Janhunen (1981) proposed that *-uc is from Proto-Uralic *-wte, from *-w and related to Proto-Samic *-otëk (compare Northern Sami -odat) and Proto-Samoyedic *pirə̂ (< *pide-w-), but Salminen (2014) has cast doubt on this etymology by rejecting the presence of *-w- in the Samoyedic word.
Korhonen (1981) mentions an alternative etymology that *-uc is a reduction of *vooci (“year”) (and thus cognate with Proto-Samic *vuotë, which would be an early Finnic borrowing), a theory which Hakulinen however rejects on the basis that there is insufficient evidence for the required semantic and phonological development.
More recently, Junttila (2019) has written that *-uc could in fact be related to Proto-Samic *vuotë and that the suffix may have originally been an independent back-vocalic word that was used to form compounds. He does not however elaborate on whether this word was *vooci or not, and states that the theory is uncertain as there is no widely accepted etymology for the Finnic and Samic morphemes. Aikio, in his draft of the Uralic Etymological Dictionary, speculates on a possible etymology from Proto-Uralic *owte or *ote, and lists Proto-Samic *vuotë and Eastern Khanty от (ot) as possible cognates. This theory requires *-uuc to be the original primary form. With this in mind, it appears that *-uc is probably somehow related to Proto-Samic *vuotë and that both originate from a common independent word (rather than an affix), but the exact nature of this word and its further origin is as of yet uncertain.
*-uc / *-üc
Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility. | |||
singular | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | *-uc | *-udët | |
accusative | *-udën | *-udët | |
genitive | *-udën | *-ut'ën *-ucidën | |
partitive | *-utta | *-ucita | |
inessive | *-udëssa *-udëhna |
*-ucissa *-ucihna | |
elative | *-udësta | *-ucista | |
illative | *-udësën | *-ucisën | |
adessive | *-udëlla | *-ucilla | |
ablative | *-udëlta | *-ucilta | |
allative | *-udëlën *-udëlëk |
*-ucilën *-ucilëk | |
essive | *-unna | *-ucina | |
translative | *-udëksi | *-uciksi | |
instructive | *-udën | *-ucin | |
comitative | *-unnëk | *-ucinëk | |
abessive | *-udëtta | *-ucitta |