-lein

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See also: lein, Lein, and LEIN

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German -elīn, -līn, from Old High German -ilī, -ilīn, from Proto-West Germanic *-ilīn. Cognate to Dutch -lijn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /laɪ̯n/
  • (file)

Suffix

-lein n (plural -lein or -erlein or -leins)

  1. suffix used to create a diminutive form; e.g. KindKindlein

Usage notes

  • In contemporary Standard German, -lein is usual with words whose stems end in -ch or -g; thus more often Bächlein (little brook) than Bächelchen. There is a limited number of other forms that remain in common use, but for the most part -lein now has a poetic and archaic tone. The general diminutive suffix in the written language and in northern speech is -chen, while southern informal use prefers regional suffixes like -le, -li (Swabian/Alemannic) and -erl (Austro-Bavarian).
  • Diminutives in -lein generally have umlaut. The endings -e, -en, -el are all deleted before the suffix.
  • The plural remains unchanged. However, a few nouns with a plural in -er may carry the same ending over to the plural diminutive, and a few diminutives referring to people allow a plural in -s. This is common with KindleinKinderlein and FräuleinFräuleins. Most other such forms are rare.

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. ^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “-lein”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN