-y

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Alternative forms

• -e, -ey, -ie
• -i- (when followed by another suffix)

Etymology 1

From Middle English -y, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-y, -ic”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-īgaz (“-y, -ic”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ikos, *-iḱos (“-y, -ic”).

Cognate with Scots -ie (“-y”), West Frisian -ich (“-y”), Dutch -ig (“-y”), Low German -ig (“-y”), German -ig (“-y”), Swedish -ig (“-y”), Gothic -𐌹𐌲𐍃 (-igs, “-y”), Latin -icus (“-y, -ic”), Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Sanskrit -इक (-ika). Doublet of -ac and -ic.

Suffix

-y

2. Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”.

   ‎mess + ‎-y → ‎messy

   ‎mouse + ‎-y → ‎mousy

   ‎blue + ‎-y → ‎bluey

   ‎clay + ‎-y → ‎clayey

   • 2003, Cory Doctorow, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom‎, Macmillan, →ISBN:

     Tim keeps trying to make it all more impressionistic, less computer-y.

3. Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".

   ‎run + ‎-y → ‎runny

   ‎stick + ‎-y → ‎sticky

   ‎fiddle + ‎-y → ‎fiddly

Usage notes

• This suffix is very productive and can be added to almost any word. When the resulting word is not perceived to be an established or formal word (but rather a nonce word or a casualism), a hyphen is often used before the suffix (sandcastle → sandcastle-y); this is sometimes also used when an established term is used very literally, as a form of clarification (fuzz → fuzz-y (“fuzz-like”), distinct from fuzzy (“covered in fuzz”)). A few long-established words ending with this suffix have distinctive spellings, such as wintry and fiery, which English learners might misspell as *wintery and *firey.

Synonyms

• (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “involving the referent”): -al, -an, -ial, -ian, -ly, -ous
• (form “having quality of” adjectives, denoting “analogous to the referent”): -esque, -ish, -like, -ly, -oid

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "form “having quality of” adjectives"): -less

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Etymology 2

Cognate with Scots -ie, being inherited directly from the same source Middle English -ie, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-ie, -y”, diminutive suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-ij-, *-j- (diminutive suffix). Compare Dutch -je (diminutive suffix), German Low German -je (diminutive suffix).

Alternative forms

• -ie, -ey, -ee

Suffix

-y

2. Forming diminutive nouns.

   granny, pinny, tummy

4. Forming familiar names, pet names, nicknames and terms of endearment.

   Andy, Billy, Johnny, Jonesy, lovey

Synonyms

• (diminutive): mini-, micro-, nano-, -ette, -ee, -icle/-cule/-ule/-ole

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Etymology 3

From Middle English -y, -ie, -ee, -e, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French -ie and -é, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tās, Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā), -ειᾰ (-eia), -ιον (-ion). Cognate (as far as Latin -ia is involved) with German -ei and Dutch -ij.

Suffix

-y

2. Forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state.

   ‎modest + ‎-y → ‎modesty

   ‎honest + ‎-y → ‎honesty

   ‎-nym + ‎-y → ‎-nymy

   as in ‎toponym + ‎-y → ‎toponymy

   ‎-logue + ‎-y → ‎-logy

   as in ‎analogue + ‎-y → ‎analogy

3. Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.

   Italy, Germany, Saxony, Hungary, Sicily, Lombardy, Tuscany, Albany, Brittany, Gascony, Burgundy, Picardy, Normandy, Romandy, Savoy, Muscovy, Tartary, Arcady, Thessaly, Troy, Turkey.

Derived terms

• -ery

Translations

Note: translations of English words ending in -y do not necessarily end in the suffixes listed below.

Derived terms

Afar

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-j/,

Clitic

-y

1. Used to form an interrogative copulative sentence: is it?

   Qafár af macáy? ― What is the Afar language?

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-j/,

Clitic

-y

1. Used to join together noun phrases: and, also
   • Saytun Qhuraan kee kay maqnah tarjamaty Qafar afal tani [The clear Qur'an and its explanation translated into the Afar language]‎, Suurat Al-Faatica, verse 1:

     Fulte Racmattaay, Gunê Racmattale Yallih Migaaqal Qimbisa.

     I begin in the name of God, who gives mercy and surpasses mercy.

Usage notes

• When following a short vowel, -y lengthens that vowel:

  ‎gaalá (“camel”) + ‎-y → ‎gaaláay (“and the camels”)

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN, page 282; 292
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis), page 447

Asturian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i/

Pronoun

-y

1. him, she, it (third-person singular indirect pronoun)

   Da-y pan

   Give him bread

Usage notes

It is always spelled with the hyphen, unlike other pronouns in the language.

Related terms

• -yos, -ys (third-person plural indirect pronoun)

Czech

Suffix

-y

1. -ly: from adjectives forms adverbs

   ‎logický + ‎-y → ‎logicky

Derived terms

Further reading

• -y in Slovník afixů užívaných v češtině, 2017

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /iː/
  • Conventional anglicization: -y

Etymology 1

Suffix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Forms the plural imperative of verbs, particularly weak verbs.
2. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally used to form the subjunctive of weak verbs.

Usage notes

The plural imperative can also appear without this suffix, in a form identical to the singular imperative.

Etymology 2

Suffix

1. Forms agent nouns from verbs.

Etymology 3

Suffix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the masculine imperfective active participle, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of -y  

-j

Etymology 4

Suffix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the masculine singular perfective passive participle of strong verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of -y  

-w	-w

Etymology 5

Suffix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the perfective passive participle of weak verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.
2. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Optionally marks the perfective relative form of weak verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.
3. (Late Egyptian) Marks the perfective passive participle of mostly third-weak transitive verbs, following the stem.
4. (Late Egyptian) Occasionally marks the perfective active participle of mostly third-weak transitive verbs, following the stem.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of -y  

-yꜣ	-yt
Late Egyptian	Late Egyptian

Etymology 6

Suffix

1. (Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian) Rarely marks the imperfective relative form of all verbs, intervening between the stem and the gender/number endings.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of -y  

-w	-w

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 328–329, 354.
• Junge, Friedrich (2005) Late Egyptian Grammar: An Introduction, second English edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, page 66

Finnish

Suffix

-y

1. Front vowel variant of -u.

Declension

Lower Sorbian

Suffix

-y

1. Alternative form of -i (used after “hard” consonants).

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-gaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos. Doublet of -ik.

Alternative forms

• -e, -eg, -ege, -ey, -i, -ich, -iche, -ie, -ig, -ige, -iȝ, -iȝe, -ik, -ike, -ye

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-iː/

Suffix

-y

2. Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by being appended to a noun.

Derived terms

Descendants

• English: -y, -ie, -ey
• Scots: -ie, -y

References

• “-i,, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 June 2018.
• “-i(e, suf.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 20 June 2018.

Etymology 2

Suffix

-y

1. Alternative form of -yf

Etymology 3

Suffix

-y

1. Alternative form of -ie

Northern Ohlone

Alternative forms

• -i (“after consonants”)

Suffix

-y (plural -iṭ)

1. Used to form the imperative mood of verbs

References

María de los Angeles Colós, José Guzman, and John Peabody Harrington (1930s) Chochenyo Field Notes (Survey of California and Other Indian Langauges)‎, Unpublished

Old Polish

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Slavic *-ъjь, the definite form of hard-stem adjectives. See *jь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /ɨː/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ɨ/

Suffix

-y

1. forms adjectives

Derived terms

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɨ/
• Rhymes: -ɨ
• Syllabification: y

Suffix

-y

1. nominative plural ending of some masculine nouns.
2. vocative plural ending of some masculine nouns.
3. genitive singular ending of some feminine nouns.
4. nominative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
5. accusative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
6. vocative plural ending of some feminine nouns.
7. personal, animate, and inanimate masculine nominative singular ending of some adjectives.
8. personal, animate, and inanimate masculine vocative singular ending of some adjectives.
9. inanimate masculine accusative singular ending of some adjectives.
10. personal masculine nominative plural ending of some adjectives.
11. personal masculine vocative plural ending of some adjectives.

Derived terms

Quechua

Suffix

-y

1. Infinitive marker.

   mikhuy (“to eat”)

2. Nominalizes verbs. The act of doing something. "-ing."

   pampachay (“pardon, remission”)

3. Indicates first-person singular possessive.

   mikhuna (“food”) → mikhunay (“my food”)

4. Conjugative suffix for the second-person imperative mood.

   Uyariway! ("(You) listen to me!")

Scots

Suffix

-y

1. Alternative form of -ie

References

• “-y, suff.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.