-ig

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ig"

Danish

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns

Derived terms

Danish terms suffixed with -ig

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch -ich, from Old Dutch -ag, -ig, from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-agaz, *-īgaz, *-ugaz, each a variant of a common suffix *-gaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əx/

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns

   Synonyms: -achtig, -erig

2. -ed, having (when attached to a noun preceded by an adjective that describes the noun)

   roodharig ― red-haired

   dikhuidig ― thick-skinned

   tweebenig ― two-legged

Declension

Declension of -ig
uninflected	-ig
inflected	-ige
comparative	-iger
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		-ig	-iger	het -igst het -igste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	-ige	-igere	-igste
	n. sing.	-ig	-iger	-igste
	plural	-ige	-igere	-igste
definite		-ige	-igere	-igste
partitive		-igs	-igers	—

Derived terms

Dutch terms suffixed with -ig

• batig
• betweterig
• danig
• -erig
• fruitig
• geniepig
• hanig
• hardharig
• horig
• horig
• inhalerig
• kranig
• onledig
• prekerig
• pruilerig
• stevig
• volledig
• volmondig
• vredig

 

German

Etymology

From Middle High German -ec, -ic, from Old High German -ig, from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-gaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪç/ (Germany; less common in southern regiolects)
• IPA^(key): /ɪk/, /ɪɡ̊/, /iɡ̊/ (most common form in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland)
• IPA^(key): /ɪɕ/, /ɪʃ/ (all central German dialects)

• Audio:

  (file)

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns
2. forms adjectives from verbs
3. forms adjectives from adverbs

Declension

Positive forms of -ig

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist -ig	sie ist -ig	es ist -ig	sie sind -ig
strong declension (without article)	nominative	-iger	-ige	-iges	-ige
	genitive	-igen	-iger	-igen	-iger
	dative	-igem	-iger	-igem	-igen
	accusative	-igen	-ige	-iges	-ige
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der -ige	die -ige	das -ige	die -igen
	genitive	des -igen	der -igen	des -igen	der -igen
	dative	dem -igen	der -igen	dem -igen	den -igen
	accusative	den -igen	die -ige	das -ige	die -igen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein -iger	eine -ige	ein -iges	(keine) -igen
	genitive	eines -igen	einer -igen	eines -igen	(keiner) -igen
	dative	einem -igen	einer -igen	einem -igen	(keinen) -igen
	accusative	einen -igen	eine -ige	ein -iges	(keine) -igen

Comparative forms of -ig

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist -iger	sie ist -iger	es ist -iger	sie sind -iger
strong declension (without article)	nominative	-igerer	-igere	-igeres	-igere
	genitive	-igeren	-igerer	-igeren	-igerer
	dative	-igerem	-igerer	-igerem	-igeren
	accusative	-igeren	-igere	-igeres	-igere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der -igere	die -igere	das -igere	die -igeren
	genitive	des -igeren	der -igeren	des -igeren	der -igeren
	dative	dem -igeren	der -igeren	dem -igeren	den -igeren
	accusative	den -igeren	die -igere	das -igere	die -igeren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein -igerer	eine -igere	ein -igeres	(keine) -igeren
	genitive	eines -igeren	einer -igeren	eines -igeren	(keiner) -igeren
	dative	einem -igeren	einer -igeren	einem -igeren	(keinen) -igeren
	accusative	einen -igeren	eine -igere	ein -igeres	(keine) -igeren

Superlative forms of -ig

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am -igsten	sie ist am -igsten	es ist am -igsten	sie sind am -igsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	-igster	-igste	-igstes	-igste
	genitive	-igsten	-igster	-igsten	-igster
	dative	-igstem	-igster	-igstem	-igsten
	accusative	-igsten	-igste	-igstes	-igste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der -igste	die -igste	das -igste	die -igsten
	genitive	des -igsten	der -igsten	des -igsten	der -igsten
	dative	dem -igsten	der -igsten	dem -igsten	den -igsten
	accusative	den -igsten	die -igste	das -igste	die -igsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein -igster	eine -igste	ein -igstes	(keine) -igsten
	genitive	eines -igsten	einer -igsten	eines -igsten	(keiner) -igsten
	dative	einem -igsten	einer -igsten	einem -igsten	(keinen) -igsten
	accusative	einen -igsten	eine -igste	ein -igstes	(keine) -igsten

Note: There are also contracted forms like -'ger.

Suffix

-ig

1. (Switzerland, colloquial) variation of -ung

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -ig

See also

• -lich
• -isch

Hungarian

Pronominal adverbs from case suffixes (cf. postpositions)
ed	suffix	who?	what?	this	that	he/she (it)*
case							v. pr.	c.
nom.	–	ki	mi	ez	az	ő* / -∅ az / -∅	–	–
acc.	-t / -ot / -at / -et / -öt	kit	mit	ezt	azt	őt* / -∅ azt / -∅	–	c1 c2
dat.	-nak / -nek	kinek	minek	ennek	annak	neki	neki-	c
ins.	-val / -vel	kivel	mivel	ezzel/ evvel	azzal/ avval	vele		c
c-f.	-ért	kiért	miért	ezért	azért	érte	–	c
tra.	-vá / -vé	kivé	mivé	ezzé	azzá	–	–	c
ter.	-ig	–	meddig	eddig	addig	–	–	c
e-f.	-ként	(kiként)	(miként)	ekként	akként	–	–	c
e-m.	-ul / -ül	–	–	–	–	–	–	c
ine.	-ban / -ben	kiben	miben	ebben	abban	benne	–	c
sup.	-n/-on/-en/-ön	kin	min	ezen	azon	rajta	(rajta-)	c
ade.	-nál / -nél	kinél	minél	ennél	annál	nála	–	c
ill.	-ba / -be	kibe	mibe	ebbe	abba	bele	bele-	c
sub.	-ra / -re	kire	mire	erre	arra	rá	rá-	c
all.	-hoz/-hez/-höz	kihez	mihez	ehhez	ahhoz	hozzá	hozzá-	c
el.	-ból / -ből	kiből	miből	ebből	abból	belőle	–	c
del.	-ról / -ről	kiről	miről	erről	arról	róla	–	c
abl.	-tól / -től	kitől	mitől	ettől	attól	tőle	–	c
*: Ő and őt refer to human beings; the forms below them might be construed likewise. – Forms in parentheses are uncommon. All »

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [iɡ]
• Rhymes: -iɡ

Suffix

-ig (terminative case suffix)

1. (of place) to, up to

   Az állomásig busszal mentünk, de onnan hazáig már gyalog. ― We traveled by bus to the station but from there to home we walked.

2. (of time) until, till

   Ötig dolgozom. ― I work until five o'clock.

3. for a specified length of time

   A levél olyan hosszú volt, hogy tíz percig olvastam. ― The letter was so long that I was reading it for 10 minutes.

Usage notes

   Hungarian case suffixes

Case	Back vowel a, á, o, ó, u, ú	Front vowel
		unrounded e, é, i, í	rounded ö, ő, ü, ű
nominative	—
accusative	-t
	-ot / -at	-et	-öt
dative	-nak	-nek
instrumental	-val	-vel
causal-final	-ért
translative	-vá	-vé
terminative	-ig
essive-formal	-ként
essive-modal	-ul	-ül
inessive	-ban	-ben
superessive	-n
	-on	-en	-ön
adessive	-nál	-nél
illative	-ba	-be
sublative	-ra	-re
allative	-hoz	-hez	-höz
elative	-ból	-ből
delative	-ról	-ről
ablative	-tól	-től
Note for all endings: Stem-final -a/-e changes to -á-/-é-, respectively, except -ként.     alma — almában, but almaként     zene ― zenében, but zeneként

• It has no harmonic variants. It is used by both back-vowel and front-vowel words.
• The above two senses may be ambiguous when hour or o'clock is mentioned, as in this sentence:

  Két óráig maradunk. ― We'll stay for two hours OR We'll stay until 2 o'clock.

To avoid this ambiguity, the accusative case may be employed when referring to the duration (Két órát maradunk), and the sentence may be rephrased when referring to the end point (Két óra múlva indulunk – We're leaving in two hours.)

• (until): With pointlike events or places the meaning is usually clear. However, it is ambiguous when the given event itself lasts for some time or the given object is such that it matters whether it is included, excluded or partially included.

  Szerdáig van időd. ― You have time until Wednesday.

  • With exclusion: on Wednesday 00:01 A.M. you are already late (rare, one would probably say keddig; until Tuesday)
  • With partial inclusion: the border line is somewhere during the day (most likely)
  • With full inclusion: you have the full Wednesday (also possible)

See also

• addig, eddig, meddig
• Category:Hungarian terms taking -ig
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

Middle English

Suffix

-ig

1. Alternative form of -y

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From -ugr, Old Norse -igr (“-y”), from *-ugaz, Proto-Germanic *-īgaz (“-y”), from *-gaz (“-y”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ḱos (“-y”). Certain words also from Low German -ig (“-y”) or German -ig (“-y”), from Middle High German -ec, -ic, from Old High German -ig, from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-gaz (“-y”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos (“-y”).

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål terms suffixed with -ig

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “inherited from Old Norse or derived from Middle Low German loanwords?”)

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns

Derived terms

Norwegian Nynorsk terms suffixed with -ig

See also

• -ug

Ojibwe

Suffix

-ig

1. A suffix denoting the third person singular to first- or second-person singular form of a transitive animate verb (vta)

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *-ag, -ig. Still distinct in the earliest texts.

Alternative forms

• -iċ, -eġ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ij/

Suffix

-iġ

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns and verbs

Declension

Declension of -iġ — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-iġ	-iġu, -iġo	-iġ
Accusative	-iġne	-iġe	-iġ
Genitive	-iġes	-iġre	-iġes
Dative	-iġum	-iġre	-iġum
Instrumental	-iġe	-iġre	-iġe
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-iġe	-iġa, -iġe	-iġu, -iġo
Accusative	-iġe	-iġa, -iġe	-iġu, -iġo
Genitive	-iġra	-iġra	-iġra
Dative	-iġum	-iġum	-iġum
Instrumental	-iġum	-iġum	-iġum

Declension of -iġ — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-iġa	-iġe	-iġe
Accusative	-iġan	-iġan	-iġe
Genitive	-iġan	-iġan	-iġan
Dative	-iġan	-iġan	-iġan
Instrumental	-iġan	-iġan	-iġan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-iġan	-iġan	-iġan
Accusative	-iġan	-iġan	-iġan
Genitive	-iġra, -iġena	-iġra, -iġena	-iġra, -iġena
Dative	-iġum	-iġum	-iġum
Instrumental	-iġum	-iġum	-iġum

Derived terms

• bisiġ
• findiġ

Old English terms suffixed with -ig

Descendants

• Middle English: -iȝ, -i, -y, -ich
  • English: -y, -ey, -ie
  • Scots: -ie

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī, from Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- (diminutive suffix).

Alternative forms

• -g, -ih

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iɡ/, [iɣ], /ij/

Suffix

-ig or -iġ

1. Suffix creating diminutive nouns from other nouns.

   bōsiġ

Descendants

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

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-gaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos.

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from i-stem nouns and verbs

Related terms

• -ag

Scottish Gaelic

Suffix

-ig

1. slender form of -aig

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse -agr, -igr, from Proto-Germanic *-gaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-kos. Cognate with English -y. Compare Old English -ig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪ(ɡ)/

Suffix

-ig

1. -y; forms adjectives from nouns and verbs

   ‎is (“ice”) + ‎-ig → ‎isig (“icy”)

   ‎kunna (“be able to, know”) + ‎-ig → ‎kunnig (“knowledgeable”)

3. -ed (when attached to a compound of an adjective and a noun or verb it describes)

   Han är rödhårig

   He is red-haired

Usage notes

• Often pronounced without the final 'g' (/ɪ/).
• In (sense 2), "Han är rödhårad" reads like "He is red-hair'ed," as if someone has done "red hair" to him. The same reading is possible in English, but natural in Swedish.

Declension

Inflection of -ig

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	-ig	-igare	-igast
neuter singular	-igt	-igare	-igast
plural	-iga	-igare	-igast
masculine plural2	-ige	-igare	-igast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	-ige	-igare	-igaste
all	-iga	-igare	-igaste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

Swedish terms suffixed with -ig

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *-ikos. Cognate with Cornish -ik, Breton -ig, Proto-Germanic *-igaz, Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Latin -icus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡ/

Suffix

-ig

1. forms adjectives from nouns, -y

   ‎gwenwyn (“poison”) + ‎-ig → ‎gwenwynig (“poisonous”)

   ‎pwys (“weight, pound”) + ‎-ig → ‎pwysig (“important”)

   ‎Gwyddel (“Irish man”) + ‎-ig → ‎Gwyddelig (“Irish”)

2. person or object with characteristics of the root word

   ‎lloer (“moon”) + ‎-ig → ‎lloerig (“lunatic”)

   ‎ysgol (“school”) + ‎-ha + ‎-ig → ‎ysgolhaig (“scholar”)

   ‎calan (“first day of the year”) + ‎-ig → ‎calennig (“New Year's gift”)

3. diminutive suffix, -let

   ‎afon (“river”) + ‎-ig → ‎afonig (“rivulet”)

   ‎barwn (“baron”) + ‎-ig → ‎barwnig (“baronet”)

   ‎oen (“lamb”) + ‎-ig → ‎oenig (“small ewe lamb”)

4. (chemistry) -ic, Used in chemical nomenclature to name chemical compounds in which a specified chemical element has a higher oxidation number than in the equivalent compound whose name ends in the suffix -us. For example asid nitrig (“nitric acid, HNO₃”) has more oxygen atoms per molecule than asid nitrus (“nitrous acid, HNO₂”).

Derived terms

Welsh terms suffixed with -ig

Related terms

-edig (“forms adjectives from verbs”)

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “-ig”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies