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The proximity of -ich to Netherlands suggests it may be the closest to the Dutch -wick and the English -wich.



No, -ich is not related to -wijk or -wich.

There are cognate suffixes in the German-speaking areas (ending on -wyk, -wik, -wig, etc.) but -ich is not one of them. German -ich is equivalent to -ik in Dutch-speaking areas.


From a Norwegian perspective the Dutch word Wick sounds like the Norwegian word Vik or cove, bay, inlet in English. If you look at the coastal location of these towns that link seems to make some sense.


> the Dutch word Wick

Wick is not a word that I know of, do you mean Wijk (neighborhood)? Like Noordwijk en Katwijk? Because that's almost certainly not related to 'bay'. Many coastal towns are named something with a 'dam' however (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Monnikedam).


Yep, I meant wijk. Not sure what happened there! wick is also used in English.


I keep thinking that this is the origin for Vikings. I've pondered over this for ages since half of me comes from the Danish town of Vig; inland now but only after Sidinge fjord was drained for farming.


There exists no -wick ending in Dutch city names, there is however a common ending -wijk. 'Wijk' translates to neighborhood.




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