Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/-inën
Proto-Finnic
Etymology
Two distinct stems that have been conflated into a single paradigm, as per Hakulinen;[1] a case of suppletion.
The oblique stem *-ice- is from Proto-Finno-Ugric *-ŋće, *-ńće, *-nće, *-nśe, and is cognate with Proto-Samic *-ńčë. The oblique stem is probably original. In many descendants the original nominative can be found in compounds, albeit in reduced form (*naic(ë)- > Estonian nais- in naissugu, Finnish nais- in naissuku, Ingrian nais- in naissuku, Karelian nais- in naispuoli, Livonian naiz- in naizjemā, Ludian naiž- in naižluad, Veps naiž- in naižvald, Votic naiz- in naizeläje). Remnants of the original nominative *-ici may be preserved in toponyms (Alhaisi near Salo in Finland, Ihalaisi, Ikäpäivösi and Vornaisi in Ingria).[2]
The origin of the nominative *-inen, as well as the motivation for the suppletion, is less clear; it might be related to *-na (diminutive suffix), in which case the -i- would be analogous to the oblique stem.[1] Salo (2016) makes the observation that the suffix is quite similar to the comitative suffix *-inëk;[3] a word like *soolainën could have originally meant "with (much) salt, abounding in salt", before developing into the adjective "salty". In this case, *-inen may have originally been an adjective-forming suffix; if it was originally an attributive marker specifically (like possibly *-ëda), then it may have merged with an older diminutive suffix when attribute agreement developed (attributes were not originally inflected with the headword) to form a single suppletive adjective-diminutive suffix.
The oblique stem also has the variants *-icce-, *-ise-, also seen in related verb suffixes (see Related terms below), for which see *icek for more details.
Suffix
*-inën / *-inen (stem *-icë- / *-ice-)
- A general diminutive suffix.
- -ish, -ic, -like, -y (forming adjectives)
- -en (material something is made of)
Inflection
| Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility. | |||
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | *-inën | *-icet | |
| accusative | *-icen | *-icet | |
| genitive | *-icen | *-ictën *-icidën | |
| partitive | *-icta | *-icita | |
| inessive | *-icessa *-icehna |
*-icissa *-icihna | |
| elative | *-icesta | *-icista | |
| illative | *-icesën | *-icisën | |
| adessive | *-icella | *-icilla | |
| ablative | *-icelta | *-icilta | |
| allative | *-icelën *-icelëk |
*-icilën *-icilëk | |
| essive | *-inna | *-icina | |
| translative | *-iceksi | *-iciksi | |
| instructive | *-icen | *-icin | |
| comitative | *-innëk | *-icinëk | |
| abessive | *-icetta | *-icitta | |
Derived terms
Descendants
- Estonian: -ne
- Finnish: -inen (also conflated with *-hinën), -nen
- Ingrian: -in
- Karelian:
- Livonian: -i[4]
- Livvi: -ine
- Ludian: -ine
- Veps: -ine
- Votic: -in
- Võro: -nõ/-ne
Related terms
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hakulinen, Lauri. 1941–2000. Suomen kielen rakenne ja kehitys ('The Structure and Development of the Finnish Language'). Helsinki: Otava/Helsingin yliopisto.
- ^ Rahkonen, Pauli. Suomeen suuntautuneiden nimistövirtausten monimuotoisuus. Muinaistutkija 1/2021. p. 14–15
- ^ Merja Salo (2016) “On the meanings of the suffix ‑ńek/‑nek in Erzya: A comitative case or derivational suffix?”, in Ksenia Shagal, Heini Arjava, editors, Mordvin languages in the field (Uralica Helsingiensia; 10), →ISBN, page 218
- ^ Renāte Blumberga, Tapio Mäkeläinen, Karl Pajusalu (2013), Lībieši: vēsture, valoda un kultūra, Rīga: Līvõ Kultūr sidām, →ISBN