-ский

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Russian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-ьskъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • IPA(key): (obsolete Moscow norm; nearly extinct since the mid-20th century)

Suffix

-ский (-skij)

  1. Used to form adjectives from nouns or sometimes other adjectives, often relational (meaning "related to X"): -ian, -ic, -ish
    А́нглия (Ánglija, England) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎англи́йский (anglíjskij, English)
    Русь (Rusʹ, Rus) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎ру́сский (rússkij, Russian)
    ара́б (aráb, Arab) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎ара́бский (arábskij, Arabic, Arabian, Arab)
    изда́тель (izdátelʹ, publisher) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎изда́тельский (izdátelʹskij, publisher (relational))
    депута́т (deputát, deputy) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎депута́тский (deputátskij, deputy (relational))
    зверь (zverʹ, beast; brute) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎зве́рский (zvérskij, brutal, savage)
    геро́й (gerój, hero) + ‎-ский (-skij) → ‎геро́йский (gerójskij, heroic)
    монго́л (mongól, Mongol) + ‎ьский (ʹskij) → ‎монго́льский (mongólʹskij, Mongolian)

Usage notes

  • Historically triggered the first Slavic palatalisation, cf. гре́цкий (gréckij), оне́жский (onéžskij), че́шский (čéšskij). However, in the modern literary language it has been replaced by the Church Slavonic variant -еский (-eskij) in most old formations. In modern formations, -ский after unmodified velars is used, e. g. ба́скский (báskskij), стра́сбургский (strásburgskij), каза́хский (kazáxskij).
  • Always triggers palatalisation for stems in /л/.
  • The adverb is -ски (-ski).
  • Historically pronounced as an unstressed -ской (-skoj) and sometimes also spelled as such. In early modern poetry, such as in Pushkin, rhyming of -ский (-skij) with -ой can be found. This pronunciation became obsolete during the 20th century.

Declension

Derived terms