SUFFIXES
(i) -ule, -cule
This sufifix corresponds to -nlus, a, ttm, which had diminutive force in Latin, e.g. —
globus, ' a sphère ' ; globulus, ' a globule.' scrupus, ' anxiety ' ; sci-upulus, ' uneasiness. ' mons, ' a mountain ' ; monticulus, ' a small mountain.' fascis (m.), ' a bundle ' ; fasciculus, ' a small bundle.' rex, ' a king ' ; regulus, ' a chieftain. ' opus, ' a work ' ; opusculum, ' a small work. ' corpus, ' a body ' ; corpusculum, ' a small body.' os, ' a mouth ' ; osculum, ' a small mouth. ' cantictun, 'asong'; cantictduni, ' a small song,' 'sonnet.' canna, ' a recd ' ; cannula, ' a small rééd. ' ce//a, ' a store-room ' ; cellula, ' a small room, ' capsa, ' a box ' ; capsula, ' a small box.' pi/a, 'a bail' ; pilula, ' a globule.' virga, ' a twig ' ; virgula, ' a small twig.' clavis (f. ), ' a key ' ; clavicula, ' a small key.'
The interpolation of c takes place after consonants and the vowel i.
Many Latin words with this suffix, in which its diminutive force is Viot clearly felt, hâve dropped the ti in French, e.g. —
tabernaculum [le tabernacle). articulus {l'article).
7tiîrâcûlum [le fniracle). avunculus [V oncle),
obstaculum [l' obstacle). circulus [le cercle). spectaculu7n [le spectacle).
Note. — In some of thèse words the contractée! form in -dus, -chim (instead of -culus, -culuttt), was already in use in Latin.
The gender of carbunculus, 'a carbuncle,' has been changed in French, viz, Vescarboucle (f.).
Word-Formation 175
This suffix, whcn prcccdcd by a, e, i, u, has bccomc in French —
ail eil il ouil (m. ) aille eille ille ouille {t)
in many words in which the diniinutive nieaning has more or less disappeared, e.g. —
giibernaculum, le gouvernail, 'helm.'
ariiculus, forlei l {OF. arteil), 'toc'
fericulum, le péril, 'danger.'
auricula, t oreille, 'car.*
clavicula, la cheville, 'ankle.'
foenuculîitn {{or C\t\ss. foeniculum), le fenouil, 'fenncl. '
Note. — Thèse diminutive suffixes, -aille, -eille, -îllc, cannot always be distingubhed from the identical forms which corne from Latin words in -alia., -ilia, e.g. —
batttalia, la bataille; mitaHUa, la memctlle ; volatilia, la volaille; muralia, la muraille; pectoralia, le poitrail; bestialia, le bétail; Z'itralia, le vitrail.
Note also —
les broussailles, ' brushwood ' ; les fiançailles, ' betrothal ' ; la scinaille, ' sowing ' ; la broutille, ' sprigs ' ; la vétille, ' tiiHc ' ; la charmille, 'hombeam plantation' ; une ormille, 'an elni plantation.'
It will be observed that in thèse words the ending -aille, -ille has a collective meaning.
Form French substantives in -ule, -cule, from the follovving Latin diminutive nouns, and give their English meaning : —
globulus fasciculus cannula filula
scrupulus opusculum cellula virgnla
monticulus corpusc7ilum capsula clavicula
(2) -eau, -elle
This suffix corrcspxDnds to Latin -ellus, -illus, a, um. It has mostly diminutive force, and is particularly applied to human beings, animais, and plants, e.g. —
agntis, agnellus, t agneau, ' the lamb. '
domina, dominicella, la demoiselle, ' young lad y. '
vas, vascellum, la vaisselle, ' plates and dishes.'
navis, navicella, la nacelle, ' a small boat. '
avis, avicella, aucella (Pop. L. aucellus), V oiseau, 'bird.'
paslor, pastorellus, le pastoureau, ' shepherd boy.'
Many new words bave been formed in French by this suffix, e.g. —
la tonne, ' tun,* 'ton'; le tonneau, 'cask,' ' barrel.' la chèvre, ' goat ' ; le chevreau, ' kid,' le chêne, ' oak ' ; le chêne au, ' oakling.'
Tj6 Petites Ames
Sometimcs an additional diminutive suffix lias been prefixed, e.g. —
le lièvre, 'hare'; le lèvreteau, 'levcret.' le loup, 'wolf ; le louveteau, ' vvolf's cub. ' le chêne, ' oak ' ; le chêneteau, ' oakling. ' le mât, ' mast ' ; le mât&rau, ' spar.' le poète, ' poet ' ; le poéterau, 'poetaster.'
In some words vvith this suffix its diminutive force is no longer felt, e.g. —
Tanneau, le château, le drapeau, le troupeau, le marteau, le museau, le tuyau.
Sometimes the words formed with this suffix hâve a différent meaning altogether, e.g. —
ï ombre, ' shade ' ; ï ombrelle, ' sunshade. '
la dent, ' tooth ' ; la dentelle, ' lace. '
la pomme, ' apple ' ; le pomtneau, 'pommel.'
Form diminutive nouns in -ea^i, -elle, from the following, and give thcir English meaning : —
le pré la baleine le faisan la rue
le fripon le dindon l'orme la prune
{3) -et, -ette ; -ot, -otte
The origin of thèse suffixes is obscure (cf. Grimm, Gr. iii. 703). Pott thinks they correspond to Teutonic -aht, eht, -oht. Darmestetter refers to Popular Latin féminine nouns in -itta as having become -ette in French. They are very commou ; in Franche-Comté and in Burgundy particularly, -ot is popularly attached to proper names (Chariot, Henriot, Jacquot, Paulot). Sometimes they express endearment, and sometimes their meaning is péjorative, but generally it is simply diminutive, e.g. — ^
le baril, ' barrel ' ; le barrillet, ' keg, ' ' casket. '
le coq, ' cock ' ; le cochet, ' young cock. '
l'histoire, ' story ' ; une historiette, ' a short siory. '
la manche, ' sleeve ' ; la manchette, ' shirt-cuff. '
le nef, ' nave ' ; la navette, ' shuttle in a machine. '
une île, ' an island ' ; tin îlot, ' a little island. '
la goule, pop. ' the gullet ' ; le goîilot, ' neck of a bottle.'
Pierre, ' Peter ' ; Pierrot, ' little Peter. '
la fièvre, ' fever ' ; lafiévrotte, ' slight fever. '
la main, ' hand ' ; la menotte, 'little hand,' 'handcuff, '
Word -Formation 177
Sometimes another diminutive suffix, such as -el {=eau), or -er, or -on, is prefixed to the suffixes -et, -ette, -ot, -otte, e.g. —
un agneau^ ' a lamb ' ; un agnelet, ' a lambkin. '
un anneau, ' a ring ' ; un annelet, ' a small ring. '
le corps, ' body ' ; le corset, ' stays ' ; le corselet, ' corselet,' ' bodice.'
une goutte, ' a drop * ; une gouttelette, ' a little drop. '
le cfiardon, 'thistle'; le chardonneret, ' goldfinch,' G. S)iftelfiîlt
la gorge, ' throat ' ; la gorgerette, ' a lady's ruff.'
une berger, , ' a shepherdess ' ; une bergctxfnjiette, 'a wagtail.'
Often the diminutive force of thèse préfixes is no longer felt, e.g. —
le banquet le bouquet le couplet le valet
la lunette la levrette le javelot le cachot
la calotte la culotte
WTien added to adjectives the diminutive meaning of -et is generally very distinct, e.g. —
doux, doucet, 'sweetish.' grand, grandelet, 'tallish.'
mou, mollet, 'soft,' ' tender.' aigre, aigret, aigrelet, 'sourish. '
jeune, jeunet, ' very young. '
In a few cases -el and -ot hâve augmentative force, e.g. —
le boulet, ' cannon-ball ; le ballot, ' baie ' ; tine gelinotte, ' a fat pullet. '
Form French nouns with the diminutive suffixes -et, -ette, -ot, -otte, from the following, and give their English meaning : —
le jardin
la fille
Anne
le livre
la maison
Julie
la roue
la côte
le berger
le sac
la bande
une hache
la chausse
la tarte
Pierre
la chanson
Georges (4) -on, -ion
Charles
This suffix, which goes back to Latin -o, -io, -ônis, is often used to give words a diminutive form, though its use is by no means limited to this. Indeed it very commonly dénotes —
{ I ) Persons : —
le bûcheron, le forgeron, le vigneron (cf. also le Breton, le Bourguignon) ;
(2) Animais : —
le mouton, le hérisson, le pigeon, le faucon, le poisson, le limaçon, le papillon, etc. ; N
(3) Things:—
le charbon, le bâton, le bouchon, le menton, etc. ;
without having in any way a diminutive meaning. In other words, as : —
le biberon, ' drunkard ' ; le sali s son, ' slut ' ;
le glouton, ' glutton ' ; le laideron, ' ugly person ' ;
le grognon, ' grumbler ' ; le grêlon, ' hail-stone ' ;
le grison, ' grey old man ' ; le salon, ' large room,' ' drawing-room ' ;
the force of the suflSx -on is augmentative or péjorative.
But in many words the meaning of -on is distinctly diminutive, e. g. —
un aigle, ' an eagle, ' un aiglon.
un âne, ' a donkey, ' un ânon.
une oie, ' a goose, ' un oison.
une carafe, ' a water-bottle, ' un carafon.
la lampe, ' lamp,' le lampion.
Very often another suffix précèdes -on, e.g. —
le bouiAUon, le moucheron, le caneton.
The suffix -on is often added to proper names to express endearment, e.g. —
Louise, Louison ; Jeanne, Jeanneton ; Marie, Marion.
It occurs also in many family names, e. g. —
Gillon, Massillon, etc.
Form diminutive nouns from the following by the suffix -on, -ion, and give in each case the English both of the primary and the diminutive noun : —
le chat
la cruche
la carpe
la mouche
l'ours
le lard
l'oiseau
la cane
le rat
le bœuf
la cloche
lafetiille
(5) -in, -ine
This suffix corresponds to Latin -inus, -ina, -inum. It dénotes —
(i) Persons : —
le cousin, le pèlerin, le marin, le citadin, le fantassin, la cousine, la citadine.
(2) Animais : —
le lapin, le mâtin, le poulin.
(3) Things :—
le sapin, le bassin, le chemin, le moulin, la farine, la cuisine, la routine, la ruine.
Word-Formation 179
It bas a péjorative meaning in —
un arlequin, 'harlequin,' 'humbug.* un faquin, ' a jackanapes,' 'a snob.' un dandin, ' a ninny.' un robin, ' a lawyer, ' ' humbug. ' un poupin, ' a fop. '
But it has a diminutive meaning in —
un diablotin, ' little devil,' frorn le diable.
un caissetin, ' a small case,' from une caisse.
du pulvérin, ' gunpowder-dust,' from U, polvcrino.
le buffietin, ' a young buffalo,' from le buffle.
le marcassin, ' a young wild boar,' from ?
le poussin, 'a chick,' from Lat. pullicenus.
(6) -ol, -eul, -euil
Thèse suffixes correspond to Latin -eolus, -iolus. French Words formed by them show the diminutive meaning of the suffix most clearly in words which are taken from Latin, e.g. —
le rossignol, ' nightingale, ' from lusciniolus.
un alvéole, ' cell in a honeycomb, ' from alveolus.
T aïeul, 'ancestor,' from avolus, aviolus.
npagneul, ' spaniel, ' from ispaniolum.
le filleul, 'godson,' from fi liolus.
le tilleul, 'lime-tree,' from tiliolus.
le linceul, 'shroud,' from linteolunt.
le chevreuil, ' roebuck,* from capreolus.
T écureuil, ' squirrel,' from scuriolus.
Some words hâve inserted -er before the suffix, as —
la banderole, ' musket belt,' ' streamer,' from la bande. la casserole, ' saucepan,' from la casse, la/éverole, ' small bean,' from la fève.
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PQ
Pouvillon, Emile Petites âmes
