# Is there a PIE feminising noun suffix? Tags: etymology, historical-linguistics, proto-indo-european - Score: 6 - Views: 498 - Answers: 2 - Answered: yes - Asked by: Fleur (63 rep) - Asked: 2014-08-24 - Site: linguistics ## Question I was wondering whether anyone knows the Proto-Indo-European equivalent of the Greek suffixes -ina (-ίνα) or -issa (-ισσα), or whether PIE has any different feminising suffixes that work similarly? ## Answers ### Answer by TKR (score: 5 [ACCEPTED]) The main PIE feminine derivational suffix was -ih2: compare *deiu-o- 'god' with *deiu-ih2 'goddess' (Skt. devī). Incidentally, this suffix is actually the indirect source of the Greek suffix -ssa: when added to a stem ending in -t or -k, you get e.g. *melit - *melit-ih2, which becomes in Greek *melitya and then melissa (Attic melitta). From cases like these the suffix was reinterpreted as being -ssa and extended to other types of stems (e.g. basilissa 'queen'). ### Answer by Anixx (score: 0) The feminine suffix in PIE is believed to be -i̯ea̯, though the ablaut grade in nominative is not certain. Traditionally reconstructed as -i̯ea̯ (because of long vowels in Latin), but Beekes hypothesizes that t