This post builds on a few other entries that address a specific affix, including The Slippery Suffix -er and The Popular Prefix in-. The lesson suggestions in this post may be modified to apply to grades 3-12, depending on the student. Perhaps we might even apply some ideas to first or second grade.
Words ending with the suffix -ish are often adjectives, but this suffix has several senses. The suffix -ish is flexibly used with a base word to denote 'somewhat, somewhat prone to, or somewhat like a.' For example, we have ticklish, reddish-blue, stylish, childish, boyish, a waspish tongue, a foolish old woman, a coldish wind.
Then we have Spanish, Irish, Scottish, Finnish, Danish, etc. These words are also typically used as adjectives (but not in "We just ate a danish for breakfast."). However, now the suffix creates a different sense. Does Scottish mean 'somewhat like a Scot?' No, typically it implies that someone or something hails from Scotland. An exception is, "I wore a skirt that looked rather Scottish." Doubtless, we could think of additional exceptions.
However, words like astonish, admonish, tarnish, polish, varnish, and establish are not adjectives; they are typically used as verbs (but polish and varnish are also nouns). Is this even the same suffix? According to David Crystal, it is not. In the comments of his marvelous post On -ish, he states: "This ish [in verbs like tarnish] has a completely different etymology. It's from a French (and ultimately Latin) suffix expressing the beginning of an action."
I suspect this use of -ish, to create a verb, is largely extinct in English, if it ever existed. Perhaps it is found only in verbs that passed into English via French. Do folks today freely create new verbs with -ish, as in nourish and languish? Must I reverbish this post?
To be sure, we also find words like fish, dish, wish, swish, etc. What's going on with this set of words? Do they even contain the suffix -ish? No. There is no meaning in the string of letters in these cases; it is not a morpheme in these words, not an indivisible unit of meaning. Instead, these words comprise a phonogram family.
Words ending with the suffix -ish are often adjectives, but this suffix has several senses. The suffix -ish is flexibly used with a base word to denote 'somewhat, somewhat prone to, or somewhat like a.' For example, we have ticklish, reddish-blue, stylish, childish, boyish, a waspish tongue, a foolish old woman, a coldish wind.
Then we have Spanish, Irish, Scottish, Finnish, Danish, etc. These words are also typically used as adjectives (but not in "We just ate a danish for breakfast."). However, now the suffix creates a different sense. Does Scottish mean 'somewhat like a Scot?' No, typically it implies that someone or something hails from Scotland. An exception is, "I wore a skirt that looked rather Scottish." Doubtless, we could think of additional exceptions.
However, words like astonish, admonish, tarnish, polish, varnish, and establish are not adjectives; they are typically used as verbs (but polish and varnish are also nouns). Is this even the same suffix? According to David Crystal, it is not. In the comments of his marvelous post On -ish, he states: "This ish [in verbs like tarnish] has a completely different etymology. It's from a French (and ultimately Latin) suffix expressing the beginning of an action."
I suspect this use of -ish, to create a verb, is largely extinct in English, if it ever existed. Perhaps it is found only in verbs that passed into English via French. Do folks today freely create new verbs with -ish, as in nourish and languish? Must I reverbish this post?
To be sure, we also find words like fish, dish, wish, swish, etc. What's going on with this set of words? Do they even contain the suffix -ish? No. There is no meaning in the string of letters in these cases; it is not a morpheme in these words, not an indivisible unit of meaning. Instead, these words comprise a phonogram family.
Read: Read the delightful children's book ish, by Peter Reynolds to the class. A frustrated young artist is encouraged by his little sister, for his sketch may not look exactly like a vase, but it is vase-ish. Visit Book Chatter to meet the author and set up an account to read the book for free, online.
Invent: Encourage students to invent a new -ish word. Perhaps they might name a new group of people, possibly new worlds: "This is the planet Bend, where we speak Bendish."
Detect: Have students play word detective, searching through magazines and newspapers for words ending with the adjective-forming suffix -ish, clipping the words and placing them on a bulletin board. This could be a homework activity. As students read books, have them stay alert for this suffix. They could write their finds on index cards and add them to the class chart.
Write: Eventually, encourage students to use this suffix more frequently in their writing. Why not try writing a poem? As I recall, even my second graders, back in my teaching days, enjoyed limericks.
To some, this blog is just fairish,
While others, this Sunday site cherish.
Fine thinkers resound
On topics profound.
Scholastically extraordinaire-ish!
Invent: Encourage students to invent a new -ish word. Perhaps they might name a new group of people, possibly new worlds: "This is the planet Bend, where we speak Bendish."
Detect: Have students play word detective, searching through magazines and newspapers for words ending with the adjective-forming suffix -ish, clipping the words and placing them on a bulletin board. This could be a homework activity. As students read books, have them stay alert for this suffix. They could write their finds on index cards and add them to the class chart.
Write: Eventually, encourage students to use this suffix more frequently in their writing. Why not try writing a poem? As I recall, even my second graders, back in my teaching days, enjoyed limericks.
To some, this blog is just fairish,
While others, this Sunday site cherish.
Fine thinkers resound
On topics profound.
Scholastically extraordinaire-ish!
Play: One way to engage students in critical thinking is to play "Will the Real Suffix Please Stand Up!" After teaching children the adjective-forming suffix -ish, say a word in context. Students stand up and shout the word if it contains the suffix and is an adjective. If not, they remain seated. Then, they write the word in the appropriate column of a two-column chart, as shown below, and they underline the base word. Notice that the base word in mulish is not as transparent as in the other words. Discussion should include the idea that spellers have to drop the final e in mule before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, as in mule + -ish >>> mulish.
Will the Real Suffix Please Stand Up!
| (Teacher says) | Suffix -ish | No suffix |
|---|---|---|
| greenish They found a greenish rock. | greenish | |
| darkish Wear the darkish sweater. | darkish | |
| radish I bit into a crisp, red radish. | radish | |
| fish See the fish fly! | fish | |
| mulish The dog is stubborn and mulish. | mulish |
Sort: More verbally proficient students might sort words into three groups: adjectives that end in the suffix -ish, verbs that end in -ish, and Other. Let partners collaborate during the sorting activity. Encourage discussion and prompt students to provide a rationale for their categorization.
To generate a list of words to sort, visit either More Words or Word Searcher. Links to both search tools are given in the footer of Vocabulogic, in the middle column under Morphology and Etymology. When I ran the search for words of any length containing the letter string ish (not necessarily the suffix) at More Words, I found more than 1,600 words (view the complete list here, sorted by length). Here is a sampling:
| Words ending in ish | Words ending in ish |
| accomplish piggish admonish amateurish angelfish anguish tarnish apish archerfish aspish astonish babyish bitterish blackfish blackish blandish bleakish blemish blimpish blindfish blockish blondish bluish boarfish boggish bonefish bookish boorish perish ravish toyish sheepish squarish wolfish | codfish coldish coltish punish coolish publish coquettish countryish cowfish coyish crankish crawfish crayfish danish darkish deafish dealfish demolish depolish dervish devilfish devilish disrelish distinguish dogfish doggish dollish dudish dullish dumpish impish owlish relish purplish |
That's all for now. Time for dinner! I have become a bit peckish!
