FromMiddle High German-ie,-je, fromLatin-ia(feminine singular). Nouns with this Latinate suffix were originally strong (i.e. invariable) feminines, but inflected forms in-ien arose when the distinction between strong and weak feminines collapsed in later Middle High German. These were then treated by analogy with local names likeBöhmen,Franken,Sachsen etc. (all originally dative plural of a tribe name).
FromLatin-ia(neuter plural). In some cases, analysable within German as a regular plural of an earlier form in-ium; e.g.Principium as an obsolete variant ofPrinzip. The singular ending was sometimes lost, leaving-ien as a new, irregular plural suffix. In other cases, simply following the Latin i-declension (singular in-e, plural in-ia).
Not all nouns whose Latin plural is-ia necessarily take this ending. Some take a regular plural in-e, or have both forms alongside (for example,Konzile).
This suffix was initially restricted to those verbs where it was etymologically justified (see above), but had come to be applied indiscriminately by the Late Middle English period where it was not replaced by-en.
Due to a change of/i.ə/ to/iː/ after heavy syllables (those with a long vowel or two or more final consonants), some varieties (e.g. the West Midlands dialect of theAncrene Wisse and the Kentish one of theAyenbite of Inwit) come to distinguish between-ie/-ien in heavy syllables and-in/-i/-y in light syllables. However, this distinction is effaced in the later language, which adopts-y (or-en) in all circumstances.
In some later varieties, there is a tendency to use-i/-y before consonants, but-in/-ien, or later,-en before vowels; this may be compared to the alternation between e.g.a andan.
Brunner, Karl (1963), Grahame Johnson, transl.,An Outline of Middle English Grammar[1],Oxford:Basil Blackwell, translation ofAbriss der mittelenglischen Grammatik (in German),→ISBN,→OCLC,§ 70,page81; reprinted1965.
Jordan, Richard (1974), Eugene Crook, transl.,Handbook of the Middle English Grammar: Phonology (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica;218)[2],The Hague:Mouton & Co. N.V.,→DOI,§ 138,page141.
Logan, H[arry] M. (1973), “V. Grammar”, inThe dialect of the Life of Saint Katherine: A linguistic study of the phonology and inflections (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica;130),The Hague:Mouton,→OCLC,§ 55, page190.
