Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ungō

This Proto-Germanic 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-Germanic

Alternative forms

• *-ingō, *-engō

Etymology

Unknown, but possibly from an earlier *-ōngō, equivalent to *-ōną +‎ *-gō. No certain cognates outside of Germanic and not found in Gothic, which has instead similar verbal nouns without -g-. Perhaps cognate with Latin suffixes -undus (forms the gerund) or from Proto-Indo-European *-n̥kʷos as in ἀλλοδαπός (allodapós), ποδαπός (podapós), and possibly propinquus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uŋ.ɡɔː/

Suffix

*-ungō f

1. -ing, -ion; forms gerund nouns from verbs.

Inflection

ō-stemDeclension of *-ungō (ō-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*-ungō	*-ungôz
vocative	*-ungō	*-ungôz
accusative	*-ungǭ	*-ungōz
genitive	*-ungōz	*-ungǫ̂
dative	*-ungōi	*-ungōmaz
instrumental	*-ungō	*-ungōmiz

Usage notes

• *-ungō was originally used with weak class 2 verbs (verbs ending in *-ōną) and *-ingō was used with weak class 1 verbs (verbs ending in *-janą) which eventually extended to all other verbs, possibly absorbing other verbal suffixes in the process (e.g. *-āngō, *-angō, *-engō, etc.). Over time, the distinction between *-ungō and *-ingō in the daughter languages became blurred and the suffixes were eventually merged in modern times.

Derived terms

Proto-Germanic terms suffixed with *-ungō

Related terms

• *-ingaz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *-ungu, *-ingu
  • Old English: -ung, -ing
    • Middle English: -ung, -ing, -yng
      • English: -ing
      • Scots: -ing
  • Old Frisian: -unge, -inge
    • Saterland Frisian: -enge
    • West Frisian: -ing
  • Old Saxon: -unga, -inga
    • Middle Low German: -inge, -unge, -onge
      • Low German: -ung, -ing
  • Old Dutch: -inga, -unga, -onga
    • Middle Dutch: -inge
      • Dutch: -ing
  • Old High German: -unga, -inga
    • Middle High German: -unge, -inge
      • Alemannic German: -ig (< -ing)
      • Central Franconian: -ung, -ong, -ing, -eng
        • Luxembourgish: -ung (still -eng in Wunneng)
      • East Central German: -ung
      • German: -ung
      • Yiddish: ־ונג (-ung)
      • → Polish: -unek
  • → Old French: -enge, -enghe, -ange
    • Middle French: -ange
      • French: -ange
• Old Norse: -ing, -ung
  • Icelandic: -ing, -ung
  • Faroese: -ing
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: -ing
  • Norwegian Bokmål: -ing
  • Old Swedish: -ing, -ung
    • Swedish: -ing, -ung (fossilized)
  • Danish: -ing