-lich
See also: lich, Lich, and lịch
German
Alternative forms
- -licht (nowadays uncommon)
Etymology
Adjective:From Middle High German -lich, -līch, from Old High German -līh, from Proto-West Germanic *-līk. Cognate with English -ly and Dutch -lijk.[1]
Adverb:From Middle High German -līche, from Old High German -līhho.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɪç/
Audio (file)
Suffix
-lich
- Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "something can be done with the person or thing described".
- verstehen (“to understand”) + -lich → verständlich (“that can be understood, understandable”)
- Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "that the person or thing described does something".
- sterben (“to die”) + -lich → sterblich (“that dies, mortal”)
- Used to form adjectives from nouns, to indicate "affiliation".
- Abenteuer (“adventure”) + -lich → abenteuerlich (“associated with adventure, adventurous”)
- Used to form adjectives from nouns (times), to indicate "repetition".
- Jahr (“year”) + -lich → jährlich (“repeated every year, annually”)
- Used to form adjectives from adjectives, to expresses "a weakening or differentiation".
- rot (“red”) + -lich → rötlich (“having a somewhat red coloring, reddish”)
Derived terms
German terms suffixed with -lich
- gastlich
- lächerlich
References
- Friedrich Kluge (1989), “-lich”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
Middle English
Suffix
-lich
- Alternative form of -ly (“adjectival suffix”)
Suffix
-lich
- Alternative form of -ly (“adverbial suffix”)