-y

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Table of contents

1 English 1.1 Suffix 1.2 Germanic Etymologies 1.2.1 Translations 1.3 Middle English/Scottish Etymologies 1.3.1 Variants 1.3.2 Translations 1.4 Romance Etymologies 1.4.1 Translations 2 Finnish 2.1 Deverbal suffix

English

Suffix

Germanic Etymologies

From Old English -ig, from Germanic

1. Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning 'having the quality of'

   mess, messy

   mouse, mousey, mousy

2. Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning 'inclined to'

   runny

   sticky

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

• Finnish: -inen (1), -va (2), -vä (2)
• French: -eux m, -euse f
• Italian: -oso m, -osa f

Middle English/Scottish Etymologies

From Middle English, originally Scottish

1. Forming diminutive nouns

   granny

   Dicky

Variants

• -ie
• -ey

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

• Finnish: -nen
• French: -ette, -ine
• Italian: -etto m, -etta f, -ino m, -ina f

Romance Etymologies

From French -ie and -e, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tas, Greek -eia, -ia

1. Forming nouns denoting a state, condition, or quality
2. Modest, modestas, modesty
3. Honest, honesty

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

• Finnish: -uus, -yys
• French: -é
• Italian: -à

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Finnish

Deverbal suffix

-y (with front vowel harmony)

1. Front vowel form of the deverbal suffix -u.