-ciño
Galician
Alternative forms
- -cín (Eastern Galician)
Etymology
From -c- + -iño. Compare Portuguese -zinho.
Suffix
-ciño (feminine -ciña, plural -ciños, feminine plural -ciñas)
- Alternative form of -iño, used when the end sound of a word is a nasal, semivowel or vowel and the word is an oxytone; sometimes with semantic shift from the original noun.
- furón (“ferret”) + -ciño → furonciño (“wood mouse”)
- can (“dog”) + -ciño → canciño (“little dog; pup”)
Usage notes
- Traditionally, this suffix attaches to words with stress on the last syllable, while those ending in unstressed -o, -a or -e use -iño (or -iña for feminine words).
Derived terms
Galician terms suffixed with -ciño