*-ungō

Runic: ᚢᚾᚷᛟ Pronunciation: /uŋ.ɡɔː/

suffix · forms nouns · feminine · ō-stem

Function

  1. forms feminine action and event nouns, chiefly from verbs, denoting ‘the act, process, occurrence, result, or state of doing X’
  2. forms denominal and deadjectival feminine abstract nouns denoting ‘the state, quality, condition, or activity associated with X’

Etymology

Alongside variant *-ingō, a feminine ō-stem abstract suffix formed from the older *-ing-/*-ung- suffix complex plus feminine *-ō (< Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂). The alternation *-ing- : *-ung- reflects suffixal ablaut, conventionally reconstructed as PIE *-en-ko- : *-n̥-ko-, with the corresponding feminine formations being pre-Germanic *-en-kéh₂- : *-n̥-kéh₂- (Fulk 2018: 53; Krahe & Meid 1969: 50–51). The feminine abstract use itself appears to be a Germanic innovation, probably encouraged by the recurrent association of masculine personal or agentive nouns in *-ingaz/*-ungaz with corresponding feminine abstracts and by the analogical enlargement of older, simpler abstract nouns (Krahe & Meid 1969: 209–10). In its earliest recoverable distribution, *-ingō was associated chiefly with Weak class 1 verbs and *-ungō with Weak class 2 verbs, whereas both variants occurred with nominal and adjectival bases; this division was subsequently obscured by analogical extension and dialectal redistribution (Kluge 1899: 79–80; Krahe & Meid 1969: 209–11). The suffix is not productively represented in Gothic, and there are no secure cognates outside Germanic for the completed feminine abstract formation as such.

Paradigm

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.-ungō-ungôz
Acc.-ungǭ-ungōz
Gen.-ungōz-ungǫ̂
Dat.-ungōi-ungōmaz
Inst.-ungō-ungōmiz
Voc.-ungō-ungôz

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Descendants

  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -inga, -unga, -onga (Old Dutch)
      • -inge (Middle Dutch)
        • -ing (Dutch)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -ung (Old English)
      • -ynge, -eng, -enge -ing, -inge, -ingue, -inng, -yng, -ung, -unge (Middle English)
        • -ing, -in', -in (English)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -ung (Old English)
      • -ynge, -eng, -enge, -ing, -inge, -ingue, -inng, -yng, -ung, -unge (Middle English)
        • -ing, -yng (Middle Scots)
          • -in, -in', -ing (Scots)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -unge, -inge (Old Frisian)
      • -enge (Saterland Frisian)
      • -ing (West Frisian)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -unga, -inga (Old High German)
      • -unge, -inge (Middle High German)
        • -ig, -ing (Alemannic German)
        • -ing (East Central German)
        • -ung (German)
        • ־ונג (-ung) (Yiddish)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -unga, -inga (Old High German)
      • -unge, -inge (Middle High German)
        • -ung, -ong, -ing, -eng (Central Franconian)
          • -ung (Luxembourgish)
  • *-ungu, *-ingu (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -unga, -inga (Old Saxon)
      • -inge, -unge, -onge (Middle Low German)
        • -ung, -ing (Low German)
  • -ing, -ung (Old Norse)
    • -ing (Danish)
    • -ing (Faroese)
    • -ing, -ung (Icelandic)
    • -ing (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • -ing (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • -ing, -ung (Old Norse)
    • -ing, -ung (Old Swedish)
      • -ing, -ung (Swedish)

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