| 释义 |
▪ I. -el, suffix1
repr. OE. -el, -ela, -ele (OTeut. *-ilo-, -ilon-, -ilôn-), has in mod.Eng. usually become -le, q.v., though the older form is retained after v, th, ch, n, as in hovel, brothel, hatchel, kernel.
OE. -el is added to vbl. stems to form agent-nouns, instrumental ns., and adjs., and to ns. to form diminutives; -ela, -ele, are chiefly used to form diminutives from ns. and object-nouns from vbl. stems. See further under -le.
▪ II. -el, suffix2
a. OF. -el (mod.F. usu. -eau), -elle, repr. L. -ello-, -ella-. This suffix is in classical Latin used to form diminutives from ns. or adjs. in -er and -ra, as libellus, libella, from liber book, libra balance; it is also substituted for -ulo-, -ula-, to form diminutives of nouns of that termination, where the latter had lost its original diminutive force, as in porcellus little pig, dim. of porculus, f. porc-us pig. In Romanic it was much more widely used in the formation of diminutives. Examples in Eng. (with the spelling -el) are (from the masc. -el), tunnel, bowel, carnel; (from the fem. -elle) chapel, novel, pimpernel, etc.
2. It should be noted that the ending -el in Eng. words adapted from Fr. frequently represents other L. suffixes than -ello-, -ella-; e.g. in jewel, vowel, it stands for Fr. -el:—L. -āli- (see -al1); in apparel for Fr. -eil:—L. -iculo- (see -cule); in kennel for Fr. -il:—L. -īle, as in ovīle sheepfold. |