Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/-sak

This Proto-Finnic 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-Finnic

Etymology

From Proto-Uralic *-sa[t/k], *-nsa[t/k].

Suffix

*-sak / *-säk

1. The third-person plural possessive ending.

Usage notes

• This is the form used in the nominative singular. The oblique form *-nsak (with initial *-n re-extracted from other inflectional suffixes, such as the genitive *-n) is used with all other cases and numbers.
• Has largely merged with the singular form *-sa in descendants, often in favour of the plural form.
• As per usual rules (of 'suffixal gradation'), the consonant *-s- undergoes lenition to *-h- when preceded by an unstressed syllable (and a vowel).
• The possessive suffix follows the case suffix.
• In Northern Finnic (more specifically in Eastern Finnish, Karelian and Ingrian), an originally reflexive suffix *-sën / *-hën has replaced this suffix.

Coordinate terms

Proto-Finnic possessive suffixes

Person	Nominative singular	Oblique or plural
1st sing	*-mi	*-ni
2nd sing	*-ci	*-nci
3rd sing	*-sa	*-nsa
1st plur	*-mak	*-nak
2nd plur	*-dak	*-ndak
3rd plur	*-sak	*-nsak
Reference: Petri Kallio (2021) “Kaksikko aina kaunihimpi? Itämerensuomalaisten possessiivisuffiksien taustaa”, in Taina Saarikivi, Janne Saarikivi, editors, Turhan tiedon kirja: Tutkimuksista pois jätettyjä sivuja (Kirjokansi; 291) (in Finnish), pages 157-173

Descendants

• Finnish: -nsa (< *-nsak), (dialectal) -sa

Outside Northern Finnic, possessive suffixes were generally lost, but are found fossilized in some forms:

• ⇒ Estonian: enese (< *häne-nsäk)
• ⇒ Livonian: eņtš (< *häntä-nsäk)