Thread: Meaning of -ка suffix

Originally Posted by Valda

I'm not sure I understand the definitions there...can you explain to me what it means in English?

-ка (particle)

Morphological and syntaсtic characteristics

-ка

Particle; unchangeable. Appended through hyphen to verbs in imperative form or to the ну particle

Pronunciation

МФА: [kə]

Semantic characteristics

Meaning

colloquial, expresses mitigation or informality of a request, command or demand for quick action ◆ Поезжай-ка ты в деревню!

if you're familiar with German, this -ка particle is equivalent to the word 'mal' in requests and imperatives

-ка (suffix)

Morphological and syntaсtic characteristics

-ка-(ть)

Word building unit (suffix).

Meaning

when added to various parts of speech it creates intransitive verbs in imperfective form with the meaning of action related to the subject, named by the initial word ◆ а → акать, ау → аукать, вы → выкать, да → дакать, и → икать, кар → каркать, мяу → мяукать, ой → ойкать, о → окать, тяв → тявкать, я → якать, ты → тыкать
verbs derived from interjections and onomatopoeia mean to utter or reproduce the sound named by the initial word ◆ агу → агукать