*-nō

Runic: ᚾᛟ Pronunciation: /nɔː/

suffix · forms nouns · feminine · ō-stem

Function

forms feminine ō-stem nouns, especially concrete nouns denoting a body part, natural object, place, animal, product, or result associated with the base

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-n-eh₂, consisting of the individualizing or singulative nasal suffix *-n- plus the feminine/collective suffix *-eh₂. The formation is not securely productive in Proto-Germanic, but survives in inherited and reanalyzed lexical fossils such as *garnō < PIE *ǵʰórneh₂, *furhnō < PIE *pr̥ḱnéh₂, and probably *hraznō < PIE *krosnéh₂ and *asnō < *(s)h₁os-néh₂ (Krahe & Meid 1969: 103–107; Pronk 2015: 338–39). Compare also *habanō, which points to a related expanded type *-(a)nō from earlier *-on-eh₂ (Kroonen 2013: 196–97; Matasović 2009a: 197). The suffix is probably the historical base of some forms in related *-snō (forms feminine nouns denoting a tool, instrument, or concrete object associated with the base), where *-s- may reflect a stem-final consonant or word-formation juncture.

Paradigm

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.-nō-nôz
Acc.-nǭ-nōz
Gen.-nōz-nǫ̂
Dat.-nōi-nōmaz
Inst.-nō-nōmiz
Voc.-nō-nôz

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Descendants

  • *-nu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -na (Old Dutch)
      • -ne (Middle Dutch)
        • -n (Dutch)
  • *-nu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • Old English -n, -nu
      • Middle English -ne
        • English -ne
  • *-nu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -en, -na (Old Frisian)
      • -en (Saterland Frisian)
      • -en (West Frisian)
  • *-nu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -na (Old High German)
      • -en (Middle High German)
        • -en (German)
  • *-nu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -na (Old Saxon)
      • -ne (Middle Low German)
  • -n (Old Norse)
    • -n (Faroese)
      • Icelandic -n
  • -𐌰𐌽𐌰 (-ana), -𐌽𐌰 (-na) (Gothic)

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