Adjective Suffixes

The suffix -ede derives adjectives from the group "adjective stem+ substantive stem”, as in micelhēafdede 'largeheaded', sometimes from а single substantive stem: hōcede ‘hooked’, healede ‘broken’. It is productive.

The suffix-ihte derives adjectives from substantive stems, usually accompanied by mutation: stænihte 'stony' from stān 'stone', yrnihte 'thorny' from orn 'thorn' (< *urn).

The suffix -i™ also derives adjectives from substantive stems, sometimes accompanied by mutation: hāli™ ‘holy’ (from hāl 'whole'), mōdi™ (from mōd ‘feeling’), misti™ ‘misty’ (from mist 'mist'), īsi™ ’icy’ (from īs 'ice'), bysi™ 'busy', dysi™ 'foolish'. It is productive.

The suffix -en (from -in) accompanied by mutation derives adjectives from substantives: ™ylden. 'golden’ from ™old 'gold’ (< * ™uld), wyllen 'woollen' (from wulle 'wool'), stænen made of stone (from stān 'stone'), līnen 'flaxen' (from līn 'flax').

The suffix -isc, usually accompanied by mutation, derives adjectives, mostly denoting nationality: En™lisc 'English', Frencisc 'French', Welisc 'Welsh', mennisc 'human', folcisc 'popular'. A productive suffix.

The suffix-sum derives adjectives from substantive, adjective, and verb stems: sibbsum 'peaceful’ (from sibb 'peace'), lan™sum 'dreary' (from lan™ 'long'), hīersum 'obedient' (from hīeran 'hear', 'оbеу'). A productive suffix.

The suffix-feald (cf. the verb fealdan 'fold') derives adjectives from numeral and adjective stems: þrīefeald 'threefold', seofonfeald ‘seonfold’, mani™feald 'manifold'.

The suffix -full (from the adjective full 'full') derives adjectives from abstract substantive stems: sor™full 'sorrowful', synnfull 'sinful', carfull 'full of care’.

The suffix-lēas (from the adjective lēas 'deprived') derives adjectives from verb and substantive stems: slæplēas 'sleepless', ™elēaflēas 'unbelieving', ārlēas 'deprived of honour', reccelēas 'reckless'.

The suffix-lic (from the substantive līc 'body') derives adjectives from substantive and adjective stems: eorþlīc 'earthly', frēondlīc 'friendly', luflīc 'full of love', ™earlic 'yearly', ™ōdlīc 'pleasant', dēadlīc 'deadly', ænlic 'unique'.

The suffix-weard derives adjectives from substantive, adjective, and adverb stems: hāmweard 'homeward', middeweard 'middle', inneweard 'internal'.