-lein
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German[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- -el, -l (chiefly dialectal)
- -le (chiefly dialectal)
- -li (in Swiss)
- -lin (chiefly Early New High German)
- -elein (chiefly in poetry)
Etymology[edit]
From Middle High German -elīn, -līn, from Old High German -ilī, -ilīn.[1] Cognate to Dutch -lijn and English -ling.
Pronunciation[edit]
Suffix[edit]
-lein (plural -lein or -leins or -erlein)
- suffix used to create a diminutive form; e.g., Kind → Kindlein
Usage notes[edit]
- In modern Standard German -lein is less common than, and often replaced by, -chen.
- The plural generally remains unchanged as it does with diminutives in -chen. A few nouns with a plural in -er may carry the same ending over to the plural diminutive. This is common with Kindlein → Kinderlein (and equally Kindchen → Kinderchen); otherwise it is rare. A few nouns referring to people allow a plural in -s. This is common with Fräulein → Fräuleins; otherwise it is, again, rare.
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Kluge, Friedrich (1989) , “-lein”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological dictionary of the German language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German suffixes
- German noun-forming suffixes
- German diminutive suffixes