Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/-istak

This Proto-Finnic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Finnic

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *-ńće-, *-nśe-. Related to the diminutive suffix *-ic(c)ë- and the verb suffix *-it'ak (stem *-iccë-; the *c(c) ~ *s variation is also seen with *-ic(c)ë-). The past tense forms of this suffix likely yielded the Northern Finnic conditional marker *-ici-, which would explain why this suffix is mainly used with onomatopoeic stems (for which there is no risk of semantic confusion with established roots).[1]

Suffix

*-istak / *-istäk (stem *-isë- / *-ise-)

  1. Forms continuative or frequentative verbs, mostly from onomatopoeic stems.

Derived terms

Proto-Finnic terms suffixed with *-istak

Descendants

  • Estonian: -isema/-iseda
  • Finnish: -ista
  • Ingrian: -issa
  • Karelian: -issa
  • >? Livonian: -īkšõ
  • Ludian: -ista
  • Veps: -išta
  • Võro: -istaq, -isõma
  • Votic: -isõ

References

  1. ^ Lehtinen, Tapani. Suomen konditionaalin morfologisesta ja semanttisesta motivaatiosta. Virittäjä 4/1983.