11.2: §77. Denominative Verbs in -ARE, -ATUS, and their nouns in -AT -IO
For the sake of illustration, let us begin with a simple noun concept, like forma , “shape.” The base of this 1st declension noun, as we learned in Chapter 2 (§10, Table 2.1 ), is form- . Let us assume, then, that you want to express the action concept “to give something a shape,” “to shape.” In Latin, this idea can be easily conveyed by inventing a 1st conjugation verb— form-are , form-atus . It’s as simple as that. Now, if you want to express the notion “to shape again,” add a common prefix so as to get re-form-are , re-form-atus . Attach a suffix, and in three steps we have arrived at the Reformation (L re-form-at-io ), a “re-shaping” that was one of the most profoundly important events in European history.
Notice some of the delightfully regular features of the Latin denominative and its English descendants. A cause for rejoicing is the fact that the vast majority of these verbs belong to the FIRST CONJUGATION , a pattern that we know to be straightforward and predictable. What we’re dealing with, in effect, is the addition of -are , -atus to a vast number of Latin nouns. “To get into a mask” (L persona ) is im-person-are , im-person-atus : to impersonate . As in this particular example, a great many of the English derivative verbs will end in -ate ; that is to say, they will be derived from the 1st conjugation Latin perfect participle in -atus . Furthermore, as we saw in Chapter 10 (§71), it will be an incredibly easy step to turn that perfect participle into a noun: “the act of getting into a mask” is an im-person-at-io , English impersonation . Because the Latin noun that meant “wheel” was rota , the verb “to wheel” is rot-are , rot-atus , and we can fully understand the etymology of rotate and rotation ( rot-at-io ). You will likely be amazed at the number of English words that can be explained by those few obvious principles.
Here are a few examples that use familiar noun vocabulary from Chapters 2 and 3:
| LATIN NOUN OR BASE | LATIN DENOMINATIVE VERB | ENG. VERB | ENG. NOUN |
| tabula (“list”) | tabulare , tabulatus | tabulate | tabulation |
| locus (“place”) | locare , locatus | locate | location |
| populus (“people) | populare , populatus | populate | population |
| stimulus (“spur”) | stimulare , stimulatus | stimulate | stimulation |
| terminus (“end”) | terminare , terminatus | terminate | termination |
| officium (“duty”) | officiare , officiatus | officiate | |
| vitium (“fault”) | vitiare , vitiatus | vitiate | |
| labor (“work”) | e-laborare , e-laboratus | elaborate |
elaboration
|
| milit – (“soldier) | militare , militatus | militate | |
| origin – (“source”) | originare , originatus | originate |
origination
|
| capit- (“head”) | de-capitare , de-capitatus | decapitate | decapitation |
| lumin – (“light”) | il-luminare , il-luminatus | illuminate | illumination |
| opus , oper – (“work”) | operare , operatus | opera te | operation |
| gradu – (“step”) | graduare , graduatus | graduate | graduation |
| situ- (“position”) | situare , situatus | situate | situation |
The English nouns in the fourth column, of course, all come from Latin nouns of the type tabulatio , tabulation-is ; locatio , location-is , etc. Not every -io word of this kind actually existed in real Latin use, at any time in history; many of them were created in modern English (or French) as the result of inventiveness and analogy. (It is a curious and paradoxical fact of English that our language has more Latin derivatives than the sum total of all known Latin words!) In addition to producing the -io type nouns, Latin denominative verbs could be the source of AGENT NOUNS like terminator , originator , and operator , which maintain their exact Latin form in English. (§73).
We could devise another long list of denominative verbs from familiar Latin adjectives. Firmus is the source of the verb con-firm-are , con-firm-atus and its derived noun con-firm-at-io (E confirmation ); compare ad-fir m-at-io > affirmation . Acceleration is derived from ad-celer-at-io (< celer , “fast”), and abbreviation from ad-brevi-at-io (< brevis , “short”). Alleviate ( ad-levi-are ) and aggravate ( ad-grav-are ) are etymological opposites, from levis (“light”) and gravis (“heavy”). These last few examples illustrate the principle of assimilation (< ad-simil-at-io ). From longus come e-long-at-io and pro-long-at-io , (E elongation and prolongation .). The adjectival base of infatuated is fatu-us (“silly”); of desiccated , sicc-us (“dry”); and of extenuated, tenu-is (“thin”).