--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Tamas Racsko <tracsko@F...> wrote:
> On 8 May 2004 Trebor Jung <treborjung@F...> wrote:
>
> > And 'exemplify', what would this form be considered as? It is
> > formed from the root 'example', modified by ablaut _and_ the
ending
> > '-ify'.
>
> I think here's the root is 'exempl-'. I'm possibly wrong because
> I'm not an Anglicist, but I think the word 'example' breaks the
> "etymology rule" of the English orthography. It should be rather
> 'exemple' (cf. French 'exemple') but the nasal in the last syllable
> was pronounced long due to the French stress rules and the
> 'example' form reflects this long vowel.
It's a regular development within French. English _example_ and
_sample_ derive from Old French _essample_, which is the regular
development of Latin _exemplum_. English _exemplify_ is an
Anglicisation of Mediaeval Latin _exmplifica:re_.
Source: Onions' Oxford Etymological Dictionary.
> IHMO the borrowings should be distinguished from inner English
> developments. E.g. 'elongate' is a simple domestication of the
> Latin verb 'elongare' with a change of meaning due to associative
> etymology.
That largely pushes the example from English into Latin - basic stem
long-o- for the adjective _longus_, but stem e:-long-a:- for the
verb.
Richard.