-lich
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German
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- -licht (nowadays uncommon)
Etymology
[edit]Adjective: From Middle High German -lich, -līch, from Old High German -līh, from Proto-West Germanic *-līk. Cognate with English -ly and Dutch -lijk.[1]
Adverb: From Middle High German -līche, from Old High German -līhho.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-lich
- Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "something can be done with the person or thing described".
- verstehen (“to understand”) -lich → verständlich (“that can be understood, understandable”)
- Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "that the person or thing described does something".
- Used to form adjectives from nouns, to indicate "affiliation".
- Abenteuer (“adventure”) -lich → abenteuerlich (“associated with adventure, adventurous”)
- Used to form adjectives from nouns (times), to indicate "repetition".
- Used to form adjectives from adjectives, to express "a weakening or differentiation".
Derived terms
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “-lich”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
Middle English
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-lich
- Alternative form of -ly (“adjectival suffix”)
Etymology 2
[edit]Suffix
[edit]-lich
- Alternative form of -ly (“adverbial suffix”)
Categories:
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German suffixes
- German adjective-forming suffixes
- German productive suffixes
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English suffixes