" > andubar "walkable"
atena "attain, reach" > atenabar "attainable, reachable"
bez- : "Without". Can be attached to the following noun. Does not change stress. From Proto-Slavic bez.
werku "work" > bezwerku "workless"
nino "child" > beznino "childless" > bezninotat "childlessness"
nubo "cloud" > beznubo "cloudless" > beznubotat "cloudlessness"
Making Adverbs
-e : Makes adverbs from adjectives. Does not change stress. From Romance -ment, some Slavic -e/-ей, near to Germanic -lik/-lig/-ly/-lich, Esperanto -e.
forti "strong" > fortie "strongly"
nasiotiv "national" > nasiotive "nationally"
Philosophy regarding affixes
The core of the system in Proyo is built on roots: the -o nouns, -a/-u/-e verbs, -i adjectives, -e adverbs, etc. As you can see, all of these endings are vowels. A conscious decision was made to make the language more audibly interesting and beautiful by incorporating affixes that often end in consonants. This allows us to mimic the splendor of natural languages but still retain the clarity of our word-building. Care was also taken to keep the consonant endings distinct so you can still identify words and their meanings easily.
Additionally, these affixes are not intended to be building blocks from which you can or should build monstrous, lengthy words to get an incredibly clever derived meaning -- this is not Esperanto. In general, they can be considered (often) "dead ends" for derivation, and their consonant ending is also meant to hint at this. You can perhaps make a word with two or three affixes, but if the word is important to obtain a precise, valuable meaning -- let us know. We will simply add a better, shorter word that is easy to say and hear to the dictionary.