Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/-ica

Etymology
By secondary thematicization of older consonant-stem, e.g. This is comparable to the treatment of ī/ih₂-stems in Latin, in the suffix, compare:
 * post-🇨🇬 (cf. 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬) > Pre-Slavic >  > Common Slavic.
 * post-🇨🇬 (cf. 🇨🇬) > Pre-Slavic >  > Common Slavic
 * Latin : Sanskrit, Ancient Greek.

The primary function in PIE, also retained in Proto-Slavic, was thus to create feminines, substantivized feminine adjectives. The diminutive function is closely related to the structural element */-k-ā/, and has parallels in other suffixes:, , , ,.

Suffix
(sometimes, see usage notes)


 * *oldi, *oldьje →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *oldi, *oldьje →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *oldi, *oldьje →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →
 * *buky, *bukъve →

Usage notes
Forming feminine counterparts of masculine nouns is particularly productive in South Slavic. North Slavic normally prefers the suffix /  instead.

Diminutive formations are particularly productive in South Slavic (especially Old Church Slavonic and Serbo-Croatian, which do not have diminutive reflexes of suffixes / ). North Slavic has the suffix preserved in relics, and prefers the suffix /  instead.

Agent and instrument nouns formations are secondary, and were originally based on the primary adjective, noun or participle, and later semantically influenced by the corresponding verb. E.g. Some agent nouns on, such as , can also be masculine, which is especially productive in Serbo-Croatian.

Accent depends on that of the baseword. In case of oxytonic and circumflexed base, usually the suffixal is acuted. Derivations from acuted basewords usually preserve the acute (e.g., ).

Synonyms

 * :, , (sometimes)

Derived terms

 * (with *-ьn- element abstracted away from denominal derivations on *-ьnъ)
 * (with *-av- element abstracted away from agent nouns on *-ava and adjectives on *-avъ)

Related terms

 * (masculine counterpart)

Descendants

 * East Slavic:
 * South Slavic:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * South Slavic:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * West Slavic:
 * Sorbian:
 * Sorbian:
 * Sorbian:
 * Sorbian:
 * Sorbian:
 * Sorbian: