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Glite Dictionary
interjectional

interjectional

1 8.4
About short words that show strong feeling, like wow and oh
  • adjective
  • /ˌɪntərˈdʒɛkʃənl/
  • Specialized
: interjectivo
  • The teacher explained that interjectional words add emotional emphasis to a sentence.

Examples

  • Top-gallant sails are being set to catch the rising evening wind, and the cries of the pig-tailed yellow seamen are shrill and raucous, like the interjectional and acrimonious talk of cats on a back fence.

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  • His sudden shout was an interjectional response to the unexpected news.

  • In the debate, she often used interjectional phrases to express her surprise.

Surface Forms

interjectional positive

Morphology

interjectional = interjection (transparent) = inter + ject + ion + al

The adjective is formed transparently from the noun 'interjection' plus the common suffix '-al', so the meaning is directly recoverable.

Etymology

Interjectional comes from interjection, which breaks into inter- 'between' and -ject 'to throw'. Think of an interjection as a short word 'thrown' into the middle of a sentence to show surprise or feeling, so interjectional means 'about' those thrown-in words.