Where does “-isch” come from?

-isch (Middle High German) comes from Old High German -isc, from Proto-West Germanic -isk, from Proto-Germanic -iskaz, from Proto-Indo-European -iskos — Characteristic of, typical of, pertaining to.

Ancestry of “-isch”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High German-iscused to form adjectives
2Proto-West Germanic-iskCreates adjectives from nouns
3Proto-Germanic-iskazForms adjectives from nouns with the sense of...
4Proto-Indo-European-iskosCharacteristic of, typical of, pertaining to

Words derived from “-isch”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -iskos →Every word from Proto-Germanic -iskaz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic -isk →