The origin of suffixes

4.1.4. As to the origin of sfs, there are two ways in which a sf may come into existence: 1) the sf was once an independent word but is no longer one; 2) the sf has originated as such, usually as a result of secretion. Case 1) applies to a few native sfs only. The sfs -dom and –hood are independent words still in OE, so the process whereby a second-word becomes a sf can be observed historically. [...] An instance of case 2) is the sf -ling which is simply the extended form of sf -ing in words whose stem ended in -l.

Half-way between second-words and sfs are certain second elements which are still felt to be words though they are no longer used in isolation: -monger, -wright and -wise exist only as second parts of cbs. I have treated them as semi-suffixes. The fact that a word is frequently used as the second element of a cb gives us no right to call it a suffix. Thus the following are not sfs: -caster (as in broadcaster, gamecaster, newscaster), -fiend (as in the AE words cigarette-fiend, opium-fiend, absinthe-fiend, cocaine-fiend etc., [...]) -craft (as in witchcraft, leechcraft, priestcraft, statecraft, smithcraft, mothercraft), or -proof (as in bomb-, fire-, rain-, sound-, water-, hole-, kiss-, humor- etc. proof) which Jespersen […] wrongly terms one.

4.1.5. The contact of English with various foreign languages has led to the adoption of countless foreign words. In the process, many derivate morphemes have also been introduced, suffixes as well as prefixes. As a consequence, we have many hybrid types of composites. We have to distinguish between two basic groups. A foreign word is combined with a native affix, as in clear-ness, un-button. Just as the introduction of a foreign word is an essentially uncomplicated matter, so is its combination with a native derivative element. As no structural problem is involved in the use of a foreign lexical unit, it can be treated like native words. This is the reason why native prefixes and suffixes were added to French words almost immediately after the words had been introduced. Suffixes such as -ful, -less, -ness were early used with French words so we find faithful, faithless, clearness and others recorded by 1300. The case is different with foreign affixes added to native words. Here, the assimilation of a structural pattern is involved, not merely the adoption of a lexical unit. Before the foreign affix can be used, a foreign syntagma must have come to be familiar with speakers so that the pattern of analysis may be imitated and the dependent morpheme be used with native words. This is much more complicated. When it does happen, such formations are found much later than those of the first type. This is to be regarded as a general linguistic phenomenon. It explains why combinations of the types break-age, hindr-ance, yeoman-ry crop up much later (about 1375 at the earliest) and are less numerous. The early assimilation of -able is excep­tional. Some foreign affixes, as -ance, -al (type arrival), -it у have never become productive with native words.

4.1.6. The majority of foreign suffixes owe their exist­ence to the reinterpretation of loans. When a foreign word comes to be analysed as a composite, a syntagma, it may acquire derivative force. The syntagmatic character of a word therefore is a precondition for the development of a derivative morpheme.

From landscape (which is Du landschap)resulted scape which is almost entirely used as the second element of cbs, as in seascape 1799 and later earthscape, cloudscape, sandscape, mountainscape, moonscape, parkscape, skyscape, waterscape, house-scape, roadscape, mindscape. Bootlegger attracted booklegger ‘one trading in obscene books’, foodlegger ‘illicit foodseller’, meatlegger, tirelegger (used at a time when things were rationed in U.S.).

The word hierarchy attracted squir(e)archy 1804, which does not, however, mean that there is a suffix -archy […]. The attraction is prob. due to the rime only, and other coinages have not been made. [...].

Another AE sf is -eteria with meaning ‘shop, store, establishment’. The starting-point is prob. Mexican Spanish cafeteria which passed into American English (first used about 1893). [...] As it was immediately analysable in American English, with the first element interpreted as an allomorph of [kɒ fi] it attracted a good number of words (chiefly since 1930). Mencken has about 50 words, such as basketeria, caketeria, candyteria, cleaneteria, luncheteria, drygoodsteria, drugteria, fruiteria, shoeteria, chocolateria, furnitureteria. The original implication was ‘place where articles are sold on the self-service plan’ (so in the recent coinage gas-a-teria […]. The only common word, however, is cafeté ria, stressed as indicated. [...]

4.1.7. The process of secretion requires some more com­ment. The basic principle is that of re-interpretation; but there are several ways in which re-interpretation occurs.

1) A cb may be analysed by the general speaker as having two constituent elements, the basis as an independent morpheme and the sf as a derivative element. This is the case of the preceding types lemonade and landscape. This process of direct re-interpretation is the form secretion commonly assumes.

2) A cb is not made up of two constituent elements as far as the general speaker is concerned. If aristocracy, democracy, plutocracy yield more or less jocular words such as landocracy, mobocracy, cottonocracy, this is due to a meet­ing and blending of two heterogeneous structural systems: a certain structural element of one linguistic system is isolated and introduced into another linguistic system. The speaker with a knowledge of Greek isolates -ocracy ‘rule’ in a series of Greek-coined words and introduces it as a derivative element into the structural system of English. But dependent structural elements are tied up with certain morphologic conditions of the linguistic system to which they belong and cannot therefore be naturally transplanted, unlike words which are independent lexical elements, not subject to any specific morphologic conditions. Such coinages are felt to be hybrids by the word-coiner himself, so the process is not used for serious purposes as a rule. Admittance of such foreign derivative elements is also impeded by the fact that they bear no resemblance to any morpheme with which the hearer of the hybrid cb is familiar. The linguistic situation is different with foreign-coined words of which one element is immediately associated with a morpheme of the hearer’s language. Words like barometer, thermometer are automatically connected with the independent word meter whose unstressed allomorph the words contain. This explains the rise and currency of speedometer, creamometer, and quite recent drunkometer.

But otherwise, hybrid coinages of this derivative pattern will always have a limited range of currency or the tinge of facetiousness, as bumpology, bumposopher (both jocular from bump ‘protuberance on the cranium as the sign of special mental faculties’), storiology, weatherology, dollolatry a. o. Parallel to the above words in -ocracy are such in -ocrat, as mobocrat, bankocrat, shopocrat. Very similar to the case of barometer / speedometer is that of the American sf -fest. From the German words Sangerfest and Turnfest, which were first used in the early 50’s in U.S., a series of other words were derived, such as smokefest, walkfest, eatfest, stuntfest, bookfest, gabfest. The ele­ment -fest was obviously interpreted as the ‘allomorph’ of feast. The word cavalcade was re-interpreted as containing the element caval- ‘horse’ and the sf cade ‘parade’ and attract­ed such coinings as aerocade, aquacade (on a Latin basis of coining), autocade, camelcade, motorcade (on a nativebasis of coining), recent words which may not stand the test of time. From the word panorama the characteristic ending -rama was secreted with the meaning ‘pageant, show’ and has recently led to such words as cinerama, motorama, autorama.

Sometimes ignorant but pretentious people take to coining words, re-interpreting foreign words in their own way. They vaguely feel that there is some characteristic termination in a Greek or Latin word which they then attach to some English basis to give the cb a ‘learned’ tinge. As a result, we get barbarisms in -athon, coined after Marathon, such as danceathon, swimathon, etc., in -torium, such as corsetorium, lubritorium, etc.

Thus, the rise of sfs illustrated by types aristocracy / landocracy, barometer / speedometer and others treated in the preceding passage can stay out of account for suffixal derivation.

4.1.8. There is yet a third way in which sfs may arise. Words of apparently only one constituent element may develop derivative morphemes. If we take, such a word as hamburger, we observe that it has attracted other coinings like cheeseburger, beefburger, fishburger. The analysis of the word cannot be, as one may feel tempted to assume, that of ham and burger as there is no ham in the hamburger. So the word cheeseburger has not arisen from re-interpretation. What has taken place is a shortening of the morpheme hamburger into a fore-clipped -burger, this part being taken as representative of the semantic elements contained in hamburger. The cb cheeseburger therefore is a clipped word for non-existent cheese hamburger. Parallel to -burger words are such in -furter, as shrimpfurter, krautfurter, chickenfurter […]. In election campaign words such as Hoovercrat, Willkiecrat, -crat was short for democrat. The word telegram 1852 gave rise to cablogram, radiogram, pidgeongram, lettergram where -gram is short for telegram. The diminutive sf -ling originated in the same way. Wolfling ‘young wolf’ is a blend of wolf, and young-ling ‘young animal’.