The ‘airy’ suffixes

RAMBLINGS
By DR LIM CHIN LAM

THERE is nothing airy (“spacious and well ventilated”; “light as air, delicate”, “casual, dismissive”) about suffixes. I use the word here because it nearly rhymes with the suffixes -ary, -ery, and -ory (which form the topic of this article) – and because I cannot think of a suitable alternative.

Ambling down the road of etymology, I picked up some notes about the three groups of suffixes, as elaborated below.

1. The suffix -ary and its kin

This group of suffixes includes -ary, -arium, and -aire, which are used in several ways as noun and as adjective suffixes.

1.1. -ary as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is the anglicised form of the original -arium from Latin. The following are examples of names of places with the suffix -ary: (1) aviary [Latin avis “bird” + -ary]; (2) bestiary; (3) granary; (4) library [Latin liber, libris “book” + -ary]; (5) sanctuary [Latin sanctus “holy” + -ary].

Oddities: There are words which look as if they have been formed with the suffix -ary –but are not.

Examples: (1) burglary [burglar + -y, not burgle + -ary]; (2) peccary; (3) quandary [Latin quando “when” + -are, infinitive suffix]; (4) vagary.

1.2. -ary as noun suffix, denoting person or thing or group thereof. The suffix is derived not from -arium but from the Latin -arius, and is used to form nouns denoting “connected with or engaged in”.

Examples: (1) beneficiary [benefice + -ary]; (2) constabulary; (3) dromedary [Greek dromas, dromados “running” + Latin -arius “-ary”]; (4) mercenary; (5) obituary [Latin obitus “death” + -ary].

Variant -aire: This word-ending, which appears in millionaire and billionaire, is sometimes considered as a variant of -ary (as in concessionnaire, legionnaire, and questionnaire, with double “n”) and sometimes as a variant of -er (as in commissionaire, with single “n”).

1.3. -ary as adjective suffix. The suffix is derived from Latin -arius, and is used to form adjectives denoting “pertaining to” or “connected with”, and is attached to Latin-derived words.

Examples: (1) ancillary [Latin ancilla “maidservant” + -ary]; (2) culinary [Latin: culinarius = culina “kitchen” + -ary]; (3) exemplary; (4) mercenary; (5) monetary [Latin moneta “mint, money” + -ary].

Note: Some of such adjectives may also function as nouns, e.g. contemporary, mercenary, revolutionary, tributary, visionary.

1.4. -ary as adjective suffix, to denote order, or time, or blocks of time. Examples: (1) anniversary; (2) centenary; (3) primary; (4) secondary; (5) tertiary; (6) quaternary.

1.5. -arium as noun suffix. The suffix is derived from the original Latin -arium, denoting a place or an instrument.

Examples: (1) aquarium [Latin aqua “water” + -arium]; (2) columbarium [Latin columba “dove, pigeon” + -arium]; (3) herbarium; (4) honorarium; (5) sanitarium, US spelling (= sanatorium, British spelling).

2. The suffix -ery (with its short form -ery) and its kin

This suffix forms nouns and adjectives.

2.1. -ery/-ry as noun suffix, to denote place or establishment. This is a Middle English noun suffix, derived from the French -erie. It is affixed to nouns or verbs to denote a place or establishment.

Examples: (1) bakery; (2) brewery; (3) eatery; (4) hatchery; (5) nursery.

Note: The variant -eria (of Italian origin) occurs in the word pizzeria; and the variant -erie (of French origin) occurs in the words menagerie and patisserie.

2.2. -ery/-ry as noun suffix, to denote a breeding colony of animals. Examples: (1) heronry; (2) rookery.

2.3. -ery/-ry as abstract-noun suffix. This suffix forms abstract nouns denoting activity, action, art, craft, occupation, vocation, trade, or business.

Examples: (1) chemistry; (2 cookery; (3) husbandry; (4) midwifery; (5) jugglery. This suffix, when added to nouns, adjectives, and verbs, also forms abstract nouns denoting quality, state or condition, and behaviour.

Examples: (1) artistry; (2 bravery; (3) demagoguery; (4) greenery; (5) thuggery.

Note: The variant -erie (of French origin) occurs in such word as camaraderie [French camarade “comrade” + -erie].

2.4. When -ery/-ry is not a suffix. There are many words containing the word-ending -ery/-ry – but their etymology indicates that their formation involves some other affix or not at all.

Examples: (1) awry [a- + wry]; (2) cemetery; (3) equerry [misleading – the word has the ending -erry, which, with a double “r”, is not a suffix]; (4) mastery [master + -y, not mast + -ery]; (5) mystery; (6) sundry.

3. The suffix -ory and its kin

This group of suffixes includes -ory, -orium, and -oire, which are used in several ways as noun and adjective suffixes.

3.1. -ory as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is the anglicised form of the original -orium from Latin.

The following are examples of names of places which incorporate the suffix -ory: (1) armory, US spelling (= armoury, British spelling); (2) conservatory; (3) dormitory; (4) observatory; (5) repository.

Variant -oire: Of French origin, this suffix appears in (1) conservatoire (= conservatory); (2) escritoire; (3) repertoire (= repertory).

3.2. -ory as noun suffix, denoting agent. Example: signatory.

3.3. -ory as adjective suffix. The suffix is derived from Latin -orius/-oria/-orium, meaning “having the function or effect of”.

Examples: (1) accessory [access + -ory]; (2) compulsory; (3) derogatory; (4) obligatory; (5) sensory.

Note: The adjective accessory is used also as a noun.

3.4. -orium as noun suffix, denoting place. The suffix is borrowed from Latin, denoting a place, a facility, or an instrument. Examples: (1) auditorium; (2) crematorium; (3) emporium; (4) sanatorium, British spelling (= sanitarium, US spelling); (5) scriptorium.

3.5. When -ory is not a suffix. There are many words which end with -ory. However, etymology shows that such words are made up of some other suffix or not at all.

Examples: (1) advisory [advisor + -y, not advise + -ory]; (2) allegory [Greek allegoria, from allos “other” + agoria “speaking”]; (3) category [Greek kategoria “statement, assertion, accusation”; from kategoros “an accuser”; from kata “down, against” + agora “marketplace, assembly” + -y]; (4) history [Greek historia]; (5) oratory [orator + -y, not orate + -ory]; (6) territory [irregular formation, from Latin terra “land” + -i- + -tory, abstracted from other words with such ending, e.g. directory, dormitory, purgatory]; (7) victory [Latin victor + -y, not vict + -ory].

4. Parting remarks

The English language has a plenitude of suffixes – as well as prefixes – and even more so of the facile ways in which these can be applied. The examples given above illustrate, in a small way, this point. One may look up many other suffixes and prefixes as well as the words or word-stems to which they are affixed.

Checking up on their etymology plus their pronunciation (note the misleading awry, or the deceptive prowess) helps towards the building up of one’s vocabulary.

I should like to take this point a little further, by considering the word vocabulary, a word with an “airy” suffix. It is derived from Latin: vocabulum “an appellation, designation, name” + -arius = -ary.

The word vocabulum itself is derived from vox, vocis “voice” and voco, vocare “to call”.

Very many other words are derived from the stem of these words – with the appropriate suffixes to form such derivatives as vocal, vocable, vocalise, vocalisation, vocalist, vocation, vocational, and vocative; and with the appropriate prefixes to form such derivatives as evoke, invoke, prevocalic, provoke, and revoke.

Dear readers, it can be enjoyable to check on etymology and at the same time to expand your vocabulary. Have fun.