{"id":673,"date":"2016-07-29T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T00:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/?post_type=chapter&p=673"},"modified":"2017-06-15T19:22:35","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T23:22:35","slug":"%c2%a735-the-latin-suffix-alis-e-al-aris-e-ar-or-ary","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a735-the-latin-suffix-alis-e-al-aris-e-ar-or-ary\/","title":{"raw":"\u00a735. The Latin suffix -ALIS (> E -al) \/ -ARIS (> E -ar or -ary)","rendered":"\u00a735. The Latin suffix -ALIS (> E -al) \/ -ARIS (> E -ar or -ary)"},"content":{"raw":"

More than any comparable Germanic morpheme in English, one Latin suffix was supremely important in forming adjectives from nouns. This is the ending -\u0101lis<\/b>, which could be attached to the BASE of a great many Latin nouns\u2014and even a few adjectives\u2014to create new adjective forms. Since vita<\/b> meant \u201clife,\u201d then vitalis<\/b> meant \u201cpertaining to life,\u201d[footnote] Although there is always more than one way of translating any Latin morpheme into English, you will find that \u201cpertaining to\u201d is a very useful general definition for all the adjective-forming suffixes in Latin.[\/footnote] \u201cfull of life,\u201d \u201clively.\u201d Since mors<\/b>, mort-is<\/b> was the Latin noun for \u201cdeath,\u201d then mort-alis<\/b> could mean \u201cpertaining to death,\u201d \u201csubject to death,\u201d \u201cdeathly.\u201d No matter whether the noun was 1st declension, like vita<\/b>, or 3rd declension, like mors<\/b>, mortis<\/b>, the derived adjective was a 3RD DECLENSION type, as the ending -alis <\/b>should make self-evident. Latin adjectives in -alis<\/b> almost always evolved into English words in -al<\/i>. In fact, if you set out to collect all the English words that end in -al<\/i> (and there are thousands), you would find that virtually every one of them either is derived from a Latin adjective in -alis<\/b> or has used this Latin suffix to create a hybrid English form.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/a>Table 5.1 SOME MORE LATIN THIRD DECLENSION NOUNS<\/b><\/caption>\r\n
navis, navis<\/b><\/td>\r\nship<\/td>\r\nmargo, marginis<\/b><\/td>\r\nedge<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
flos, floris<\/b><\/td>\r\nflower<\/td>\r\nordo, ordinis<\/b><\/td>\r\nrank, order<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
mos, moris<\/b><\/td>\r\ncustom<\/td>\r\nlimen, liminis<\/b><\/td>\r\nthreshold<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
os, oris<\/b><\/td>\r\nmouth<\/td>\r\nsemen, seminis<\/b><\/td>\r\nseed<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

Table 5.1<\/a> presents a mixture of new masculine, feminine, and neuter words; their gender is not important for us now, though you may recognize limen<\/b> and semen<\/b> as neuter nouns like lumen<\/b> and nomen<\/b>. The regular suffix -alis<\/b> can be added to the base of these nouns so as to form Latin adjectives: nav-is <\/b>> nav-alis<\/b> (\u201cpertaining to a ship\u201d), flor-is<\/b> > flor-alis<\/b> (\u201cpertaining to a flower\u201d), etc. As the English language evolved, these Latin adjectives provided it with very useful derivatives: naval<\/i> fills a gap caused by the lack of a native English adjective like shippy<\/i> or shippish<\/i>, and floral <\/i>is a much more general word than the metaphorical flowery. <\/i>(Flower<\/i> itself is derived from flos<\/b>, floris<\/b>, as is its doublet, flour<\/i>.) The Latin plural form mores<\/i> is used in English to express its original meaning of \u201ccustoms\u201d or \u201ccharacter,\u201d but the adjective moral<\/i> is a far more common English word. Table 5.1<\/a> also produces English marginal<\/i>, ordinal<\/i>, (sub)liminal <\/i>(\u201cbelow the threshold\u201d), and seminal<\/i>. We\u2019ll soon encounter other derivatives from the last three nouns.<\/p>\r\n

The -alis<\/b> suffix is by no means limited to 3rd declension nouns:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1st<\/td>\r\nform-alis<\/b> (formal),<\/i> caus-alis<\/b> (causal),<\/i> person-alis<\/b> (personal)<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2nd<\/td>\r\nfoc-alis<\/b> (focal)<\/i>, radi-alis<\/b> (radial)<\/i>, termin-alis<\/b> (terminal),<\/i> verb-alis<\/b> (verbal)<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
3rd<\/td>\r\nleg-alis<\/b> (legal<\/i>[footnote] Legal<\/em> and loyal<\/em> are doublets; so too are regal<\/em> and royal<\/em>, focal<\/em> and fuel<\/em>, hospital<\/em> and hoste<\/em>l (= hotel<\/em> ).[\/footnote]), voc-alis<\/b> (vocal)<\/i>, corpor-alis<\/b> (corporal)<\/i>, gener-alis<\/b> (general)<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
4th<\/td>\r\nmanu-alis<\/b> (manual)<\/i>, gradu-alis<\/b> (gradual)<\/i>, ritu-alis<\/b> (ritual)<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
5th<\/td>\r\nspeci-alis<\/b> (special)<\/i>, re-alis<\/b> (real)<\/i>, seri-alis<\/b> (serial)<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

For some of these English derivatives, we can find almost exact Germanic counterparts, in terms of word structure, though their meanings may be quite dissimilar. For example, formal<\/i> is closely analogous to shape-ly<\/i>, verbal<\/i> to word-y<\/i>, and corporal<\/i> to bodi-ly. <\/i>Even though they may not be synonyms, pairs of this kind are useful etymological parallels.<\/p>\r\n

In special phonetic circumstances, the Latin suffix -\u0101lis<\/b> had a variant form -\u0101ris<\/b>, which comes into English as -ar<\/i> (sometimes -ary)<\/i>. If the Latin word base ended in L, the derived adjective was hard to pronounce, so words like *sol-alis<\/b> and *ocul-alis <\/b>were changed to sol-aris<\/b> (solar)<\/i> and ocul-aris<\/b> (ocular<\/i>).[footnote] The asterisk in front of a word like *solalis<\/strong> shows that it is a hypothetical form; no evidence has survived to prove its historical existence.[\/footnote] In fact, if there was an L <\/b>anywhere in the last two syllables of a noun base, this variant was used, as can be seen from lun-aris<\/b> (lunar)<\/i> and mi<\/b>lit-aris<\/b> (military).<\/i> Other examples from vocabulary that we have met include popularis<\/b> (popular),<\/i> vulgaris<\/b> (vulgar),<\/i> and similaris<\/b> (similar).<\/i> The English words liminal<\/i> and subliminal <\/i> were coined by psychologists in the 1880s; because the Latin adjective from limen<\/b> was liminaris<\/b>, <\/b>the modern technical term should perhaps have been liminar <\/i>or liminary <\/i>(cf. preliminary<\/i> < prae-limin-aris,<\/b> \u201cbefore the threshold\u201d).<\/p>\r\n ","rendered":"

More than any comparable Germanic morpheme in English, one Latin suffix was supremely important in forming adjectives from nouns. This is the ending -\u0101lis<\/b>, which could be attached to the BASE of a great many Latin nouns\u2014and even a few adjectives\u2014to create new adjective forms. Since vita<\/b> meant \u201clife,\u201d then vitalis<\/b> meant \u201cpertaining to life,\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cfull of life,\u201d \u201clively.\u201d Since mors<\/b>, mort-is<\/b> was the Latin noun for \u201cdeath,\u201d then mort-alis<\/b> could mean \u201cpertaining to death,\u201d \u201csubject to death,\u201d \u201cdeathly.\u201d No matter whether the noun was 1st declension, like vita<\/b>, or 3rd declension, like mors<\/b>, mortis<\/b>, the derived adjective was a 3RD DECLENSION type, as the ending –alis <\/b>should make self-evident. Latin adjectives in –alis<\/b> almost always evolved into English words in –al<\/i>. In fact, if you set out to collect all the English words that end in –al<\/i> (and there are thousands), you would find that virtually every one of them either is derived from a Latin adjective in –alis<\/b> or has used this Latin suffix to create a hybrid English form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Table 5.1 SOME MORE LATIN THIRD DECLENSION NOUNS<\/b><\/caption>\n
navis, navis<\/b><\/td>\nship<\/td>\nmargo, marginis<\/b><\/td>\nedge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
flos, floris<\/b><\/td>\nflower<\/td>\nordo, ordinis<\/b><\/td>\nrank, order<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mos, moris<\/b><\/td>\ncustom<\/td>\nlimen, liminis<\/b><\/td>\nthreshold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
os, oris<\/b><\/td>\nmouth<\/td>\nsemen, seminis<\/b><\/td>\nseed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Table 5.1<\/a> presents a mixture of new masculine, feminine, and neuter words; their gender is not important for us now, though you may recognize limen<\/b> and semen<\/b> as neuter nouns like lumen<\/b> and nomen<\/b>. The regular suffix –alis<\/b> can be added to the base of these nouns so as to form Latin adjectives: nav-is <\/b>> nav-alis<\/b> (\u201cpertaining to a ship\u201d), flor-is<\/b> > flor-alis<\/b> (\u201cpertaining to a flower\u201d), etc. As the English language evolved, these Latin adjectives provided it with very useful derivatives: naval<\/i> fills a gap caused by the lack of a native English adjective like shippy<\/i> or shippish<\/i>, and floral <\/i>is a much more general word than the metaphorical flowery. <\/i>(Flower<\/i> itself is derived from flos<\/b>, floris<\/b>, as is its doublet, flour<\/i>.) The Latin plural form mores<\/i> is used in English to express its original meaning of \u201ccustoms\u201d or \u201ccharacter,\u201d but the adjective moral<\/i> is a far more common English word. Table 5.1<\/a> also produces English marginal<\/i>, ordinal<\/i>, (sub)liminal <\/i>(\u201cbelow the threshold\u201d), and seminal<\/i>. We\u2019ll soon encounter other derivatives from the last three nouns.<\/p>\n

The –alis<\/b> suffix is by no means limited to 3rd declension nouns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1st<\/td>\nform-alis<\/b> (formal),<\/i> caus-alis<\/b> (causal),<\/i> person-alis<\/b> (personal)<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd<\/td>\nfoc-alis<\/b> (focal)<\/i>, radi-alis<\/b> (radial)<\/i>, termin-alis<\/b> (terminal),<\/i> verb-alis<\/b> (verbal)<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3rd<\/td>\nleg-alis<\/b> (legal<\/i>[2]<\/sup><\/a>), voc-alis<\/b> (vocal)<\/i>, corpor-alis<\/b> (corporal)<\/i>, gener-alis<\/b> (general)<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4th<\/td>\nmanu-alis<\/b> (manual)<\/i>, gradu-alis<\/b> (gradual)<\/i>, ritu-alis<\/b> (ritual)<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5th<\/td>\nspeci-alis<\/b> (special)<\/i>, re-alis<\/b> (real)<\/i>, seri-alis<\/b> (serial)<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

For some of these English derivatives, we can find almost exact Germanic counterparts, in terms of word structure, though their meanings may be quite dissimilar. For example, formal<\/i> is closely analogous to shape-ly<\/i>, verbal<\/i> to word-y<\/i>, and corporal<\/i> to bodi-ly. <\/i>Even though they may not be synonyms, pairs of this kind are useful etymological parallels.<\/p>\n

In special phonetic circumstances, the Latin suffix -\u0101lis<\/b> had a variant form -\u0101ris<\/b>, which comes into English as –ar<\/i> (sometimes -ary)<\/i>. If the Latin word base ended in L, the derived adjective was hard to pronounce, so words like *sol-alis<\/b> and *ocul-alis <\/b>were changed to sol-aris<\/b> (solar)<\/i> and ocul-aris<\/b> (ocular<\/i>).[3]<\/sup><\/a> In fact, if there was an L <\/b>anywhere in the last two syllables of a noun base, this variant was used, as can be seen from lun-aris<\/b> (lunar)<\/i> and mi<\/b>lit-aris<\/b> (military).<\/i> Other examples from vocabulary that we have met include popularis<\/b> (popular),<\/i> vulgaris<\/b> (vulgar),<\/i> and similaris<\/b> (similar).<\/i> The English words liminal<\/i> and subliminal <\/i> were coined by psychologists in the 1880s; because the Latin adjective from limen<\/b> was liminaris<\/b>, <\/b>the modern technical term should perhaps have been liminar <\/i>or liminary <\/i>(cf. preliminary<\/i> < prae-limin-aris,<\/b> \u201cbefore the threshold\u201d).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  1. Although there is always more than one way of translating any Latin morpheme into English, you will find that \u201cpertaining to\u201d is a very useful general definition for all the adjective-forming suffixes in Latin. ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. Legal<\/em> and loyal<\/em> are doublets; so too are regal<\/em> and royal<\/em>, focal<\/em> and fuel<\/em>, hospital<\/em> and hoste<\/em>l (= hotel<\/em> ). ↵<\/a><\/li>
  3. The asterisk in front of a word like *solalis<\/strong> shows that it is a hypothetical form; no evidence has survived to prove its historical existence. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Chapter 5: Turning Latin Nouns into Adjectives","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[52],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-673","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":581,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2084,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/673\/revisions\/2084"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/581"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/673\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=673"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=673"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}