hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2024-05-22

■ #5504. 接尾辞 -ive を OED で読む [etymology][suffix][french][oed][loan_word][oed][adjective][word_formation][noun][conversion][productivity]

　「#2032. 形容詞語尾 -ive」 ([2014-11-19-1]) で取り上げた形容詞（およびさらに派生的に名詞）を作る接尾辞 (suffix) に再び注目したい．OED の -ive (SUFFIX) の "Meaning & use" をじっくり読んでみよう．

Forming adjectives (and nouns). Formerly also -if, -ife; < French -if, feminine -ive (= Italian, Spanish -ivo):--- Latin īv-us, a suffix added to the participial stem of verbs, as in act-īvus active, pass-īvus passive, nātīv-us of inborn kind; sometimes to the present stem, as cad-īvus falling, and to nouns as tempest-īvus seasonable. Few of these words came down in Old French, e.g. naïf, naïve:--- Latin nātīv-um; but the suffix is largely used in the modern Romanic languages, and in English, to adapt Latin words in -īvus, or form words on Latin analogies, with the sense 'having a tendency to, having the nature, character, or quality of, given to (some action)'. The meaning differs from that of participial adjectives in -ing, -ant, -ent, in implying a permanent or habitual quality or tendency: cf. acting adj., active adj., attracting adj., attractive adj., coherent adj., cohesive adj., consequent adj., consecutive adj. From their derivation, the great majority of these end in -sive and -tive, and of these about one half in -ative suffix, which tends consequently to become a living suffix, as in talk-ative, etc. A few are formed immediately on the verb stem, esp. where this ends in s (c) or t, thus easily passing muster among those formed on the participial stem; such are amusive, coercive, conducive, crescive, forcive, piercive, adaptive, adoptive, denotive, humective; a few are from nouns, as massive. In costive, the -ive is not a suffix.

Already in Latin many of these adjectives were used substantively; this precedent is freely followed in the modern languages and in English: e.g. adjective, captive, derivative, expletive, explosive, fugitive, indicative, incentive, invective, locomotive, missive, native, nominative, prerogative, sedative, subjunctive.
In some words the final consonant of Old French -if, from -īvus, was lost in Middle English, leaving in modern English -y suffix¹: e.g. hasty, jolly, tardy.

Adverbs from adjectives in -ive are formed in -ively; abstract nouns in -iveness and -ivity suffix.

　OED の解説を熟読しての発見としては：

　(1) -ive が接続する基体は，ラテン語動詞の分詞幹であることが多いが，他の語幹や他の品詞もあり得る．
　(2) ラテン語で作られた -ive 語で古フランス語に受け継がれたものは少ない．ロマンス諸語や英語における -ive 語の多くは，かつての -ivus ラテン単語群をモデルとした造語である可能性が高い．
　(3) 分詞由来の形容詞接辞とは異なり，-ive は恒常的・習慣的な意味を表わす．
　(4) -sive, -tive の形態となることが圧倒的に多く，後者に基づく -ative はそれ自体が接辞として生産性を獲得している．
　(5) -ive は本来は形容詞接辞だが，すでにラテン語でも名詞への品詞転換の事例が多くあった．
　(6) -ive 接尾辞末の子音が脱落し，本来語由来の形容詞接尾辞 -y と合流する単語例もあった．

　上記の解説の後，-ive の複合語や派生語が951種類挙げられている．私の数えでこの数字なのだが，OED も網羅的に挙げているわけではないので氷山の一角とみるべきだろう．-ive 接尾辞研究をスタートするためには，まずは申し分ない情報量ではないか．

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