You walk down your slick rick to your slick kick or walk with a schtick and pick up a stick to flick. Pick up lick quick. Before you’re in a pickle, stick with it and learn to speak the slick kick flick schtick with the best of ’em. Here’s a kickin’ start on all the English words ending in K.
Deriving From Deutsch
From German, most English words derived and ending in k are usually nouns, such as block, kick, luck, shock, and talk. As the use of these words in the English language became more prolific, the spelling was simplified from the original Germanic spelling, which typically had a final -ck (block would have been block, kick would have been kicke, etc.).
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Additionally, –ik, an adjectival suffix stemming from Greek, came to English through Germanic languages as well. This can be found in words like Francik, freakish, and satanic.
Making Adjectives From Nouns
Because of their mostly nominal nature, converting a noun ending in k to an adjective is as easy as adding an -y, as seen in the following examples:
- Block -> Blocky
- Kick -> Kicky
- Luck -> Lucky
- Shock -> Shocky
- Talk -> Talky
Words stemming from the –ik suffix can also be made into adjectives in the same way:
- Francik -> Francky
- Freakish -> Freaky
- Satanic -> Satanic
This suffix can also be used to create playful-sounding adjectives as well, namely in American English:
- Birkenstock -> Birkenstocky
- Funk -> Funky
- Punk -> Punky
- Schtick -> Shticky
Other Suffixes
There are a precious few other suffixes that produce words ending in k:
- -ak denotes origin, and is found only in a handful of words: Amok, Cossack, and Yarmulke
- -ink is yet another common nominal suffix, found in blink, clink, link, pink, and slink
- -isk is usually adjectival, denoting quality or relation: Arabic, barbaric, and Cubist
- -ock is a diminutive, and is usually only seen in cock, frocks, and lock
Unique to English
The words hock, auk, and ysk are rather unique in the English language for having the sounds /ɔk/, /ɔk/, and /ɪsk/ respectively. They are also among the shortest words in the English lexicon.
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Words Ending In K
Conclusion
At the end of the day, knowing your words ending in k is no walk in the park, but with a bit of luck, hopefully, this article gave you that kick in the rear you needed to learn the schtick and pick up a few extra vocabulary words that could help you out in a pinch. If you liked this article, be sure to check out our other articles on derivational morphology!