-icht

== German == === Alternative forms === -igt (obsolete) === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɪçt/ === Etymology 1 === From Middle High German -eht, from Old High German -ohti, -ahti. Cognate with Alemannic German -et, Bavarian -at, East Central German -it. ==== Suffix ==== -icht (unproductive, with one exception highly archaic) used to form adjectives, generally from nouns ‎Tor (“fool”) + ‎-icht → ‎töricht (“foolish”) ‎Stein (“stone”) + ‎-icht → ‎steinicht (“stony”) ‎Dreck (“dirt”) + ‎-icht → ‎dreckicht (“dirty”) ===== Usage notes ===== In most cases, this suffix was used alongside a form in -ig, with the latter preferred especially in the north, as -icht has no equivalent in Low German. Over the course of the 19th century, forms in -icht were systematically removed from the standard language. Only töricht remains as a relict (törig being used by Goethe, but failing to establish itself). === Etymology 2 === From Middle High German -ech, -ach, from Old High German -āhi. Paragogic -t after a final fricative is fairly common in Modern German (e.g. sonst, Saft); in this case likely reinforced by confusion with etymology 1 above. ==== Suffix ==== -icht (unproductive, now rare) used to form collective nouns from adjectives, nouns and verbs ‎dick (“thick, dense”) + ‎-icht → ‎Dickicht n (“thicket”) ‎Rohr (“tube, reed”) + ‎-icht → ‎Röhricht n (“bush of reed”) ‎kehren (“to sweep”) + ‎-icht → ‎Kehricht m (“dry dirt”) ===== Usage notes ===== Dickicht remains in general use. Röhricht is a lesser known synonym of Schilf, while Kehricht is southern. Various other terms are obsolete or dialectal.