-keit

German edit

Etymology edit

Result of an etymologically wrong segmentation (rebracketing) of two suffixes in Upper German dialects of Middle High German: -ec (modern -ig) and -heit: -ec-heit was interpreted as -e-keit.^[1] Later this phenomenon spread to other suffixes, and even to Central German dialects, in which the equivalents of -ig had never been pronounced with a final [k]-sound. (Compare the modern standard pronunciation of -ig [-ɪç].) However, in some northern dialects of Central German, like Ripuarian, -keit is still absent or has only recently been introduced from standard German.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /kaɪ̯t/, [kaɪ̯t]
Audio (file)

Suffix edit

-keit f (genitive -keit, plural -keiten)

Alternative form of -heit
‎wirksam (“effective”) + ‎-keit → ‎Wirksamkeit (“effectiveness”)

Usage notes edit

See -heit for notes on the use of the two variants.

Declension edit

Declension of -keit [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	-keit	die	-keiten
genitive	einer	der	-keit	der	-keiten
dative	einer	der	-keit	den	-keiten
accusative	eine	die	-keit	die	-keiten

Derived terms edit

German terms suffixed with -keit

References edit

^ Friedrich Kluge (1989), “-heit”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

[1] Friedrich Kluge (1989), “-heit”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN

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