Coining and Checking
Esperanto Word-Building
Chapter 10 · Coining, Checking and Review
✅ Coining and Checking — Krei kaj kontroli
You can now take almost any Esperanto word apart. The last skill is the reverse: making a word you need, without making a mistake. This chapter gives a method for coining safely, a worked example, a table of every affix in the course and a review quiz.
A method for coining
- Look first. Search the Esperanto dictionary for the meaning. The word may exist, perhaps as a separate root.
- Choose the root. Pick the root that carries the central idea, not an English word you are translating.
- Choose the affix. Decide what the new word is: a person, a place, a tool, a quality, a group, an action?
- Test by paraphrase. Turn it back into a phrase: abelisto is a person who works with bees.
- Test for ambiguity. Could a reader take another meaning (Chapter 8)? If so, write the phrase.
- Check the dictionary. Is the derived word listed, and does the meaning match?
A worked example: the abel- family
ReVo lists a whole family of words on abel- (bee). Seeing them side by side shows how the affixes choose the meaning:
| You want... | Affix | Word (ReVo) |
|---|---|---|
| a colony of bees | -ar- | abelaro |
| a box or basket housing bees | -uj- | abelujo (a beehive) |
| the place where hives are set up | -ej- | abelejo (an apiary) |
| a person who tends hives | -ist- | abelisto (a beekeeper) |
| a female bee | -in- | abelino |
| the queen | compound: abel + reĝino | abelreĝino |
| a worker bee | compound: labor + abelo | laborabelo |
The affix tells you the category of thing: a group, a container, a place, a person, a female. The order in compounds tells you the main word: laborabelo is a kind of bee, a working one.
What if the word is not listed?
Take the English phrase "ticket office". The ReVo article on bilet- lists biletisto (a person who sells or checks tickets), biletujo (a wallet for tickets and notes) and several compounds such as enirbileto, but not biletejo, even though bilet + -ej- + -o follows the pattern from Chapter 4. Passing the paraphrase test (a place for tickets) is not enough. This word is understandable but not confirmed in the article I read, so check another dictionary, or choose a word the article does list, before relying on it.
Every affix in the course
| Chapter | Affixes | Job |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | mal- re- for- ek- | opposite, again or back, away, start |
| 3 | -ul- -in- -ist- -an- -estr- -id- -ar- ge- bo- | persons, groups, family |
| 4 | -ej- -uj- -ing- -ĉj- -nj- | place, container, holder, pet names |
| 5 | -et- -eg- -aĉ- -ec- -em- -ind- -ebl- -end- | degree, quality, tendency, worth, possibility, obligation |
| 6 | -il- -ad- -ig- -iĝ- | tool, continued action, make, become |
| 7 | -er- -on- -op- -obl- -um- | piece, fraction, group, multiple, undefined |
| 8 | compounds, kun- sen- pri- | two roots; prepositions as prefixes |
📖 A Short Text — Mallonga teksto
Find every affix and say what it does.
Mia amikino
Show a translation
My friend is a teacher. She is very hardworking, and the pupils in the school like her. Every evening she rereads the lesson and prepares the next day.
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj: the review
A review of the whole course. Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Give the opposite of fermi and a word meaning "to read again".
Show answer
malfermi and relegi.
2. Build: a woman who is a dentist; a village head; parents-in-law.
Show answer
dentistino, vilaĝestro, bogepatroj.
3. Choose between -ej- and -uj-: a place where you cook; a bowl for sugar.
Show answer
kuirejo (place) and sukerujo (container).
4. Which suffix says "must be done"? Which says "can be done"? Which says "deserves to be done"?
Show answer
-end-, -ebl-, -ind-.
5. Build the verb for "to make sharp" and the verb for "to become sharp".
Show answer
akrigi and akriĝi.
6. Say "three quarters", "twice as much" and "two together".
Show answer
tri kvaronoj, duoble, duope.
7. Explain the difference between kantobirdo and birdokanto.
Show answer
The last part is the main word: a songbird versus birdsong.
8. Take apart malsanulejo and remalsaniĝo.
Show answer
mal + san + ul + ej + o (a hospital); re + mal + san + iĝ + o (a relapse).
9. Name two words you should not build, and the word to use instead.
Show answer
For example malvivi (use morti) and elektigi (use elekti); or kirurgisto (use kirurgo).
10. You need a word for "a place for tickets". Walk through the method.
Show answer
Look first: ReVo's bilet- article lists biletisto and biletujo, not biletejo. Root bilet-, affix -ej- (place): biletejo. Paraphrase: a place for tickets. Ambiguity: it could be where tickets are sold or kept. Check another dictionary before using it, or write the phrase (loko por aĉeti biletojn).
What you have learned
| Chapter | Skill |
|---|---|
| 1 Roots, Endings and the Dictionary | Root plus ending, reading a ReVo entry, words with no ending. |
| 2 Opposites and Reversals | mal-, re-, for-, ek- and stacking prefixes. |
| 3 People and Groups | Person suffixes, family prefixes, and choosing between -ul-, -ist- and -an-. |
| 4 Places and Containers | -ej-, -uj-, -ing- and the pet names. |
| 5 Size, Quality and Degree | Degree, quality, tendency and the passive trio. |
| 6 Tools and Actions | -il-, -ad-, -ig-, -iĝ-. |
| 7 Parts, Numbers and Fractions | Pieces, fractions, groups, multiples and -um-. |
| 8 Compounds | Main part last, the joining vowel, ambiguity. |
| 9 Word Families | Reading whole families and avoiding pitfalls. |
Words used in this chapter
krei create · kontroli check · abelo bee · abelisto beekeeper · abelujo beehive · abelejo apiary · bileto ticket · biletisto ticket seller · leciono lesson · prepari prepare · sekva next