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-lich

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lich"

German

Alternative forms

-licht (now uncommon)

Etymology

Adjective: From Middle High German -lich, -līch, from Old High German -līh, from Proto-West Germanic *-līk. Cognate with English -ly and Dutch -lijk.^[1]

Adverb: From Middle High German -līche, from Old High German -līhho.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lɪç/
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)

Suffix

-lich

Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "something can be done with the person or thing described".
‎verstehen (“to understand”) + ‎-lich → ‎verständlich (“that can be understood, understandable”)
Used to form adjectives from verbs, to express that "that the person or thing described does something".
‎sterben (“to die”) + ‎-lich → ‎sterblich (“that dies, mortal”)
Used to form adjectives from nouns, indicating a likening to that noun.
‎Abenteuer (“adventure”) + ‎-lich → ‎abenteuerlich (“adventurous, risky”)

‎Kind (“child”) + ‎-lich → ‎kindlich (“childlike”)
Used to form adjectives from nouns describing timespans, to indicate regular repetition after each such time. The noun can optionally be qualified by a numeral.
‎Jahr (“year”) + ‎-lich → ‎jährlich (“repeated every year, yearly”)

‎zwei (“two”) + ‎Woche (“week”) + ‎-lich → ‎zweiwöchentlich (“biweekly, every two weeks”)
Used to form adjectives from nouns describing acts or properties ascribed to a certain entity, often acting as relational adjectives.
‎Betrieb (“company, operations”) + ‎-lich → ‎betrieblich (“pertaining to or performed by the company”)

‎Pflanze (“plant”) + ‎-lich → ‎pflanzlich (“botanical, pertaining to or produced by plants”)
Used to form adjectives from certain adjectives to express a lesser or degree of their quality.
‎rot (“red”) + ‎-lich → ‎rötlich (“reddish, red-tinged”)
Used to form adverbs from adjectives.
‎bekannt (“known”) + ‎-lich → ‎bekanntlich (“publicly, as it is known”)

Usage notes

When attached to words ending with an unstressed -en, an excrescent -t- has typically been inserted between it and the suffix: ‎eigen + ‎-lich → ‎eigentlich. This form has been standardized for all lexicalized words of that type, however, ad-hoc derivations, especially in the sense of relational adjectives, are likely to not feature it.

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -lich

altertumskundlich

altsteinzeitlich

alttestamentlich

arbeitsrechtlich

augenscheinlich

ausschließlich

ausschliesslich

betriebswirtschaftlich

bildungssprachlich

bundesrechtlich

bundesstaatlich

burschenschaftlich

datenschutzrechtlich

durchschnittlich

einschließlich

einverständlich

einzelsprachlich

erdgeschichtlich

ermittlungsgegenständlich

feindschaftlich

filmgeschichtlich

forstwirtschaftlich

fortschrittlich

fremdsprachlich

freundschaftlich

frühmittelalterlich

geburtshilflich

gegenständlich

geheimdienstlich

geisteswissenschaftlich

gemeinschaftlich

genossenschaftlich

gesellschaftlich

gewohnheitsrechtlich

See also

-ig
-isch

References

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

Further reading

“-lich” in Duden online
“-lich”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[1] (in German)

Middle English

Etymology 1

Suffix

-lich

alternative form of -ly (“adjectival suffix”)

Etymology 2

Suffix

-lich

alternative form of -ly (“adverbial suffix”)

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