Noun Suffixes

Noun Suffixes 

Suffixes are affixes that attach to the ends of the base forms of words to create new words or new forms of words. Suffixation is a type of English derivation that creates new words. In addition to the agent suffixes -er, -or, and -ar, other derivational suffixes also result in the creation of agent nouns. Derivation suffixes create new agent nouns, nouns that identify the person performing an action or, in other words, names for people.



The following suffixes are more noun suffixes that create names for people:
 -ist – person
 -ian – of or belonging to
 -ess – denoting female persons
 -ar /-er/-eur/-ier/-or/-ur – agent

For example, affixing -ist to the base form of the noun art results in the new noun artist, meaning someone who creates art, and affixing -ian to the base form of the noun library results in the new noun librarian, meaning someone who works in a library.