-icht

German Alternative forms de -igt obsolete Pronunciation de /ɪçt/ Etymology 1 From de gmh -eht, from de goh -ohti, -ahti. Cognate with gsw -et, bar -ert -at, gmw-ecg -it. Suffix de suffix de unproductive with one exception highly _ archaic used to form adjectives, generally from nouns de Tor fool töricht foolish de Stein stone steinicht stony de Dreck dirt dreckicht dirty Usage notes In most cases, this suffix was used alongside a form in de -ig, with the latter preferred especially in the north, as de -icht has no equivalent in Low German. Over the course of the 19th century, forms in de -icht were systematically removed from the standard language. Only de töricht remains as a relict (de törig being used by Goethe, but failing to establish itself). Etymology 2 From de gmh -ech, -ach, from de goh -āhi. Paragogic de -t after a final fricative is fairly common in Modern German (e.g. de sonst, Saft); in this case likely reinforced by confusion with etymology 1 above. Suffix de suffix de unproductive now rare used to form collective nouns from adjectives, nouns and verbs de dick thick, dense Dickicht thicket n de Rohr tube, reed Röhricht bush of reed n de kehren to sweep Kehricht dry dirt m Usage notes de Dickicht remains in general use. de Röhricht is a lesser known synonym of de Schilf, while de Kehricht is southern. Various other terms are obsolete or dialectal.