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Definition 2024

-keit

-keit

German

Suffix

-keit f ‎(plural -keiten)

  1. Alternative form of -heit
    wirksam ‎(“effective”) → Wirksamkeit ‎(“effectiveness”)

Usage notes

  • See -heit for notes on the use of the two variants.

Derived terms

<a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:German_words_suffixed_with_-keit'>German words suffixed with -keit</a>

References

  1. ↑ “-heit” in: Friedrich Kluge, “Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache” , 22. Auflage, 1989, bearbeitet von Elmar Seebold, ISBN 3-11-006800-1

Etymology

Result of a wrong segmentation of two suffixes in Upper German dialects of Middle High German: -ec (modern -ig) and -heit: -ec-heit was interpreted as -e-keit.[1]. Later this phenomenon spread to other suffixes, and even to Central German dialects, in which the equivalents of -ig had never been pronounced with a final [k]-sound. (Compare the modern standard pronunciation of -ig [-ɪç].)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kaɪ̯t/, [kaɪ̯t]

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