Neffe

See also: neffe

German

Alternative forms

Nefe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German neve, from Old High German nefo, nevo, from Proto-West Germanic *nefō, from Proto-Germanic *nefô. Cognate with Dutch neef, obsolete English neve. Further from Proto-Indo-European *népōts, whence English nephew, which see for more.

The form with -ff- is irregular and was spread by Luther. The development -v- → -ff- before a sonorant (here the n of the inflected forms) is also found in Early Modern German Offen, Freffel for Ofen, Frevel, and frequently in Low German; compare Middle Low German effen, gaffel, neffel, neffen for even, gavel, nevel, neven (the last in the sense of “next to”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɛfə/
audio (file)

Noun

Neffe m (weak, genitive Neffen, plural Neffen, feminine Nichte)

nephew (son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law)
(obsolete) another male relative, especially a grandson, but also a cousin etc.

Declension

Declension of Neffe [masculine, weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Neffe	die	Neffen
genitive	eines	des	Neffen	der	Neffen
dative	einem	dem	Neffen	den	Neffen
accusative	einen	den	Neffen	die	Neffen

Descendants

→? German Low German: Neffe