6.3 Building adjectives from nouns: the **-ana** suffix
6 · Adjectives — describing things · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
A suffix is an ending you bolt on to make a new word. -ana is a workhorse: attach it to a noun and you get "having that thing / full of that quality." It's productive — meaning the language freely coins new ones — so recognizing it unlocks a lot of vocabulary at once. (Feminine -anta, plural -ane, following the normal agreement.)
-ana in action (noun → adjective):
- hona "mind" → honana "intelligent"
- lebba "heart" → lebbana "brave"
- khela "power" → khelana "strong"
- kana "horn" → kanana "horned"
- rakhme "mercy" → rakhmana "merciful"
- khubba "love" → khubbana "loving"
- shida "demon" → shidana "mad"
It also rides on verbs, turning an action into a "tends-to-do-it" adjective:
- akhel "eat" → akhlana "gluttonous"
- bakhe "weep" → bakhyana "weepy, tearful"
So when you hear a familiar noun or verb wearing -ana, read it as "-y / full of / prone to."
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