 |
Look up -nik in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The English suffix -nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun (that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached).[1] In the cases where a native English language coinage is possible, the "-nik"-word often bears an ironic connotation.
Contents |
History
The suffix existed in English in dormant state for a long time, in borrowed terms. An example is raskolnik, recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary to be known since 1723.[1] There have been two main waves of the introduction of this suffix into English language. The first one is Yinglish words contributed by Yiddish speakers from Eastern Europe. The second surge was observed after the launch of the Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957.
In his book The American Language, H.L. Mencken credits the postwar mania for adding "-nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns as beginning, not with beatnik or Sputnik, but earlier - in the American comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp.
Vocabulary
Mainstream
Words of significant context or usage:
- Artnik, a UK publisher [2]; the word predates its establishment
- Badnik, Robots created by Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, see below.
- Beatnik
- Chainik
- Otkaznik
- Peaknik
- Refusenik
- Sputnik
- Robotnik
Casual
Casual neologisms:
- Alrightnik: one who has been successful (who has done all right); nouveau riche
- Computernik: a computer geek
- Ipodnik: a person utterly devoted to iPods
- Muttnik
- Neatnik: a neat-freak
- No-goodnik: a lazy or incompetent person
- Peacenik: a pacifist; a hippie
Jewish adaptation
Words originally used by Jews of Europe, America, and Israel, often referring to concepts related to their experiences or things happening in Israel or among the Jewish people:
- Chabadnik or Habadnik: follower of Chabad
- Kadimanik: member of United Synagogue Youth's Kadima program
- Ka-tzetnik: a Nazi concentration camp prisoner or survivor, derived from abbreviation KZ, pronounced Ka-tzet
- Kibbutznik: member of a Kibbutz
- Lamedvavnik
- Likudnik: supporter of Israeli political party Likud
- Moshavnik: member of a Moshav
- Shinuinik: supporter of Israeli political party Shinui
- Mapainik: supporter of the historical Israeli labour party.
- Netzernik: Member of the Netzer Olami youth movement
- Nudnik: a nagging, boring or awkward person
- Reusenik: one who reuses and reuses and reuses again to rid the world of plastic. Are you a Reusenik?
Slavic languages
Native Slavic words that refer to inherently Slavic concepts:
- Chetnik
- Druzhinnik
- Kolkhoznik
- Kukuruznik
- Narodnik
- Namestnik
- Oprichnik
- Patatnik
- Peredvizhnik
- Polkovnik/Polkovnyk
- Posadnik
- Raskolnik
- Rushnik
- Sotnik
- Sovkhoznik
- Subbotnik
- Syrnik (Sirnik)
- Udarnik
- Uryadnik
- Varenik
- Vodnik
- Voskresnik
- Varenik
- Zapadnik
- Zolotnik, an obsolete Russian measure of weight
References
- ^ a b V. V. Kabakchi, Charles Clay Doyle, "Of Sputniks, Beatniks, and Nogoodniks", American Speech, Vol. 65, No. 3 (1990), pp. 275-278 doi:10.2307/455919
- ^ Artnik
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
