| 释义 |
-le, suffix
pronounced |-(ə)l|, of various function and origin.
1. The usual mod.Eng. form of ME. -el(e, -le, repr. OE. -el, -ela, -(e)le in ns. and -ol, -ul, -el in adjs. (The form -el is retained where phonetic law or orthographical convention does not permit the change into -le, as after ch, g soft, n, r, sh, th, and v. After m the suffix becomes -ble.)
The OE. ns. and adjs. with l suffixes are prob. in most cases of pre-Eng. formation. The ns. formed on noun-stems have sometimes an originally diminutive sense, as in bramble; sometimes they express the notion of ‘an appliance or tool’, as in thimble, handle. In those formed on vb.-stems the function of the suffix is either agential as in beadle, instrumental as in bridle, girdle, or expressive of some less definable relation, as in bundle. The adjs., which are formed on vb.-stems, have the sense ‘apt or liable’ (to do what the vb. expresses), as in brittle, fickle, gripple, nimble, † swikel.
b. In riddle the suffix represents OE. -els, the s having been confused with the plural ending.
2. An occasional representative of ME. -el(l, -elle, in ns. adopted from Fr. This has several different sources: in castle, mantle, it is OF. -el:—L. -ellum dim. suffix (see -el); in cattle it is OF. -el:—L. -āle, the neut. sing., and in battle it is OF. -aille the neut. pl., of the adjective suffix -ālis (see -al1); in bottle it is OF. -eille:—L. -icula dim. suffix.
3. A verbal formative, repr. ME. -(e)len, OE. -lian:—OTeut. type -ilôjan, with a frequentative or sometimes a diminutive sense. Among the few examples that go back to OE. are nestle, twinkle, wrestle. In ME. and early mod.E. the suffix was extensively used (like the equivalent forms in MHG. and mod.Ger. and in Du.) to form vbs. expressing repeated action or movement, as in brastle, crackle, crumple, dazzle, hobble, niggle, paddle, sparkle, topple, wriggle, etc. Many of these formations are from echoic roots, as babble, cackle, gabble, giggle, guggle, mumble, etc. |
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