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-sam

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German -sam, from Old High German -sam, from Proto-West Germanic *-sam, from Proto-Germanic *-samaz, from Proto-Germanic *samaz, from Proto-Indo-European *somHós. Cognate with English -some and Dutch -zaam. Related also to Old High German samo (the same) and sama (similary).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /za(ː)m/, [zaːm], [zam], (chiefly southern also) [s-]
    • The prescriptive standard has a long vowel, but in practice both forms are common and widely unmarked.
    • Apart from southerners with a generally devoiced /z/, some speakers devoice it when -sam follows obstruents, e.g. in wirksam. (Compare the suffix -sen, where this is the rule.)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Germany (Berlin)):(file)

Suffix

-sam

  1. Used to form adjectives from verbs, nouns, and other adjectives; expressing similarity or the possession of a quality.
    Tugend (virtue) + -samtugendsam (of virtue, virtuous)
    aufmerken (to observe) + -samaufmerksam (observant, attentive)
    lang (long, lengthy) + -samlangsam (slow)
  2. Used to form adjectives from verbs; expressing the ability to undergo some action.
    Synonyms: -bar, -abel
    biegen (to bend) + -sambiegsam (flexible, bendable)

Usage notes

  • The suffix is now of very limited productivity at most.

Derived terms

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Latin

Suffix

-sam

  1. accusative feminine singular of -sus

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse -samr.

Suffix

-sam

  1. used to form adjectives

Derived terms

References

Old Irish

Pronunciation

Suffix

-sam

  1. alternative form of -som

See also

More information person, emphatic suffixes ...
Emphatic suffixes are added to nouns modified by a possessive determiner to emphasize the possessor; to verbs, predicate adjectives, and predicate nouns to emphasize the subject; and to inflected prepositions to emphasize the object.
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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse -samr, from Proto-Germanic *-samaz, a suffix form of *samaz (same).

Suffix

-sam

  1. -some; creating adjectives, mostly out of nouns

Derived terms

See also

References

  • -sam in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Anagrams

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