-urnus

Latin Alternative forms la -rnus Etymology la adjective :from -nus<id:adjective> Ultimately from the adjective-forming suffix la -nus -(i)nus; see also la -rnus. Szemerényi 1959 proposes that the starting point was pre-Latin *hesterinos (la hesternus) and *wesperinos (reconstructed based on the obsolete word la vesperna). As a result of la 1, the *-erinos at the end of these words would have been attached to *diw- and *nokt-, the pre-Latin roots of the words la diēs day and la nox night, initially forming *diw-erinos and *nokt-erinos. Szemerényi argues that *diw-erinos was syncopated to *diwrinos and then regularly developed to *diurnos (Latin la diurnus), and then the ending *-urnos was extended by analogy to la nocturnus and other words. Others have argued that the adjectives may have been formed on or influenced by the adverbs la diū/la diūs by day and la noctū at night. Pronunciation Suffix -urnus Enlargement of la -nus suffix forming adjectives. la albus alburnus la diū comparative stem: la diūt- diūturnus la nox oblique stem: la noct- nocturnus la tacitus taciturnus Declension -urnus Derived terms la References 1 -urnus 2,107/2 Szemerényi Oswald 1959 Glotta 38 1./2. H. 107-125 Latin hībernus and Greek χειμερινός