Etymology From Middle English -y, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-y, -ic”, suffix), from Proto-West Germanic *-g, from Proto-Germanic *-īgaz (“-y, -ic”), from Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ikos, *-iḱos (“-y, -ic”). Cognate with Scots -ie (“-y”), West Frisian -ich (“-y”), Dutch -ig (“-y”), Low German -ig (“-y”), German -ig (“-y”), Swedish -ig (“-y”), Gothic -𐌹𐌲𐍃 (-igs, “-y”), Latin -icus (“-y, -ic”), Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós), Sanskrit -इक (-ika). Doublet of -ac and -ic.
1
Morpheme Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives meaning “having the quality of”, either “involving the referent” or “analogous to it”.
mess + -y → messy
mouse + -y → mousy
4 more examples
blue + -y → bluey
clay + -y → clayey
tree + -y → treey
hole + -y → holey
2
Morpheme Added to verbs to form adjectives meaning "inclined to".
Etymology Cognate with Scots -ie, being inherited directly from the same source Middle English -ie, -i, from Old English -iġ (“-ie, -y”, diminutive suffix), possibly from Proto-West Germanic *-ij-, *-j- (diminutive suffix). Not related with Dutch -je, -ie, regional Low German -je, which are from Proto-West Germanic *-ikīn (English -kin as in lambkin), nor with German -i, which is from Proto-West Germanic *-īn (English -en as in maiden). The vowel /i/ has an onomatopoeic quality to it, which may reinforce its occurrence in diminutives.
1
Morpheme Forming diminutive nouns.
gran(nam) + -y → granny
pin(afore) + -y → pinny
1 more example
(s)tom(ach) + -y → tummy
2
Morpheme Forming familiar names, pet names, nicknames and terms of endearment.
And(rew) + -y → Andy
Bill + -y → Billy
3 more examples
John + -y → Johnny
Jones + -y → Jonesy
love + -y → lovey
3
Morpheme Added for metrical reasons to songs, often in children's music where it may carry diminutive associations.
4
Morpheme Forming colloquial nouns signifying the person or thing associated with suffixed noun or verb.
Occasionally derogatory
fridge + -y → fridgy (“fridge magnet”)
junk + -y → junky
1 more example
town + -y → towny
5
Morpheme Forming nouns relative to an adjective.
bald + -y → baldy
dum(b) + -y → dummy
1 more example
right + -y → righty
6
Morpheme Forming colloquial interjections or phrases.
Etymology From Middle English -y, -ie, -ee, -e, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French -ie and -é, from Latin -ia, -ium, -tās, Ancient Greek -ίᾱ (-íā), -ειᾰ (-eiă), -ιον (-ion). Cognate (as far as Latin -ia is involved) with German -ei and Dutch -ij.
1
Morpheme Forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state.
modest + -y → modesty
honest + -y → honesty
2 more examples
-nym + -y → -nymy as in toponym + -y → toponymy
-logue + -y → -logy as in analogue + -y → analogy
2
Morpheme Used in the name of some locations which end in -ia in Latin.
Etymology Inherited from Middle English -y, -ie, for earlier -ien, from the Old English weak class 2 infinitival suffix -ian, -iġan, by syncope from earlier *-ōjan, North Sea Germanic form of Proto-West Germanic *-ōn, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną; reinforced by the suffix -ian, -ġan in Old English verbs of weak class 1 with roots ending in -r (and the exceptional strong class 6 verb swerian). Compare -en (infinitive ending).
1
West Country, Morpheme, Obsolete Denotes the infinitive of verbs when used intransitively.
But thee, thee wut ruckee, and ſquattee, and doattee in the Chimly Coander lick an Axwaddle ; and wi' the zame tha wut rakee up, and gookee, and tell doil, tell Dildrams and Buckingham Jenkins.An Exmoor Scolding, A. Brice; B. Thorn, 1771, A Vocabulary or Glossary, D, s.v. To tell Dildrams […], page 43
Where's your Tom now? Au! he do worky down to factory— he've a-workèd to the gig's two year1886, Frederic Thomas Elworthy, “Gig, Gig-mill”, in The West Somerset Word-Book, volume 1, London: Trübner & Co., page 284:
1 more example
d. wiː də ˈbɽɪŋ æʊɽ ˈʃiːp ɪn l̴ami / ‘We bring our sheep in (to) lamb.’ (36 Co 6, book I)2008 March 18 [c. 1955], Suzanne Wagner, “English dialects in the Southwest: morphology and syntax”, in Bernd Kortmann, Clive Upton, editors, Varieties of English, volume 1: The British Isles, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, page 432: