Re: -able

T. A. McLeay skrev:
> MorphemeAddict@WMCONNECT.COM wrote:
>> In a message dated 4/13/2008 23:47:47 PM Central Daylight Time,
>> scott.hlad@TELUS.NET writes:
>>
>>
>>> I'm looking for the derivation of the suffix "-able" which we have in
>>> English which appears the same in French and as "-avel" in Portugese.
>>> Any ideas?
>>> Scotto
>>>
>> My first guess is that it's from Latin "-abilis".
>
> Which in turn is -a:- + -bilis; the -a:- could also have been -i- (hence
> "-ible" in "impossible") or not included, hence "soluble" from "solve"
> (La. solu:-bilis and solvere, noting Classical Latin -v- was /w/, and it
> is for whatever reason one of my favorite pairs of words in English).
> Any decent dictionary should tell you this much.
In fact the -a/i/u- was the final vowel of the verb stem.
OTOH the adjective _able_ comes from _habilis_ 'manageable,
handy, apt' derived from _habére_ 'to have, to hold'.

/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch atte melroch dotte se
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   "C'est en vain que nos Josués littéraires crient
   à la langue de s'arrêter; les langues ni le soleil
   ne s'arrêtent plus. Le jour où elles se *fixent*,
   c'est qu'elles meurent."           (Victor Hugo)

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