-nik

The English suffix -nik is of Slavic origin. It approximately corresponds to the suffix "-er" and nearly always denotes an agent noun (that is, it describes a person related to the thing, state, habit, or action described by the word to which the suffix is attached).[1] In the cases where a native English language coinage may occur, the "-nik"-word often bears an ironic connotation,[2] as in the case of the terms coined for the failed rocket launch of the U.S. satellite rival to Sputnik, such as kaputnik, dudnik and flopnik among others.[3]

  1. ^ V. V. Kabakchi, Charles Clay Doyle, "Of Sputniks, Beatniks, and Nogoodniks", American Speech, Vol. 65, No. 3 (1990), pp. 275-278 doi:10.2307/455919
  2. ^ Rudnyckyj, Jaroslav B. (1959). ""Sputnik" and -nik derivatives in the present language of North America". Études Slaves et Est-Européennes / Slavic and East-European Studies. 4 (3/4): 142–150. ISSN 0014-2190.
  3. ^ "sputnik | Etymology, origin and meaning of sputnik by etymonline". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2023-08-25.