From Proto-Finnic *-lëk or *-llëk, related to and probably a variant of *-lën or *-llën (whence dialectal -len, -llen), which is related to *-sën (illative case suffix) and is composed of -l(l)- (external locative suffix) + Proto-Uralic *-ŋ (lative or dative suffix) (with an epenthetic *-e-). Compare Erzya and Moksha -нень (-ńeń) which is from Proto-Mordvinic *-ľeń.
It is not known whether the short *-l- or long *-ll- is original. If short, the long -l- may be due to analogy with -lla, -lta. The answer likely depends on the origin of the -l- itself. The traditional theory posits that it comes from the toponymic suffix *-la, but more recently it has been proposed that it is in fact a reduction of *ülä (“upper, above”); thus *...n *ül(ä)-nä > *...n-l-nä > *...lnä > *...llä. The initial genitive ending is lost by reduction of a phonotactically impossible sequence, but not in *...n-l-en > *...ll-en, hence *-llën.
-lle
From Proto-Finnic *-llëk. Cognates include Finnish -lle and Estonian -le.
-lle
| Possessive forms of -lle | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | singular | plural |
| 1st person | -lleen | -llemme |
| 2nd person | -llees | -llenne |
| 3rd person | -llee | -llesse |