Lombardic affixes in Tuscan Italian

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

Information and examples are from Aebischer (1941:114–121), citing Bianchi (1888). The affix -ing(a) / -eng(a) was borrowed around the 10th–12th century from Lombardic (Germanic). It is best attested in Tuscan toponyms of Germanic, and sometimes also of Romance origin, and in personal names. Though it is not currently productive, it may once have been so to some extent, as it is also found in nouns and attributive adjectives. Apart from place names and personal names, it mostly occurs in hybrid formations.

1 adjectivizer

  • -ing(a) / -eng(a) ‘attributive, belonging to’, e.g. casal-ing-o (hamlet-attributive-masculine.singular) ‘relevant to the house-life, home-made, homely’, ram-ingo (branch-attributive) ‘wandering, roaming’, maggior-ingo (greater-attributive) ‘important or influential person’.