Hungarian

Suffix

-ul

1. (verb suffix) Added to a word to form a verb with a passive meaning.

   csoportos ‎(“collective”) + ‎-ul → ‎csoportosul ‎(“to form a group”)

   azonos ‎(“identical”) + ‎-ul → ‎azonosul ‎(“to identify; to associate oneself with some group”)

   von ‎(“to pull”) + ‎-ul → ‎vonul ‎(“to go along, to stalk, to march, literally to pull oneself”)

   alak ‎(“shape”) + ‎-ul → ‎alakul ‎(“to take shape”)

2. (case suffix) Added to an adjective to form an adverb (the modal sense of the essive-modal case).

   rossz ‎(“bad”) + ‎-ul → ‎rosszul ‎(“badly”)

   angol ‎(“English”) + ‎-ul → ‎angolul ‎(“in English”)

3. (case suffix) as, with the intention of (the essive sense of the the essive-modal case)

   ajándék ‎(“gift, present”) + ‎-ul → ‎ajándékul ‎(“as a gift”)

   példa ‎(“example”) + ‎-ul → ‎például ‎(“for example; as an example”)

Usage notes

• (verb suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -ul is added to back vowel words. Final vowel is dropped.

  -ül is added to front vowel words. Final vowel is dropped.

  lassú ‎(“slow”) + ‎-ul → ‎lassul ‎(“to slow down”)

• (case suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -ul is added to back vowel words. Final -a changes to -á-.

  -ül is added to front vowel words. Final -e changes to -é-.

Derived terms

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

Romanian

Alternative forms

• -l (for masculine and neuter nouns ending in a vowel other than -e or -i)
• -le (for masculine and neuter nouns ending in -e)

Etymology

Variant of -l with the original u (lost in most modern Romanian nouns) reappearing at the end of the noun it is attached to as a link to the definite article to make pronunciation smoother. For example, in its evolution from Latin, the word foc probably passed through a phase in early Romanian where it was *focu, but the u only appears now as a part of the definite form, focul (with the definite article suffix -l), corresponding to a Late Vulgar Latin formation *focu illu. The grammatical rule was generalized and also came to apply to nouns of non-Latin origin after they became part of Romanian (e.g. război → războiul). Compare Aromanian -lu.

Suffix

-ul m/n

1. variant of -l

the (definite article)

Usage notes

This form of the definite article is used for both masculine and neuter singular nouns in the nominative and accusative cases which do not end in a vowel, except for -i (which is somewhat uncommon in Romanian):

• bărbatul (the man), from bărbat, masc.
• visul (the dream), from vis, neut.
• copilul (the child), from copil, masc.
• arcul (the bow), from arc, neut.
• războiul (the war), from război, neut.
• tramvaiul (the tram), from tramvai, neut.
• cotoiul (the tomcat), from cotoi, masc.

The suffix is also used with masculine and neuter singular adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases to make the articulated definite form, often for emphasis, and it is used before the noun it modifies:

• deșteptul om, from omul deștept (both meaning, "the smart man")
• viteazul soldat, from soldatul viteaz (both meaning, "the brave soldier")

In informal speech, the final -l is sometimes not fully pronounced.

Related terms

• -i
• -l
• -le
• -ului

See also

• -a
• -ua