Chapter 7: Latin Diminutives
§55. Diminutive Adjective Derivatives in -ARIS
If you think back to Chapter 5 (Turning Latin Nouns into Latin Adjectives), you will recall that any noun-base ending in L used the adjectival suffix -aris, rather than -alis (§35). As we have seen, every diminutive noun in Latin has a base that ends in L. Accordingly, if one wishes to derive a Latin adjective from a Latin diminutive, it will always end in -aris, and its English derivative will regularly end in -ar. These examples should make that situation clear:
| L | circus | > L dimin. noun | circ-ulus | > L adj. | circul-aris | > E adj. | circular |
| forma | form-ula | formul-aris | formular | ||||
| modus | mod-ulus | modul-aris | modular | ||||
| granum | gran-ulum | granul-aris | granular | ||||
| pars, part-is | part-i-cula | particul-aris | particular | ||||
| mus | mus-culus | muscul-aris | muscular |
Notice that the English adjective derivatives circular, particular, and muscular reflect the original Latin source-words more precisely than their corresponding noun derivatives, circle, particle, and muscle.