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    -dom
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    -dom /dɔm/ is a non-cohering Germanic unproductive suffix found in nouns. Three groups of -dom formations can be distinguished: nouns of neuter gender denoting collections or groups of people, e.g. mensdom mankind < mens human, nouns of neuter gender denoting realm, e.g. prinsdom principality < prins prince, and abstract nouns of common gender derived from adjectives denoting the property of A, e.g. rijkdom wealth < rijk rich. The suffix carries secondary stress; if appliccable, -dom formations have a plural in -en.

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    -dom /dɔm/ is a Germanic suffix found in nouns. Following De Haas and Trommelen (1993: 253-4), three groups of -dom formations can be distinguished:

    • nouns of neuter gender, taking the singular definite article het, denoting collections or groups of people, e.g. mensdom mankind < mens human. After stems ending in a stressed syllable before a plosive, a linking morpheme-en often occurs: regentendom regents; the latter forms are often have a slight bookish and pejorative feeling (Haeseryn et al. 1997: 674). Given the collective semantics of these formations, there is no plural form.
      extra

      adeldom nobility (from the collective noun adel nobility) is of common gender, taking the singular definite article de.

    • nouns of neuter gender, taking the singular definite article het, denoting a territory or jurisdiction, e.g. prinsdom principality < prins prince, vorstendom principality < vorst monarch.
      extra

      bisdom diocese is the result of shorting of an older form bisschopdom bishop.SUF (Etymologiebank); heiligdom sanctuary is exceptional in having an adjectival base heilig holy.

    • abstract nouns of common gender, taking the singular definite article de, derived from adjectives denoting property of A or state of e.g. rijkdom wealth and eigendom property < eigen own.
      extra

      eigendom property is most often used as a neuter noun, taking the singular definite article het, but neuter use is found as well, but then it restricted to formal writing; in informal prose, it sounds archaic. The noun ouderdom old age is derived from an allomorph of the stem oud old; the same form ouder also occurs as the comparative form (and as a noun meaning parent), which may be taken as problematic for the split morphology hypothesis(Booij 2002: 84), which entails that derivation and inflection are distinct, and belong to separate components of the grammar (Perlmutter 1988).

    New forms with -dom are impossible, apart from pejorative names of groups of people with a plural base form such as journalistendom journalists.

    The suffix carries secondary stress (Booij 2002: 31). It is non-cohering: it forms a prosodic word on its own and allows for prosodic gapping: christen- en heidendom Christianity and heathendom.

    -dom formations with a concrete meaning can have a plural form, which is formed with -en, e.g. eigendommen properties, hertogdommen duchies. Diminutive forms are formed with the allomorph -etje because -dom carries secondary stress: vorstendommetje small principalitiy, hertogdommetjes small duchies. Rarely, formations with -dom are input to further derivation, e.g with adjectival -elijk, as in eigendommelijk pertaining to property, excentric and chrstendommelijk pertaining to Christianity, christian.

    References
    • Booij, Geert2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Booij, Geert2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Haas, Wim de & Trommelen, Mieke1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij
    • Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff
    • Perlmutter, David M1988The split morphology hypothesis: evidence from YiddishTheoretical morphology: approaches in modern linguisticsSan DiegoAcademic Press79-100
    About this article
    Author(s): Ton van der Wouden
    Category: Dutch Morphology
    Keywords: derivationsuffixnoun
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
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    1.0 Ton van der Wouden December 2015
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