USAGE: -on (was: Re: Ancient conlang)

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004, Andreas Johansson wrote:

> Tangentially, is the ending -on occuring on so many particle-names (proton,
> muon, gluon, tachyon, et sim) simply generalized from 'electron', or is it a
> valid, so to speak, Greek affix for deriving nouns?
It seems not: According to dictionary.com,
-on1
suff.

   1.
         1. Subatomic particle: baryon.
         2. Unit; quantum: photon.
   2. Basic hereditary unit: codon.


[From ion]

(Electron is claimed to be derived from electr(ic) + -on1)

-on2
suff.

    Inert gas: radon.


[New Latin, from (arg)on.]

-on3
suff.

    A chemical compound that is not a ketone or a compound that contains
oxygen in a carbonyl group: parathion.


[Alteration of -one.]


--
Tristan