{"id":697,"date":"2016-07-29T20:41:40","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T00:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=697"},"modified":"2016-12-14T19:53:58","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T00:53:58","slug":"%c2%a754-the-variant-latin-diminutive-suffixes-olus-and-ellus","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a754-the-variant-latin-diminutive-suffixes-olus-and-ellus\/","title":{"raw":"\u00a754. The Variant Latin Diminutive Suffixes -OLUS and -ELLUS","rendered":"\u00a754. The Variant Latin Diminutive Suffixes -OLUS and -ELLUS"},"content":{"raw":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36pt\">For reasons of historical phonetics, a Latin diminutive word sometimes assumed a form that used a suffix other than the standard <b>-ulus<\/b> or <b>-culus<\/b>. These variants are too complicated to be explained here in full, but they can be summarized in general terms. You are advised to read this section quickly, and not worry about its technical content.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36pt\">If the original noun had a base ending in the vowel <b>-e-<\/b>, <b>-i-<\/b>, or <b>-u-<\/b>, the suffix was not <b>-ulus<\/b>, but <b>-olus<\/b>. Therefore the diminutive of <b>are-a<\/b> was <b>are-ola<\/b>, and <i>areola<\/i> or <i>areole<\/i> is today an anatomical term that denotes the \u201clittle area\u201d of colour around the nipple. If a Latin sword is a <b>gladi-us<\/b>, a little sword is a <b>gladi-olus<\/b>. (Many plants and flowers have been named on the basis of such vivid descriptive imagery.) Though classical Latin lacked a diminutive form of <b>vacu-um<\/b>,<b> <\/b>the biological word <i>vacuole <\/i>(from French) was correctly formed to mean \u201ca little empty space.\u201d<\/p>\r\nThe <b>-ellus <\/b>variant is trickier, since it can have two very different explanations:<span style=\"margin-left: 26pt\"><\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Some nouns with <b>-<\/b><b>r-<\/b> stems, like <b>liber<\/b> (\u201cbook\u201d), underwent a series of phonetic changes that led to diminutive forms like <b>libellus <\/b>(\u201clittle book\u201d);[footnote]Here is the explanation, for those who are linguistically inclined. The diminutive suffix <strong>-ulus<\/strong> was originally a morpheme that can be shown as <strong>-(\u0259)lo-s<\/strong>; by the principles of syncope, sampras\u00e1ran\u0323a, and assimilation, there occurred the development <strong>*libr-\u0259lo-s &gt; *libr\u0323los &gt; *liberlos &gt; libellus<\/strong>. There were parallel developments that led to a few diminutive forms in <strong>-illus<\/strong> (<strong>-a, -um<\/strong>) or<strong> -ollus<\/strong> (<strong>-a, -um<\/strong>).[\/footnote] and because little books can often be abusive or scurrilous, that form became the origin of our word <i>libel<\/i>. The same phonetic process lies behind the English words <i>castle<\/i> (L <b>castrum<\/b>, \u201cfort\u201d &gt; <b>castellum<\/b>), <i>scalpel<\/i> (L <b>scalprum<\/b>, \u201cknife\u201d &gt; <b>scalpellum<\/b>), and <i>cerebellum<\/i> (L <b>cerebrum<\/b>, \u201cbrain\u201d &gt; <b>cerebellum<\/b>).<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Especially in the language of the common people (\u201cVulgar Latin\u201d), there was a tendency to take familiar diminutive words and diminish their form and meaning even further. This produced a group of double diminutives, which we can perhaps remember as the \u201citty-bitty\u201d category. Here is an easy example. The basic Latin word for \u201cpig\u201d was the 2nd declension noun <b>porcus<\/b>; there was a corresponding 1st declension noun <b>porca<\/b> (\u201csow\u201d). By the principle we met in <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a752-what-is-a-diminutive\/\">\u00a752<\/a>, a \u201cpiglet\u201d became <b>porc-ulus<\/b>, and a \u201cshe-piglet\u201d (Miss Piggy?) was <b>porc-ula<\/b>. In popular speech, however, Roman farmers preferred the double diminutive <b>porc-ellus<\/b>\u2014an \u201citty-bitty\u201d word that corresponds roughly to English \u201cpiggy-wig.\u201d[footnote] The phonetic development was <strong>*pork-os &gt; *pork-\u0259lo-s &gt; *pork-\u0259l-\u0259lo-s &gt; porcellus<\/strong>.[\/footnote] What is interesting about all this is the fact that <b>porcellus<\/b> became the standard late Latin word for \u201cpig,\u201d appearing in such Romance derivatives as Italian <i>porcello<\/i> and French <i>pourceau<\/i>. Similarly we find <b>vitellus<\/b> (&lt; <b>vitulus<\/b>, \u201ccalf\u201d), source of It. <i>vitello<\/i>, Fr. <i>veau<\/i>, and E <i>veal; <\/i>and <b>agnellus<\/b> (&lt; <b>agnus<\/b>, \u201clamb\u201d), source of It. <i>agnello<\/i> and Fr. <i>agneau<\/i>. Any student of Romance linguistics must come to terms with this Latin double diminutive, since it plays a rather important role in the vocabulary of French, Italian, and Spanish.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36pt\">For reasons of historical phonetics, a Latin diminutive word sometimes assumed a form that used a suffix other than the standard <b>-ulus<\/b> or <b>-culus<\/b>. These variants are too complicated to be explained here in full, but they can be summarized in general terms. You are advised to read this section quickly, and not worry about its technical content.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;text-indent: 36pt\">If the original noun had a base ending in the vowel <b>-e-<\/b>, <b>-i-<\/b>, or <b>-u-<\/b>, the suffix was not <b>-ulus<\/b>, but <b>-olus<\/b>. Therefore the diminutive of <b>are-a<\/b> was <b>are-ola<\/b>, and <i>areola<\/i> or <i>areole<\/i> is today an anatomical term that denotes the \u201clittle area\u201d of colour around the nipple. If a Latin sword is a <b>gladi-us<\/b>, a little sword is a <b>gladi-olus<\/b>. (Many plants and flowers have been named on the basis of such vivid descriptive imagery.) Though classical Latin lacked a diminutive form of <b>vacu-um<\/b>,<b> <\/b>the biological word <i>vacuole <\/i>(from French) was correctly formed to mean \u201ca little empty space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <b>-ellus <\/b>variant is trickier, since it can have two very different explanations:<span style=\"margin-left: 26pt\"><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some nouns with <b>&#8211;<\/b><b>r-<\/b> stems, like <b>liber<\/b> (\u201cbook\u201d), underwent a series of phonetic changes that led to diminutive forms like <b>libellus <\/b>(\u201clittle book\u201d);<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Here is the explanation, for those who are linguistically inclined. The diminutive suffix -ulus was originally a morpheme that can be shown as -(\u0259)lo-s; by the principles of syncope, sampras\u00e1ran\u0323a, and assimilation, there occurred the development *libr-\u0259lo-s &gt; *libr\u0323los &gt; *liberlos &gt; libellus. There were parallel developments that led to a few diminutive forms in -illus (-a, -um) or -ollus (-a, -um).\" id=\"return-footnote-697-1\" href=\"#footnote-697-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> and because little books can often be abusive or scurrilous, that form became the origin of our word <i>libel<\/i>. The same phonetic process lies behind the English words <i>castle<\/i> (L <b>castrum<\/b>, \u201cfort\u201d &gt; <b>castellum<\/b>), <i>scalpel<\/i> (L <b>scalprum<\/b>, \u201cknife\u201d &gt; <b>scalpellum<\/b>), and <i>cerebellum<\/i> (L <b>cerebrum<\/b>, \u201cbrain\u201d &gt; <b>cerebellum<\/b>).<\/li>\n<li>Especially in the language of the common people (\u201cVulgar Latin\u201d), there was a tendency to take familiar diminutive words and diminish their form and meaning even further. This produced a group of double diminutives, which we can perhaps remember as the \u201citty-bitty\u201d category. Here is an easy example. The basic Latin word for \u201cpig\u201d was the 2nd declension noun <b>porcus<\/b>; there was a corresponding 1st declension noun <b>porca<\/b> (\u201csow\u201d). By the principle we met in <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a752-what-is-a-diminutive\/\">\u00a752<\/a>, a \u201cpiglet\u201d became <b>porc-ulus<\/b>, and a \u201cshe-piglet\u201d (Miss Piggy?) was <b>porc-ula<\/b>. In popular speech, however, Roman farmers preferred the double diminutive <b>porc-ellus<\/b>\u2014an \u201citty-bitty\u201d word that corresponds roughly to English \u201cpiggy-wig.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"The phonetic development was *pork-os &gt; *pork-\u0259lo-s &gt; *pork-\u0259l-\u0259lo-s &gt; porcellus.\" id=\"return-footnote-697-2\" href=\"#footnote-697-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> What is interesting about all this is the fact that <b>porcellus<\/b> became the standard late Latin word for \u201cpig,\u201d appearing in such Romance derivatives as Italian <i>porcello<\/i> and French <i>pourceau<\/i>. Similarly we find <b>vitellus<\/b> (&lt; <b>vitulus<\/b>, \u201ccalf\u201d), source of It. <i>vitello<\/i>, Fr. <i>veau<\/i>, and E <i>veal; <\/i>and <b>agnellus<\/b> (&lt; <b>agnus<\/b>, \u201clamb\u201d), source of It. <i>agnello<\/i> and Fr. <i>agneau<\/i>. Any student of Romance linguistics must come to terms with this Latin double diminutive, since it plays a rather important role in the vocabulary of French, Italian, and Spanish.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-697-1\">Here is the explanation, for those who are linguistically inclined. The diminutive suffix <strong>-ulus<\/strong> was originally a morpheme that can be shown as <strong>-(\u0259)lo-s<\/strong>; by the principles of syncope, sampras\u00e1ran\u0323a, and assimilation, there occurred the development <strong>*libr-\u0259lo-s &gt; *libr\u0323los &gt; *liberlos &gt; libellus<\/strong>. There were parallel developments that led to a few diminutive forms in <strong>-illus<\/strong> (<strong>-a, -um<\/strong>) or<strong> -ollus<\/strong> (<strong>-a, -um<\/strong>). <a href=\"#return-footnote-697-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-697-2\"> The phonetic development was <strong>*pork-os &gt; *pork-\u0259lo-s &gt; *pork-\u0259l-\u0259lo-s &gt; porcellus<\/strong>. <a href=\"#return-footnote-697-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Chapter 7: Latin Diminutives","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[52],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-697","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":583,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/697","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":7,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2042,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/697\/revisions\/2042"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/583"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/697\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=697"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=697"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}