meaning of "-le"

[rewboss]

And I still have a puzzle:
Since "stertlen" is the frequentative of "sterten",then if I repeat the action of walking,am I rushing?

We're talking about a very old form of English, and over time words change their meanings considerably. Also, there's often a difference between the grammatical jargon and what they actually refer to. "Frequentative" refers to the way the word is put together: it's called the "frequentative" because it sometimes does have that function, but not always. In this case, "rushing" has less to do with walking frequently, but being in a hurry. Perhaps it started off describing someone rushing about here and there -- first this way, then that way, then back again, the way some people do when they are in a hurry and keep forgetting things. (I don't know if this how the word came about: I'm speculating.) The word gradually changed its meaning, perhaps to indicate the kind of quick movements people in such a hurry often makes... and so the word evolved.

For this reason, although it's fascinating to look at the history of words and how they came about, it's actually not always helpful to use this technique to help you learn what words really mean.

[freddie]

stertlen means --------"to rush";
sterten means---------"to walk";
stertlen is the requentative of sterten.


so,I conclude "rush" is the frequentative of"walk".

But Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines "frequentative" as:denoting repeated or recurrent action or state.

Thus,"rush" is repeating of"walk".

However, in my former apprehending "rush" is not the frequentative of "walk".Obviously if I repeat walk,I am not rushing.

so,paradox.



I early knew I can't learn word's meaning wholely on examining its history

and how it came about.Modern English is a language with great change from Old English. I just take this as a secondary learning technique.I believe it

can help me understand some words more profundly,more exactly.some words ,not all words.I never thought it is always useful.


however,seeing what "frequent" is defined in dictionary:happening at short intervals,I suppose "frequentative" maybe should means:denoting repeated or recurrent action or state at short intervals.


If you take each step at one short interval,your walk must be rushing.

[Casiopea]

You say "-le" was once a diminutive marker,does that mean nowadays it has no longer been the diminutive marker?

Right. It's no longer productive. Below are a few example from English's past.

crine, to shrink or become smaller from drying up
diminutive, crinkle

dwine, to pine away or waste away slowly
diminutive, dwindle

wrine, a deep line in the face
diminutive, wrinkle

SOURCE: Lost Beauties of the English Language, Charles Mackay. 1987


About origins: -el and -le (Psst. Be on the lookout for borrowings, e.g., bangle from Hindi bangri.)

bagel, cancel, vessel, gravel, bowel, scalpel, satchel, gambrel, graupel, caravel, kipfel, and kichel. The -el ending in these words is Middle English and means "small one." It came to us from Old French -el, ele, which came Latin -ellus, -ella, -ellum. But, many words that have diminutive forms in their etymologies also end in -le! Auricle and bible are two examples.

For -le we have adjectives like duple, triple, quadruple, etc., and brittle, fickle, and nimble. We have diminutive noun forms such as the Little Words bottle, sparkle, castle, frazzle, nozzle, particle, muscle, scruple, stipple, follicle, cringle, corpuscle, manacle, adminicle, vesicle, ossicle, caruncle, furuncle, and vibratiuncle.

The -le ending can also be a verb suffix that indicates "repeated action or movement especially of a trifling or small-scale character (prattle, wriggle, hobble)." The etymology of the -le verb suffix is "Middle English -len, from Old English -lian; akin to Old High German -ilon, -alon, verb suffixes indicating repeated action."

SOURCE: http://www.spellingbee.com/cc06/week...ervation.shtml

See also Alemannic diminutive suffixes -le, -li