Irregular Derivatives

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255. The suffix  (genitive -ōnis, stem ōn-), usually added to verb stems (see § 236.c), is sometimes used with noun stems to form nouns denoting possessed of. These were originally adjectives expressing quality or character, and hence often appear as proper names.

epulae a feast
epul-ō a feaster 

nāsus a nose
nās-ō with a large nose (also as a proper name) 

volus (in bene-voluswishing
vol-ōnēs (plural) volunteers

frōns forehead
front-ō big-head (also as a proper name)

cūria a curia
cūri-ō head of a curia (also as a proper name)

restis a rope
resti-ō a rope-maker

a. Rarely suffixes are added to compound stems imagined, but not used in their compound form.

ad-verb-ium adverb
ad (to) and verbum (verb)
[no intervening †adverbus]

lāti-fund-ium large estate
lātus (wide) and fundus (estate)
[no intervening †lātifundus]

su-ove-taur-īlia a sacrifice of a swine, a sheep, and a bull
sūs (swine), ovis (sheep), and taurus (bull)
[The primitive would be impossible in Latin, though such formations are common in Sanskrit.]

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Suggested Citation

Meagan Ayer, Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-947822-04-7. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/irregular-derivatives