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Today, while looking up random words in WWWJDIC, I stumbled upon an example
sentence for the word [いとしい](http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-
bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1MUE%E3%81%84%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%84) as below:

> 少女は人形を **いとしげに** 抱き締めた。 The girl squeezed her doll affectionately.

The sentence uses ~げに adjective suffix that I have never seen before. Based
from the above translation, it seems to convert the adjective into adverb,
just like what ~く does. Also, a quick check with Google showed that can also
follow a noun, e.g. 自慢げに.

What is this suffix actually and how is it different from ~く form? As I
mentioned in previous paragraph this is the first time I've seen it so I am
not even sure is it standard Japanese or a slang or whatnot.
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question
adjectives suffixes
What is ~げに suffix actually?
**Adjectives**

> Does such conjugation exist (or is it actually something else)?

It's a way to make an adverb from a い-adjective

> And if so, how is it different from ~く form?

Unlike 〜く, it is very empathetic, it shows that the subject of the proposition
_visibly_ expresses its emotions. You can almost see that girl's eyes being
humidified by that extraordinary amount of affection.

You emphasize the behaviour of the acting subject, instead of just coldly
modifying the verb.

楽しく踊った。  
I danced and enjoyed it.

楽しげに踊った。  
I danced, and I was sooooo happy! I kept jumping, twirling and bouncing! Oh
man! That was so much fun! _You should've seen me!_

**Nouns**

First, what kind of nouns?  
I doubt one says "車げに".  
However, "自慢げに" is different, as 自慢 is a state, a description… somehow, an
adjective! When one says 自慢です one means "I'm satisfied". So 自慢げに would be
"with visible satisfaction".

Easy as pie!
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answer
The most important thing about げ is that it describes an _observed quality_.
That is, you cannot use げ to refer to yourself:

> ○ 毎週楽し **く** 聴かせていただいています。 I enjoy listening every week.
>
> × 毎週楽し **げに** 聴かせていただいています。 (incorrect)

The reason for this is that げ (which in kanji would be 気, but it's never
written in kanji) is defined as そうだ or らしいようす, [according to
Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%92&dtype=0&dname=0na&stype=1&index=05403700&pagenum=1).
([Daijirin also lists 気配 as a
definition](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%92&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=1&index=105770000000&pagenum=1),
and you can see [my answer to this question about
気配](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/980/what-is-the-sense-of-
versus/994#994) to get a sense for that word.) Since そう is for describing
something based on observation, it would be odd to use it to describe
something about yourself. But you can easily use it to describe someone else:

> ○ 少女はうれし **げに** プレゼントをあけた。 The girl happily opened the present.
>
> ○ 少女はうれし **そうに** プレゼントをあけた。 (equivalent)

Why not just use the normal adverbial form of うれしい (うれしく) here? Because うれしく
would presume that you have accurate knowledge of someone else's emotional
state, which you don't (unless you're writing a book and talking about one of
your characters). All you have are observations, and so you have to show that
your judgment of うれしい comes from observation by using either そう or げ.

Although you could technically use げ with any word fit for describing
behavior, not every such construction is common. For instance:

> ○ みんなはケーキをおいし **そうに** 食べている。 Everyone looks like they're enjoying the cake.
>
> ？みんなはケーキをおいし **げに** 食べている。 (same meaning, but far less common)

When you can freely substitute げ for そう (as with the うれしい example above), I
don't personally feel any difference in emphasis, but a native speaker or
someone with a solid reference on this may weigh in with a different opinion.
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