Derivation of Lithuanian and Latvian plant genera names in "Flora of the Baltic countries"

The paper discusses groups of suffixal, ending and prefixal derivatives of Lithuanian and Latvian names of plant genera. Lithuanian names of plant genera are mainly formed with the help of suffixes (50%). Suffixal derivation is second most productive way of word formation in Latvian botanical nomenclature (27%). Most often the underlying words of suffixal derivatives of Lithuanian and Latvian names of plant genera are nouns, and more rarely adjectives and verbs. The biggest number of plant genera names in both languages have been formed with the same suffix – Lithuanian -enis, -enė (21%), and Latvian -enis, -ene (47%). A wider diversity of suffixal derivatives is observed in the Lithuanian botanical nomenclature than in the Latvian botanical nomenclature. Lithuanian suffixes -ūnas, -ūnė (7.5%) and -uolis, -uoli (6%) are rather productive. Derivation with diminutive suffixes (45%) is characteristic to Latvian names of plant genera, whereas the number of Lithuanian names of plant genera with diminutive suffixes is smaller (16%). Latvian names of plant genera, unlike Lithuanian ones, are also formed with two suffixes. Ending derivation is the third most productive way of word-formation of Lithuanian names of plant genera; however, it is least productive in Latvian. 34 Lithuanian names of plant genera have been derived from nouns, adjectives and verbs with the endings -a, -as, -ė, -is, -ys, -(i)us. There are as few as 4 Latvian ending derivatives with the noun or adjective as the underlying word. There are not many prefixal derivatives. Lithuanian names are derived from nouns with prefixes ant-, be-, po-, and pro-, whereas Latvian – with prefixes ap-, bez- and pa-