*-ō

Runic: ᛟ Pronunciation: /ɔː/

suffix · forms nouns · feminine · ō-stem

Function

  1. forms feminine ō-stem nouns from roots and stems, including concrete nouns, person nouns, and abstract/action/result nouns
  2. serves as the regular feminine counterpart to masculine/neuter a-stems in Proto-Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂, especially in formations analyzable as thematic *-e/o-+*-h₂. This was a feminine-forming suffix, creating feminine counterparts to o-stem adjectives and nouns, and also forming inherited feminine abstract, action, and concrete nouns. Its relationship to collective forming suffix *-h₂ is real but is not the sole source of the feminine suffix (Melchert 2014; Ringe 2017: 91–92, 221, 299–303). Cognate with Latin -a, Ancient Greek -ᾱ/-η (-ā/-ē), Sanskrit -आ (-ā), Proto-Slavic *-a, Proto-Celtic *-ā, and Latvian and Lithuanian -a, all with similar roles deriving feminine nouns from masculine ones and deriving abstract nouns.

Paradigm

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.-ō-ôz
Acc.-ǭ-ōz
Gen.-ōz-ǫ̂
Dat.-ōi-ōmaz
Inst.-ō-ōmiz
Voc.-ō-ôz

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Descendants

  • *-u (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -a (Old Dutch)
      • -e (Middle Dutch)
  • *-u (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -u (Old English)
      • -e (Middle English)
  • *-u (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -e (Old Frisian)
      • -e (Saterland Frisian)
      • -e (West Frisian)
  • *-u (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -a (Old High German)
      • -e (Middle High German)
        • -e (German)
  • *-u (Proto-West Germanic)
    • -a (Old Saxon)
      • -e (Middle Low German)
        • -e (Low German)
  • -a (Old Norse)
    • -e (Danish)
    • -a (Faroese)
    • -a (Icelandic)
    • -e (Norwegian Bokmål)
    • -e (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  • -𐌰 (-a) (Gothic)

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