What does suppletion mean?
Suppletion is a grammatical process in which different forms of a word are used to express distinctions that other words usually mark with endings or other attached elements. It is especially visible in irregular English inflections: go has the past form went, while child and children belong to different but historically related stems. The term is useful because it identifies a systematic pattern rather than treating every irregular form as an isolated exception. Suppletion is especially associated with strong verbs and irregular plurals, but it can occur wherever a grammatical paradigm contains forms built from distinct allomorphs. The word is chiefly used in linguistics, grammar, and language teaching, where it contrasts with ordinary affixation. Because suppletion can operate on both singular and plural forms, it should not be confused with the broader phenomenon of suppletive inflection across an entire paradigm.
nounIn grammar, suppletion is the use of forms from different stems or allomorphs to mark grammatical contrasts that would ordinarily be expressed by affixes. Familiar examples include go–went and child–children.
- The grammatical use of different stems or allomorphs to express inflectional contrasts, as in go–went or child–children.
"The pairing of go with went is a classic example of suppletion."
"The irregular past tense of go is a classic example of suppletion, pairing went with the stem go."
"Linguists describe suppletion in languages whose inflectional paradigms contain unusually varied stem forms."
The plural is used when referring to several individual examples or alternating pairs.
"English has several suppletions, including go–went and child–children."
English turned “go” into “went” by changing its vocabulary, not merely its ending.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of suppletion
Suppletion comes from Latin supplētiō, a noun derived from supplēre, meaning “to fill up” or “to supply.” English cognates include supplement, supplemental, supplementary, and supply. In grammar, the term developed from the wider sense of supplying or filling something missing with an alternative form.
Related word forms
How suppletion is actually used
This is primarily a specialist grammatical term, uncommon outside linguistics and related language studies. It is usually used as a mass noun, though the plural suppletions can refer to individual examples or alternating pairs.
Easily confused with suppletion
A supplement adds material to something, whereas suppletion is a grammatical process in which different stem forms express related grammatical functions.