־ל
Yiddish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German -el, from Old High German -il, from Old High German -ilī. Compare German -lein, dialectal German -el, -erl, Alemannic German -li.
Pronunciation
[edit]Suffix
[edit]־ל • (-l) n, plural ־לעך (-lekh)
- Forms diminutive nouns when added to a noun, with umlaut where applicable.
- Forms fractional numerals when added to the stem of an ordinal numeral.
Usage notes
[edit]- In general, Yiddish abhors forming ־ל (-l) diminutives with nouns or roots of nouns ending in ־ן (-n) or indeed ־ל (-l). This may be handled one of two ways:
- Replace ־ן (-n) with ־ל (-l) with or without formation of umlaut, e.g. קערן (kern) + ־ל (-l) → קערל (kerl), or בויגן (boygn) + ־ל (-l) → בייגל (beygl).
- Insert a consonant between ־ן (-n)/־ל (-l) and ־ל (-l). This is most commonly ־ד־ (-d-) or ־כ־ (-kh-), e.g. האָן (hon) + ־ל (-l) → הענדל (hendl), באַן (ban) + ־ל (-l) → בענכל (benkhl), or שפּיל (shpil) + ־ל (-l) → שפּילכל (shpilkhl). This may also apply when the noun ends in a vowel, but the last consonant of the word is ־נ־ (-n-), e.g. אַפֿענע (afene) + ־ל (-l) → אַפֿענדל (afendl). In this case, the plural form becomes ־דלעך (-dlekh) or ־כלעך (-khlekh).
- Note that some nouns use both forms as diminutives, e.g. קערן (kern) + ־ל (-l) → קערל (kerl) or קערנדל (kerndl), albeit often with different senses.
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- Hebrew: ־לה (-le)
See also
[edit]- ־עלע (-ele)