| 释义 |
-fulsuffix Primary stress is retained by the usual stressed syllable of the preceding element and vowels may be reduced accordingly; see e.g. effortful adj.Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian -ful , Old Dutch -vol (Middle Dutch -vol , Dutch -vol ), Old Saxon -ful (Middle Low German -vul ), Old High German -fol (Middle High German -vol , German -voll ), Old Icelandic -fullr , Norwegian -full , Old Swedish -fulder (Swedish -full ), Old Danish -fuld (Danish -fuld ) < the same Germanic base as full adj.Development of the adjectival suffix. In Old English the adjective full , like its cognates in the other Germanic languages, was frequently used as a suffix in combination with a preceding noun, forming adjectives in which the sense ‘full of..’ is often somewhat weakened, so that the resulting words may be rendered ‘having’, ‘characterized by’ (the attribute denoted by the noun); the meaning of the suffix therefore differs little from that of classical Latin -ōsus -ous suffix. In Middle English and in modern English many new formations of this type have arisen, some of them from nouns of Romance origin, as beautiful adj. (beside beauteous adj.), graceful adj. (beside gracious adj.). In Middle English a small number of formations arose in which the suffix had the force of ‘possessing the qualities of’ (the person denoted by the noun); compare e.g. masterful adj., manful adj., lordful adj., etc. In Old English, the suffix -full was sometimes combined with adjectives; compare e.g. deorcfull darkful adj., dīegolfull secret, mysterious (compare dighel adj.), earmfull wretched, miserable, humble, meek (compare arm adj.), geornfull yernful adj., grimfull fierce, terrible (compare grim adj.), etc. In Middle English a number of formations are found from existing adjectives of both inherited origin (as highful adj., strongful adj.) and French origin (as e.g. poorful adj., proudful adj., tristful adj.2, justful adj.). In the 16th and 17th cents similar formations are found from existing adjectives or Latin adjective stems, as e.g. direful adj., grateful adj., rudeful adj., sweetful adj. Combination with a verb is rare in Old English (although compare hyspful scornful); however, as the nouns to which -ful suffix is affixed are often nouns of action or state which coincide in form with the stems of related verbs, some such formations are often apprehended as a formed from the verb rather than the noun. Accordingly, adjectives in -ful suffix are sometimes formed directly on verb-stems, the sense of the suffix being ‘apt to’, ‘able or accustomed to’; compare in Middle English forgetful adj., mournful adj., in the 16th cent. bashful adj., abhorful adj., wakeful adj., in the 17th cent. assistful adj., perplexful adj., protectful adj., etc. Later formations of this type are also occasionally found, chiefly in poetic contexts (compare e.g. pranceful adj., teemful adj.2). Some formations in later use show remodelling after full adj. with the intention of clarifying that the intended force of the suffix is ‘full of’, ‘filled with’ rather than the usual weaker sense ‘having’, characterized by’ (compare e.g. Godfull adj.). Development of the noun suffix. In the Germanic languages, the syntactic combination in which a noun denoting a container is followed by the adjective full in agreement with it and governing a genitive (e.g. ‘a hand full of corn’) was used, not only in its original sense, but in the transferred sense of ‘the quantity that fills or would fill’ (the container): see full adj. 1a(b). The resulting ambiguity is partly obviated by a differentiation of form; the noun and adjective are written and inflected as independent words when they retain their original sense, but as forming a compound when the sense is transferred. This differentiation has not been carried out to an equal extent in the various languages. For instance, in German, Handvoll handful and Mundvoll mouthful are written as single words, but this makes no real difference in their syntactical value; the gender is determined by that of the first element, and there is no inflection. In Old English the development had proceeded a step further in the case of handfull handful n., which functioned as a true compound, retaining the feminine gender of hand but inflecting as a strong feminine noun (compare with similar inflection the rare Old English compounds cēacfull bowlful, cuclerfull spoonful). The idea was more frequently expressed in Old English by use of the adjective full in agreement with the noun. This pattern continued in Middle English; but owing to the practice of using the singular of a noun of quantity instead of the plural after a numeral, there is rarely any evidence to show whether the Middle English antecedent of a word like dishful is to be regarded as a syntactical combination or as a single word. In modern English -ful suffix has become a suffix forming derivatives with the general sense ‘quantity that fills or would fill’ (something), and can be affixed to any noun denoting an object that can be regarded as holding or containing a more or less definite quantity of anything; hence compare (beside bottleful n., cupful n., canful n., spoonful n., etc.) formation such as bookful n., churchful n., houseful n., worldful n., etc. Alongside the predominant plural forms in -fuls , forms in which the first element shows plural marking (e.g. spoonsful , cupsful , etc.) are also found, but have frequently been criticized in usage guides. Occasional spellings of formations of this type with -full (or even full as separate word) are found in modern English. Old Icelandic -fyllr (in e.g. handfyllr handful, munnfyllr mouthful, etc.) represents a distinct suffix < fyllr (feminine) a full supply (see fill n.1). This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2020). <  suffix |