Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/-dak

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

Alternative forms

• *-däk (front harmony variant)
• *-tak, *-täk (forms used after a consonant that blocks consonant gradation)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Uralic *-ta- (infinitive marker) + *-k (lative ending). Cognates include Proto-Samic *-tēk.

Suffix

*-dak / *-däk

1. Suffix of the first infinitive.

Usage notes

Proto-Finnic verbs on the English Wiktionary are currently categorized under the first infinitive form.

Descendants

• Finnish: -da
• Ingrian: -a, -vva, -ja, -na, -la, -ra

Etymology 2

From Proto-Uralic *-ta[t/k], *-nta[t/k].

Suffix

*-dak / *-däk

1. The second-person plural possessive ending.
2. ? The first-person plural possessive ending.

Usage notes

• This is the form used in the nominative singular. The oblique form *-ndak (with initial *-n re-extracted from other inflectional suffixes, such as the genitive *-n) is used with all other cases and numbers.
• This suffix largely replaced the original first-person plural possessive ending *-mak/*-nak, possibly already in late Proto-Finnic.
• The final vowel was probably originally *-a/*-ä, and influenced in many descendants by the second-person plural personal pronoun *tek/*töö.
• The possessive suffix follows the case 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: -nne (< *-ndak, vocalism influenced by the second-person plural pronoun), (dialectal) -nna (South Karelia, Ostrobothnia), -nno (North Savonia), -nnu (North Karelia)
• Ingrian: -nne