-o-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "o"

English

Alternative forms

  • -ö- (clarifies pronunciation, very rare)

Etymology 1

  • Adopted from Latin -o-, originating ultimately from Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-). In English, the connective is found from the Middle English period in direct borrowings from Latin. Direct formations of English terms with the connective, always combining Greek or Latin roots, appear from the 16th or 17th century. From the 18th century, the suffix becomes productive in compounds where the second element is English. From about 1800, formations on all sorts of stems become common.

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. A linking vowel inserted interconsonantally between two morphemes, to ease pronunciation, without contributing to the meaning. It frequently joins words or combining forms of Ancient Greek or Classical Latin origin in the classical compounds of New Latin and international scientific vocabulary, but it can also be used to join modern terms and even abbreviations, either formally or informally.
      extreme + -o- + -phile producing extremophile
      blog + -o- + -sphere producing blogosphere
      speed + -o- + meter producing speedometer
      sadism + -o- + masochism producing sadomasochism
      smell + -o- + vision producing smell-o-vision
    Derived terms
    English terms interfixed with -o-
    Translations

    See also

    Etymology 2

    Designated in the USAN guidelines for non-proprietary names of monoclonal antibodies.

    Affix

    -o-

    1. (pharmacology) a monoclonal antibody derived from a murine source
    • -mab is the base suffix common to all monoclonal antibodies. (See that entry for full paradigm.)
    References
    • USP Dictionary of USAN and International Drug Names, U.S. Pharmacopeia, 2000

    Further reading

    Catalan

    Alternative forms

    • -ò-

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o- (forms compounds)

    Usage notes

    Has the stressed variant -ò- which is used before certain mostly monosyllabic suffixes such as -crata, -fag, -fob, -graf, -man, etc.

    Derived terms

    Czech

    Etymology

    Inherited from Old Czech -o-, from Proto-Slavic *-o-.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ o ]

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. forms compounds

    Derived terms

    Czech terms interfixed with -o-

    Dutch

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o-

    Derived terms

    Dutch terms interfixed with -o-

    Esperanto

    Etymology

    From the noun suffix -o.

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. Used to join stems into compound words when a vowel is needed to separate the syllables, for example, to prevent contact between voiced and unvoiced phonemes. Although -o is the nominal ending, -o- is generally used in compounds regardless of the part of speech of the joined elements.

    French

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /o/

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o-

    Derived terms

    German

    Etymology

  • From Latin -o-.

    Pronunciation

    • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o-

    Derived terms

    Hungarian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [o]

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. A suffix-initial vowel (or linking vowel) inserted interconsonantally between the word stem and the suffix, to ease pronunciation, without contributing to the meaning.
      kor (age) + ‎-o- + -k → ‎korok (ages)

    See also

    Kashubian

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-. Compare Slovincian -ô-

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /-ɔ-/

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. used to link two words in some compounds; -o-

    Derived terms

    Latin

    Etymology

  • Adopted from the thematic vowel in Ancient Greek -ο- (-o-), often used to form nominal compounds. In Ancient Greek, the connective suffix originates in compounds where the first member is thematic, such as δημοκρατία (dēmokratía), but was extended by analogy to other stems, such as μητρόπολις (mētrópolis). The suffix was borrowed as a connective into Latin, mainly in compounds of Greek origin. The suffix becomes productive and forms new compounds in learned humanist Latin, from the Renaissance. The connective is especially productive in connecting ethnonyms or geographical terms; genuine Greek stems include Gallo-, and Syro-, but most are of medieval or modern origin, productive from the 15th century, such as Anglo-, Graeco- or Latino-.

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. (post-classical Latin) Suffix forming nominal compounds
      Anglus (Angle, English) + ‎-o- + ‎saxonicus (Saxon) → ‎anglosaxonicus (Anglo-Saxon)

    Derived terms

    Old Polish

    Etymology

  • Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /ɔ/
    • IPA(key): (15th CE) /ɔ/

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. used in compound words

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Polish: -o-
    • Silesian: -o-

    Polish

    Etymology

  • Inherited from Old Polish -o-.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ɔ/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes:
    • Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
    • Homophones: o, o-, -o

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. used in compound words
      deszcz + ‎-o- + ‎mierzyć → ‎deszczomierz

    Derived terms

    Polish terms interfixed with -o-

    See also

    Portuguese

    Alternative forms

    Pronunciation

    Unstressed:

    Stressed:

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o-

    Derived terms

    Romanian

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. -o-

    Derived terms

    Romanian terms interfixed with -o-

    Serbo-Croatian

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-.

    Interfix

    -o- (Cyrillic spelling -о-, interfix-forming suffix)

    1. Interfix used for forming nominal compounds.
      kiš + -o- + -brankȉšobrān

    Derived terms

    Slovak

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. Used to form compounds.

    Derived terms

    Slovene

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. Used to form compounds.

    Derived terms

    Swahili

    Infix

    -o-

    1. infixed form of -o (wa class(II), m class(III), and u class(XI) relative marker)

    See also

    Swahili verbal concords (third person)
    class subject concord object concord relative
    affirmative negative
    m(I) a-, yu- ha-, hayu- -m-, -mw-, -mu- -ye
    wa(II) wa- hawa- -wa- -o
    m(III) u- hau- -u- -o
    mi(IV) i- hai- -i- -yo
    ji(V) li- hali- -li- -lo
    ma(VI) ya- haya- -ya- -yo
    ki(VII) ki- haki- -ki- -cho
    vi(VIII) vi- havi- -vi- -vyo
    n(IX) i- hai- -i- -yo
    n(X) zi- hazi- -zi- -zo
    u(XI) u- hau- -u- -o
    ku(XV/XVII) ku- haku- -ku- -ko
    pa(XVI) pa- hapa- -pa- -po
    mu(XVIII) m-, mw-, mu- ham-, hamw-, hamu- -mu- -mo

    For a full table including first and second person,
    see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns

    Swedish

    Etymology

    From Old Swedish -u, -o, from the Old Swedish genitive form of Germanic feminine ōn-stems.

    Alternates with -u- according to Old Swedish rules of syllable weight, where -o was used after heavy syllables and -u after light.

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. Genitival interfix used to link elements in some compounds.

    Usage notes

    • Used as interfix in compounds with certain old weak feminines ending in -a. Some common ones are hälsa (health), e.g. hälsocentral (health center); kvinna (woman), e.g. kvinnoorganisation (women's organisation); känsla (feeling), e.g. känsloliv (emotional life); vecka (week), e.g. veckodag (day of the week); vila (rest), e.g. vilopuls (resting heart rate); lära (teaching, theory), e.g. läromedel (teaching aids); föda (food, diet), e.g. födoämne (foodstuff); människa (human), e.g. människovärde (human dignity); saga (tale), e.g. sagobok (storybook), etc.
    • Alternates with a zero interfix (vowel deletion) in some words, cf. kyrkogård (churchyard), but kyrktorn (church tower); kronofogde (enforcement officer), but kronblad (petal).
    • The interfix was formerly mostly confined to the written literary language, whereas the spoken colloquial language preferred compounds with no -o- or with -e- in some dialects, but forms with -o- are now common in the spoken language, and formerly colloquial pronunciations such as körrgård for kyrkogård are today less common.

    Derived terms

    Swedish terms interfixed with -o-

    See also

    References

    • Teleman, Ulf; Hellberg, Staffan; Andersson, Erik & Holm, Lisa (1999). Svenska akademiens grammatik 2 Ord. Stockholm: Svenska akad.
    • Wessén, Elias (1958). Svensk språkhistoria. 2, Ordbildningslära. 3. ed. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell

    Upper Sorbian

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-o-.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈɔ/
    • Syllabification: -o-

    Interfix

    -o-

    1. used in compound words
      horni + ‎-o- + ‎serbšćina → ‎hornjoserbšćina

    Derived terms

    Upper Sorbian terms interfixed with -o-