Classics 22: Etymology

• Suffixes
• Suffixes are word-elements that occur exclusively after a stem or another suffix.
• Sometimes, a dictionary will not separate suffixes from stems. In that case, it usually means that the etymon of the word already affixed the suffix. You need to analyse such words yourselves.
• Some "suffixes" listed here are actually compounds and some include stems: -ology, for instance is a cement -o- plus log- (study) plus -y (abstract noun ending). Because such endings are used in English as if they were single suffixes, they are listed here as suffixes. It is useful to know both the etymology of their parts, and their meaning as a compound unit. Beware of exceptions: for example, anthology is not a case of the suffix -ology meaning "study of."

• -sis and -ma
• These two suffixes are attached mainly to verb stems. There are exceptions, such as glaucoma.
  
• -ma becomes -mat- when combined with further elements: mathemat-ics, dramat-ic, axiomatic, etc.
  
• The plural of words ending in -ma in Greek was -mata, as we see in English stigma, pl. stigmata
• -t when added to a verb stem often changes it into the past participle (just as -ed does when added to English verbs)
• an-ec-do-t-e ("not given out")
• -ology, listed as a single suffix, is made up of -o-log-y (cement -o- + log "account, story, reason" + -y abstract noun ending)
• -e is often added to the end of Greek elements to form nouns. It is not Greek in origin and has no meaning.
  
• peristyle, microscope, magnetite, anecdote
  

• Non-Greek Suffixes which are sometimes affixed to Greek stems include those in the following table:
  

1. Identify the suffixes and their meanings in the following words.

• anthropoid shaped like human	ornithologist this one has -ology 'study of' and -ist 'agent'	drama result of doing	catalyst down-wash-agent
  anecdote not-out-give-n the t makes it 'given' rather than 'give' and the -e has no meaning	megaphone	ballistic	pandemonium all-demon-place (capital of hell in Paradise Lost)
  presbyopia	presbyterianism old-er-person-phenomenon the 'ter' here means 'er' as in 'older' and is not listed above: it will be talked about in the adjectives lesson	anonymous	hydrolysis (something reacts with water, but that something else has its bonds split, while the water may or may not)
  endemic	politics	psoriasis: psorian "to itch"	onomatopeia name-o-make-abstract this is when something's name is like its sound: whippoorwills make a sound like /whippoorwill/ for instance.
  sphingine: not in suffixes above: there are a lot more suffixes than the ones above, but the ones above are among the most common	museum muse-place	asterisk star-diminutive	neurosis nerve-inflammation
  phlebitis vein-condition	cyanide blue-chemical	enchiridion in-hand-diminutive 'a handbook'	carcinoma: already formed in Greek: not from Greek "result of": from here, -oma became a generalized form in English for tumors

2. Analyze the following words etymologically (i.e. break them up into their parts and give the meaning of each part)

• crypt-o-gram hidd-en-o-writing	pro-gram-mat-ic-al-ly forth-writing-result of-pertaining to-pertaining to-adverb	cata-logue down-word-	deuter-o-canon-ic-al second-o-measure-pertainingto-pertainingto
  lexicographer leg-sis-icos-graph-er leg-sis became lexis, then -ic is added to make lexic-	epi-graph-y	methyl-ene wine-wood chemical	phag-o-cyt-ary
  par-allel-epi-pedon	delt-oid	hypo-chondr-iac	carot-id: karos heavy sleep
  ball-ist-ic	en-caus-t-ic	mime-t-ic	theatrical theater is from thea (see/look) + -tron (tool. instrument: not listed above)
  here-sy: hairein>haire-sis	apo-stol-ic	poly-mer	pt-osis falling-morbid condition

3. Explain the difference between the following paired nouns: the -sis form originally referred to an action, while the -ma form originally referred to the result of the action: sometimes they come to have very different meanings: sometimes they retain more of their etymological meaning
   

• thesis, theme	schisis, schism
  zygosis (form a zygote yoked), zygoma (skull bone) zyg- means yoke so zygosis is a process of forming a zygote, whereas zygoma is the joining of skull bones	(o)edesis, (o)edema
  anthem (from antiphone), anthesis, (an enanthem is an eruption on a mucous surface, which stays close to the etymological meaning)	carcinosis, carcinoma the -ma of carcinoma generalized in English to all tumors: carcinoma was already formed in Greek (BTW, it's not -ma/result of: there are a lot more suffixes in Greek than the ones listed above)
  diploma (originally folded), diplosis (from genetics: cf. Haplosis" : or alchemical transmutation)	dilemma (assimilation), prolepsis apart-take-result, forth-take-action a dilemma goes one of two ways and it's hard to decide, whereas prolepsis is unrelated to it in meaning and means several different things (look it up: they are hard to describe quickly)
  morphe-me, morph-osis	syntagma ( a collection of writing: or a unit that is subject to syntax), syntax
  fibr-osis, fibr-oma (benign fibrous tumor)	myel-osis, myel-oma
  be-ma (part of church), ba-sis	cine-ma, a-kine-sis

4. Investigate and report the etymologies of the following:

• derrick inventor's name	go (OE)	zodiac from a diminutive "zoidion" + -iac (adjective) originally it was part of a phrase ζωδιακος κυκλος "zodiac cycle"	leper "peeler"
  guillotine French inventor	nabisco national biscuit company	dermatosis	tawdry people sold things outside of St. Audrey's cathedral, and from there that stuff came to be known as 'tawdry (from St. Audrey)
  litotes: "plainness"--understatement "no few people attended" is a litotes that means "many people attended."	macadam inventor's name	buckwheat calque on Boeckweit	nice from Latin nesci- not-knowing, ignorant
  okay etymology unknown, but perhaps from dialect form of 'all correct,' or perhaps from a presidential campaign of Old Kinderhook	jakes etymologically akin to Jacques: a word for an outhouse	treacle theriacos originally a medical concoction: now it's a kind of syrup sold in England mainly	zeug-ma a fun figure of speech: 'she threw up her hands and I my lunch' is an example of it
  admiral from Arabic emir-al-bahr, "prince of the sea," but the sea got clipped off, and so we are left with "prince of the"	tea (Amoy t'a)	yes a compound word ever-be it so	no a compound word! not-ever

5. What are the following: betacism, iotacism, rhotacism, mytacism, and itacism?
• itacism= pronunciation of greek iota as eee: mytacism = excessive use of the letter m or the sound it represents: rhotacism= substitution of another sound for /r/ OR changing the sound /z/ to r (as in forlorn v. lose): iotacism = the phenomenon in Modern Greek where eta, epsilon, iota, and other diphthongs or vowels are ALL pronounced like iota (like ee in fee): betacism = loss of distinction between /b/ and /v/ in a language or dialect (found in Modern Greek, Ancient Hebrew, and Spanish)