-ès

See also: Appendix:Variations of "es"

Catalan

Alternative forms

• -és (Valencia)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin -ēnsis (compare Occitan -és, Portuguese -ês, French -ais, Spanish -és, Italian -ese).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɛs]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈəs]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈes]

Suffix

-ès (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -esa, masculine plural -esos, feminine plural -eses)

1. -ese; forms an adjective with the meaning of “pertinent thereto”

Suffix

-ès m (noun-forming suffix, plural -esos, feminine -esa)

1. -ese; forms a noun with the meaning of “an inhabitant thereof”

Suffix

-ès m (noun-forming suffix, uncountable)

1. -ese; forms a proper noun with the meaning of “the language used by the inhabitants thereof”

Usage notes

• Unlike English, where the capitalization of the proper noun is retained when a suffix is added, in Catalan, when this suffix is used with a place name, the capitalization is dropped, even when forming a language name that is itself a proper noun. Hence Irlanda (“Ireland”) + -ès yields irlandès not *Irlandès.

Derived terms

Catalan terms suffixed with -ès