*-nassī

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the suffix *-nassī.^[1] Ringe and Taylor write it *-nVssī, because the vowel of its first syllable varies from dialect to dialect,^[2] and print it as *-nassī in *galīkanassī.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *-assuz (“-ness”),^[3][4][5] extended with an n from the bases to which it was added.^[2][5] Ringe and Taylor explain that abstract nouns in *-assu- were first formed from verbs in *-ati- ~ *-atja- and then became associated with the bases of those verbs, so that *ebnassus "levelling" came to mean "levelness" beside *ebnaz "level"; in Gothic such nouns were formed from verbs with an n-suffix, which gave the suffix complex Gothic -𐌹𐌽𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 (-inassus), and something similar must have happened in the prehistory of West Germanic.^[2] They find that the development before Proto-West Germanic cannot be reconstructed in detail, though the descent from *-assu- is clear enough.^[3] EWA likewise derives it from *-assu- added to bases containing n, above all to denominal verbs with an n-suffix, as in Gothic, which in turn go back to derivatives of old n-stems.^[5] Boutkan and Siebinga take Gothic -𐌰𐍃𐍃𐌿𐍃 (-assus) from *-at-tu-, perhaps abstracted from verbs of that type.^[6] Wiktionary instead reconstructs a suffix complex Proto-Germanic *-inassuz (“-ness”), reanalysed from *-inōną and *-assuz.^[7]

Morphology

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the nominative singular with the stem vowel *-ī, because the suffix is inflected as a feminine jō-stem in Old English, as a stem in *-īn-, less often a jō-stem, in Old Saxon, and as a ja-stem in Old High German, and ja-stems with a heavy root syllable ended in *-ī in the Proto-West Germanic nominative singular.^[2] EWA explains that West Germanic rebuilt the old masculine u-stem as a neuter ja-stem, beside which feminine jō-stem forms and forms in *-īn- arose.^[5] It first formed abstract nouns from verbs, and later also from nouns and adjectives.^[5]

Evidence

The suffix is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English has -nes, -nis and -nys,^[8] Old Frisian -nisse, -nesse, -nese and -inse,^[9] Old Saxon -nessi, -nissi and -nussi,^[10] Old Dutch -nussi and -nissi,^[11][12] and Old High German -nessi, -nassi, -nissi and -nussi.^[5] The North Germanic languages did not form this suffix complex and have it only in later loans, mostly from English.^[5] Ringe and Taylor note that nouns made from adjectives became the majority, and that the suffix is so productive in all the West Germanic languages that most nouns made with it may have been formed separately in each; one that can plausibly be reconstructed for Proto-West Germanic is *galīkanassī.^[3] In Old Frisian, Boutkan and Siebinga suggest that the -i- of -nisse may come from assimilation to the ending *-ī, and that the -e- of -nesse may be due to a-umlaut or to weakening of the unstressed vowel.^[6]

Competing analyses

The vowel of the first syllable is not settled.^[2] EWA sets up three West Germanic forms, *-(i)nassi̯e/a-, *-(i)nussi̯e/a- and *-(i)nissi̯e/a-,^[5] and Boutkan and Siebinga report de Vries's *-(n)issu- and *-(n)ussu-; they think the spellings may only stand for a schwa, since the original *a could be weakened in a middle syllable.^[6]

Meanings

1. forming abstract nouns of quality or state, mostly from adjectives^[1][3]

Derivatives

• *galīkanassī "similarity, image", which Ringe and Taylor reconstruct from Old English ġelīcnes and the Old Saxon and Old High German gilīknessi.^[3]
• *swōtinassī "sweetness", *gōdnassī "goodness", *stillinassī "stillness" and *sairanassī "soreness", which Wiktionary reconstructs.^[1]

Reflexes

• Old English: -nes (“-ness”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: -nisse (“-ness”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: -nessi (“-ness”)^[10]
• Old Dutch: -nussi (“-ness”)^[11]
• Old High German: -nessi (“-ness”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *-nassī
2. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 131
3. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 132
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *-assuz
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. -nessi
6. ^ a b c Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. -nese
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *-inassuz
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. -nėss
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. -nisse
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nėssi
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nussi
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. nissi