{"id":655,"date":"2016-07-29T20:01:17","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T00:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/?post_type=chapter&p=655"},"modified":"2017-06-16T15:23:22","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T19:23:22","slug":"%c2%a746-the-latin-suffix-itas-e-ity-variant-etas-e-ety","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a746-the-latin-suffix-itas-e-ity-variant-etas-e-ety\/","title":{"raw":"\u00a746. The Latin suffix -ITAS (> E -ity); variant -ETAS (> E -ety)","rendered":"\u00a746. The Latin suffix -ITAS (> E -ity); variant -ETAS (> E -ety)"},"content":{"raw":"In terms of frequency, this suffix is to Latin noun formation what -alis<\/b> is to Latin adjective formation. The morpheme -itas<\/b> was regularly attached to the base of Latin adjectives to form literally hundreds of abstract nouns, almost all of which, it seems, have survived as English derivatives ending in -ity<\/i>. The historical process is so dependable that you can confidently reconstruct a Latin noun in -itas<\/b> for almost any English word in -ity<\/i>. What is more, you can then remove the -itas<\/b> suffix from the Latin noun to uncover its adjective base. If you can then discern the meaning of that Latin adjective, you will know the ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING of the English word. This type of exercise is very good for building English vocabulary.<\/p>\r\n
We\u2019ll begin with a group of ordinary Latin adjectives\u2014some familiar to you, others presented here for the first time. As you see how each one became first a Latin noun and then (many centuries later) an English derivative, there should hardly be any need for comment or explanation:[footnote] The examples given here represent a deliberate oversimplification. There were several important historical steps between, say, L gravitas<\/strong> and E gravity<\/em>. The normal progression was Latin -tatem<\/strong> (accusative form) > Old French -tet<\/em> > OF -te<\/em> [mod F -t\u00e9<\/em>] > Middle English -tie<\/em> > Modern English -ty<\/em>.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n| L<\/td>\r\n | sanus<\/strong> (\u201csound\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0><\/td>\r\n | sanitas<\/strong> (\u201csoundness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0><\/td>\r\n | E<\/td>\r\n | sanity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | clarus<\/strong> (\u201cbright\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | claritas<\/strong> (\u201cbrightness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | clarity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | dignus<\/strong> (\u201cworthy\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | dignitas <\/strong>(\u201cworthiness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | dignity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | vacuus<\/strong> (\u201cempty\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | vacuitas<\/strong> (\u201cemptiness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | vacuity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | brevis<\/strong> (\u201cshort\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | brevitas<\/strong> (\u201cshortness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | brevity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | gravis<\/strong> (\u201cheavy\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0><\/td>\r\n | gravitas<\/strong> (\u201cheaviness\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | gravity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n <\/i>Conversely, then, we can reconstruct the ancestry of almost any English noun that ends in -ty<\/i>, working back to an original Latin adjective and a useful etymological meaning:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n| E<\/td>\r\n | acerbity<\/em><\/td>\r\n| < L noun<\/td>\r\n | acerbitas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| < L adj.<\/td>\r\n | acerbus<\/strong> (\u201cbitter\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u2234 E<\/td>\r\n | acerbity<\/em> = \u201cbitterness\u201d<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | verity<\/em><\/td>\r\n| \u00a0<<\/td>\r\n | veritas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| <<\/td>\r\n | verus<\/strong> (\u201ctrue\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0\u2234<\/td>\r\n | verity<\/em> = \u201ctruth\u201d<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | sanctity<\/em><\/td>\r\n| \u00a0<<\/td>\r\n | sanctitas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| <<\/td>\r\n | sanctus<\/strong> (\u201choly\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0\u2234<\/td>\r\n | sanctity<\/em> = \u201choliness\u201d<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | levity<\/em><\/td>\r\n| \u00a0<<\/td>\r\n | levitas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| <<\/td>\r\n | levis<\/strong> (\u201clight\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0\u2234<\/td>\r\n | levity<\/em> = \u201clightness\u201d<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | maturity<\/em><\/td>\r\n| \u00a0<<\/td>\r\n | maturitas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| <<\/td>\r\n | maturus<\/strong> (\u201cripe\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| \u00a0\u2234<\/td>\r\n | maturity<\/em> = \u201cripeness\u201d<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n Sometimes the English derivative has been further modified in form because of phonetic factors in its transmission. The noun charity<\/i>, for instance, comes from Latin caritas<\/b> (< carus<\/b>, \u201cdear\u201d); it manifests the now-familiar change from ca-<\/b> to cha- t<\/i>hat occurred in the Old French period. English cruelty<\/i> is even more transformed, having evolved from Latin crudelitas<\/b> (< crudelis<\/b>, \u201ccruel\u201d). In these cases, the source-word can hardly be predicted without prior knowledge of Latin. But there is nothing surprising about the development of E equity<\/i> from L aequitas<\/b> (< aequus<\/b>, \u201clevel,\u201d \u201cfair\u201d), since the Latin diphthong ae<\/b> is regularly reduced to e<\/i> in English.<\/p>\r\n Here is an interesting feature of Latin nouns in -itas<\/b>. Just as this suffix can turn a simple adjective into a derived noun (as we have been observing), so can it be added to the base of a derived<\/i> adjective to create a new derived noun. Consider these examples:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n| L<\/td>\r\n | vita<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | vitalis <\/strong>(base vital-<\/strong>)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | vital-itas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | E<\/td>\r\n | vitality<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | mors<\/strong>, mort-is<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | mortalis<\/strong> (base mortal-<\/strong>)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | mortal-itas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | mortality<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | verbum<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | verbosus<\/strong> (base verbos-<\/strong>)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | verbos-itas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | verbosity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | urbs<\/strong>, urb-is<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | urbanus<\/strong> (base urban-<\/strong>)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | urban-itas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | urbanity<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | vir<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | virilis<\/strong> (base viril-<\/strong>)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | viril-itas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | virility<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n This process (noun \u2192 adjective \u2192 noun) is not uncommon in native English word formation: Germanic live-li-ness <\/i>is structurally parallel to Latinate vit-al-ity<\/i>, word-i-ness<\/i> to verb-os-ity<\/i>, and man-li-ness <\/i>to vir-il-ity<\/i>.[footnote] Just because two English words are structural or etymological parallels, they will not necessarily be synonyms. Element for element, the Latin derivative formality<\/em> is closely parallel to the native English word shapeliness<\/em>, but they are not remotely similar in dictionary meaning.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\nWe saw in Chapter 5 that the adjective suffix -alis<\/b> has a phonetic variant in -aris. <\/b> The noun suffix -itas <\/b>has two phonetic variants. Neither of these is very different from the main type, and both are reflected precisely in their English derivatives:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n \t- If the adjective base ends in -i-<\/b>, the suffix is not -itas<\/b> but -etas<\/b> (> E -ety<\/i>):<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n| L<\/td>\r\n | vari-us<\/strong> (\u201cdiverse\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | vari-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | E<\/td>\r\n | variety<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | pi-us<\/strong> (\u201cdutiful,\u201d \u201cgood\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | pi-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | piety<\/em>[footnote] The negation of pius<\/strong> is im-pi-us<\/strong> (\u201cwicked\u201d) > im-pi-etas<\/strong> > E impiety<\/em>; similarly, the negation of proprius<\/strong> is L im-propri-us<\/strong> (\u201cimproper\u201d) > im-propri-etas<\/strong> > E impropriety<\/em>.[\/footnote]<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | propri-us <\/strong>(\u201cone\u2019s own\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | propri-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | propriety<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | soci-us<\/strong> (\u201cunited,\u201d \u201callied\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | soci-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | society<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | dubi-us<\/strong> (\u201cdoubtful\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | dubi-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | dubiety<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | sobri-us<\/strong> (\u201csober\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | sobri-etas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | sobriety<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n \r\n\r\n \t- If the adjective base ends in -r-<\/b> or -t-<\/b>, the derived noun will end in -tas <\/b>(> E -ty<\/i>):<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
\r\n\r\n\r\n| L<\/td>\r\n | liber<\/strong> (\u201cfree\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | liber-tas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | E<\/td>\r\n | liberty<\/em><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n\r\n| <\/td>\r\n | puber<\/strong> (\u201cadult\u201d)<\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | puber-tas<\/strong><\/td>\r\n| ><\/td>\r\n | <\/td>\r\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |