Re: Icelandic/Old Norse -kk- suffix

At 3:14:51 PM on Sunday, January 22, 2012, gprosti wrote:

> Hello,

> Does anyone happen to know the origin of the suffix -kk-
> in Icelandic/Old Norse (as seen in hækka "rise, ascend" <
> hár "high", fækka "lessen" < fár "few" etc.)?

According to de Vries, <fækka> is the result of assimilation
in an earlier form <fætka>, which is actually attested.
There is also a <smækka> 'to make small', from *smætka, from
<smár>. He takes these to be the result of adding a <-k->
suffix to the neuters <fátt> and <smátt>.

There is also a <smættast> 'to become smaller' and a variant
<fætta>, which seem to be formed in the same way but with a
<-t-> suffix. He has no entry for <hækka>.

> I suspect that it's from the widespread *-sk- verb suffix,
> but I wanted to confirm whether this is the case.

Apparently not.

Brian