[romconlang] -able

Missing Ray?
Call BPJ!

;-)


On 4/15/08, Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...> wrote:
> On 15.4.2008 Eric Christopherson wrote:
>  > > 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'.
>  >
>  > Isn't the suffix from the adjective?
>
> It looks like so in English, where the adjective is borrowed
> from (Norman) French and reflects its loss of Latin h-, but
> it ain't so. It would be a suitable backformation in a
> euroclone IAL, though!
>
>  > The adjective is from hab- "have, hold" and -ilis, which I
>  > think is used sometimes to derive generic adjectives from
>  > verbs, but often specifically with a sense of "ability or
>  > tendency to do/undergo something".
>  >
>
> But Latin _habilis_ means "suitable, manageable, fit,
> proper, handy, light, active" which is a perfectly normal
> derivation with the suffix _-bili-_ given the original range
> of meaning of the verb _habere_ 'grab, take, hold' and
> thence probably also 'use'.
>
> Seems I'm the fallback dude when Ray's away... :-)
>
> /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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Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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