2.8: §14. Patterns of Change in Form
The vocabulary of this chapter has shown various degrees of change that Latin nouns may undergo in becoming English words. We can establish a sort of spectrum of MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE , ranging from the least modified to the totally transformed.
1.
The Latin word appears in English without any change in form
:
arena
,
camera
,
campus
,
circus
,
forum
,
odium
2.
The Latin noun base becomes the English derivative
:
L.
forma
> E
form
, L
campus
> E
camp
, L
signum
E
sign
3.
The Latin word is modified on consistent principles
:
a. The English word is the Latin base plus silent -e
L
causa
> E
cause
, L
fortuna
> E
fortune
, L
modus
> E mode
b. Latin
-tia
or –
tium
or –
cium
becomes English –
ce
[1]
L
gratia
> E
grace
, L
vitium
> E
vice
, L
officium
> E
office
c. Latin –
ia
or –
ium
becomes English –
y
L
gloria
> E
glory,
L
lilium
>
E
lily
4.
The Latin word undergoes a major and unpredictable change in form
:
L.
camera
> E
chamber
, L
radius
> E
ray
, L.
granum
> E
grain
As you may have surmised, most of the changes in types 2 to 4 occurred during and after transmission through French. Many lst declension nouns, for example, survive as French words in – e (type 3.a); cf. L terra > F terre , L luna > F lune . In the Old French period (12th century), words like gloria , memoria , and victoria had assumed the form glorie , mémorie , and victorie , whence English glory , memory , and victory (type 3.c). Later they evolved into modern French gloire , mémoire , and victoire . At a fairly recent date, English borrowed the word memoir from modern French. Thus memoir and memory are English doublets.
-
Latin
-gium
might also become English
-ge
, as L
vestigium
(“footprint”) > E
vestige
, and L
collegium
(“guild”) > E.
college
. ↵