augmentative
/ɔ:g'mentətiv/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Increasing in size, amount, or degree: Having the quality of making something larger, more intense, or more significant.
- (Linguistics) Indicating increase or largeness: In grammar, a word or affix (like a prefix or suffix) that implies an increase in size, intensity, or degree.
Usage and Examples
- General Adjective:
- The government implemented an augmentative policy to boost economic growth.
- The new fertilizer had an augmentative effect on the crop yield.
- Linguistics:
- In the word "gigantic," the suffix "-ic" is not augmentative, but the root "gigant-" implies great size. A clearer example is the Italian suffix "-one," which is augmentative, as in "ragazzo" (boy) becoming "ragazzone" (big boy).
- The prefix "mega-" is often used as an augmentative element in English, as in "megastore."
Advanced Usage
- Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC): A field of clinical practice that attempts to compensate for impairments in speech-language production. The term "augmentative" here refers to existing speech.
- In some languages, augmentatives can convey not just large size, but also negative connotations like clumsiness or ugliness, or positive ones like importance.
Variants and Related Words
- Augment (verb): To make greater, more numerous, larger, or more intense.
- He took a second job to augment his income.
- Augmentation (noun): The action or process of making or becoming greater in size or amount.
- The data showed a significant augmentation in traffic.
Synonyms
- Amplifying
- Increasing
- Enhancing
- Intensifying
- Magnifying
Antonyms
- Diminutive
- Decreasing
- Minimizing
- Reductive
Related Linguistic Terms
- Diminutive: A word or affix that implies smallness or endearment (e.g., the suffix "-let" in "booklet").
- Pejorative: A word or affix that expresses contempt or disapproval.
- Affix: A morpheme (like a prefix or suffix) attached to a word stem to form a new word.
Adjective
- intensifying by augmentation and enhancement
- increasing or having the power to increase especially in size or amount or degree
- `up' is an augmentative word in `hurry up'