-culum

culum English Suffix en non-productive en -cule diminutive suffix. Latin Pronunciation -culum stressed on the antepenult Etymology 1 la diminutive -ulum<id:diminutive> Suffix la suffix form la -culus nom//acc//voc n s ; acc m s Etymology 2 la instrument :inh itc-pro:*-klom From (with anaptyxis) la itc-pro *-klom, from la ine-pro *-tlom, from ine-pro *-trom. Compare la stabulum, which comes from a similar suffix ine-pro *-dʰlom. Despite the resemblance, la ōsculum (which besides is never found in the form **ōsclum) and other diminutive nouns do not contain this suffix. Alternative forms la -clum -crum -ulum Suffix -culum<2> la instrumentsuffix used to derive nouns from verbs, particularly nouns for tools and instruments la -men -mentum -tōrium -ium la prōpugnō prōpugnō, prōpugnāre -culum prōpugnāculum to fight for, defend bulwark, fortress, protection la dēvertō dēvertō, dēvertere -culum dēverticulum to turn aside, turn away; to lodge byroad; digression; lodging; refuge Usage notes The main form of this suffix is -culum, but various alternative forms exist. Most tend to be found in particular phonological contexts: la -crum can be found only if /l/ is present somewhere earlier in the word, as in la lavācrum. It developed from Proto-Italic *-klom by long distance dissimilation (compare la -ālis and its allomorph la -āris). However, the non-dissimilated form -culum can also be found in some words with preceding /l/, such as la liāculum. la -trum is found whenever the suffix occurs immediately after /s/, as in la haustrum. In addition, it is found in some words that contain a liquid /r/ or /l/ somewhere earlier, such as la arātrum, la tālitrum; this type of formation seems to have been old and unproductive in Classical Latin. It was inherited from the Proto-Indo-European variant form ine-pro *-trom. Apart from the limited occurrence of the ending in inherited Latin vocabulary, it has been used to coin neologisms, at first with influence from the cognate Greek instrument noun suffix grc -τρον, later (in Neo-Latin) with influence from modern English inanimate agent nouns ending in en -er or en -or (such as en computer) and similar formations in other modern European languages. la -ulum is found whenever the suffix occurs immediately after a velar plosive (spelled c or g), as in la cingulum. It is debated whether it comes from phonetic simplification of *-tlom after a plosive, or from the neuter of the etymologically distinct suffix la -ulus (found in some agent nouns, such as la figulus potter) from Proto-Italic itc-pro *-elos.Ranjan Sen Syllable and Segment in Latin Oxford University Press 2015 9780199660186 131-132, 152-153 This ending can also occur after non-velar plosives, as in la dēcipulum from la dēcipiō. la -rum is found after two stems that contain /l/ and end in a plosive: la fulcrum and la scalprum. It seems to originate from either *-tlom (with liquid dissimilation as in la -crum) or *-trom, with simplification after a velar or labial plosive (as possibly in la -ulum). The form la -culum tends to be used in the remaining cases: it can be found after vowels (forming a number of common words in la -āculum from first-conjugation verbs and some in la -iculum from third-conjugation verbs) and after -r-. The suffix la -bulum (dissimilated form la -brum) is etymologically related and has a similar meaning. It is typically found after a vowel. There are no obvious conditions for when it is used instead of -culum/-crum. Most of the endings listed above have variant first-declension feminine forms, such as la -cula, la -tra, la -ula, la -bula, la -bra (as in la pavīcula, la mulctra, la dēcipula, la sūbula, la dolābra). Variant second-declension masculine versions of these endings are much less common, but are attested in a few nouns, such as la culter, la scalper (a variant of la scalprum), la arāter (a rare variant of la arātrum), and the plural la rastrī. Declension -culum<2> Derived terms la Descendants From -āculum (by rebracketing of the first-conjugation thematic vowel -ā-): ast -ayu ca -all fr -ail -aille it -acchio pt -alho es -ajo From -ī̆culum: ast -iyu -íu it -icchio es -ijo References The Proto-Indo-European Instrument Noun Suffix *-tlom and its Variants, Birgit Anette Olsen, 1988. Further reading Clackson, James, Indo-European Word Formation: Proceedings from the International Conference, 2002 Philip Baldi, The Foundations of Latin, 2002, pp. 304-305