-ность

Russian Etymology Probably originated from the suffix ru -ость added to words ending in ru -ный, and was then extracted by ru 1 as a productive suffix. The same thing happened with e.g. ru -тельный and English en -ness. Suffix ru suffix noun-forming suffixes Suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives. A less productive alternative to ru -ость, except after ru щ, where it is the regular suffix. ru гото́вый ready → ru гото́вность readiness (no such word ru *гото́вный exists, making it a special case.) ru о́бщий general, common → ru о́бщность generality, community (no such word ru *о́бщный exists) Suffix forming nouns with the meaning of a group of things characterized by the quality designated by the adjectives from which the nouns are formed. ru живо́й living → ru жи́вность small creatures collectively Suffix forming nouns of various sorts from miscellaneous parts of speech. ru пове́рх over → ru пове́рхность surface Usage notes Not all words in ru -ность contain this suffix. Most of them are formed from ru -ость added to adjectives in ru -ный, e.g. ru вре́дность harmfulness from ru вре́дный harmful. As noted above, ru -ность is the regular alternative to ru -ость after adjectives whose stem ends in ru щ, e.g. ru о́бщий, ru су́щий, ru бу́дущий. Declension -ность f Derived terms ru Related terms ru -арность -ентность -енциозность -ивность -ость -ярность See also ru -щи́на, ru -ство, other suffixes for states of being, or being collective References T. F. Yefremova (2006), The New Dictionary of the Russian Language