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-al

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology 1

    From Middle English -al, from the Latin adjective suffix -ālis, or French, Middle French and Old French -el, -al. Distant doublet of -ar.

    Alternative forms

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. Of or pertaining to. Adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. Often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also.
      base + -albasal
      cranium + -alcranial
    2. Forming nouns, especially of verbal action.
      propose + -alproposal
      deny + -aldenial
      bestow + -albestowal
    Usage notes

    Most adjectives with this ending were not formed in English, but were taken from Latin (or French). In Latin, the ending -ālis (whence -al) had the alternative form -āris (whence English -ar), which was often used when the base word contained l; in English, the use of -al or -ar is inconsistent, and while words like formular, fibular, capsular, and bulbar follow the Latin norm, words like molal, phylal, salmonellal, and zooxanthellal do not. Some words show variation between -al and -ar, such as lobar and lobal, acinar and acinal; variation also existed in Latin, as with Latin līneāris and hence English linear vs Latin līneālis and hence English lineal. The ending -al is used in cases where the last l in the base word is followed by r (e.g. cultural, scleral, microfloral, pleural, loral, labral). (In contrast, -ar is found in glomerular, where the last l in glomerulus is not followed by r.)

    If the base word ends with us, um or a, it is dropped (e.g. viral, from virus; bronchial (New Latin bronchiālis), from bronchium; corneal from cornea). Likewise, if the base word ends with er / re (mostly derived from Latin words ending in rum), the e may be dropped, e.g. membral, from member (Latin membrum); central, from center/centre (Latin centrum). If the base word ends with a consonant + le (mostly words derived from Latin diminutives ending in -ulus, -ulum, -ula), the latter usually changes to ul (e.g. muscular, from muscle (Latin mūsculus); vehicular, from vehicle (Latin vehiculum); arbuscular, from arbuscle (Latin arbuscula)). The ending also appears in the extended form -ial, as in manorial.

    As a nominalizer, some verbs have two corresponding nouns, one ending in -al and the other in -tion/-sion (more common suffix), with one or the other being more common, sometimes with different nuances. Notable examples: disposition/disposal (dispose), proposition/proposal (propose), submission/submittal (submit), transmission/transmittal (transmit). Some superficial pairs are actually of different origin, notably reversion/reversal (respectively related to revert and reverse).

    Final silent e is dropped before this suffix, e.g. casal, from case.

    Derived terms

    See also

    Etymology 2

    Back-formation from aldehyde.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. (organic chemistry) Forms the names of aldehydes.
    Translations

    Anagrams

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    Abenaki

    Suffix

    -al

    1. A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.
      pessimen (currant)pessimenal (currants)
      wôbigen (it is white)wôbigenal (they are white)

    Usage notes

    • -al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.
    • See the usage notes at -ak.

    Asturian

    Etymology

    Inherited from Latin -ālis.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al (epicene, adjective-forming suffix, plural -als)

    1. -al (of or pertaining to)

    Derived terms

    Catalan

    Etymology

    Inherited from Latin -ālis.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -als)

    1. in adjectives, indicating relation
      estructura (structure) + -alestructural (structural)

    Derived terms

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    Danish

    Etymology

    From Latin -ālis.

    Suffix

    -al

    1. -al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun
      Synonym: -el
    2. (organic chemistry) -al

    Declension

    More information positive, comparative ...

    1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
    the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
    2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

    (Adjectives)

    More information common gender, singular ...

    (Common nouns)

    More information neuter gender, singular ...

    (Neuter nouns)

    Derived terms

    See also

    References

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    Dutch

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. (organic chemistry) -al

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Esperanto

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. for [...] reason (ending for correlatives of reason)

    Derived terms

    • alial (for another reason)
    • ĉial (for every reason)
    • ial (for any/some reason)
    • kial (for what reason, why)
    • nenial (for no reason)
    • tial (for that reason, therefore)

    French

    Etymology

    Inherited from Middle French -al, from Old French -al, borrowed from Latin -ālis. Doublet of -el, which is inherited. The masculine plural in -x comes from the letter's usage as a ligature to abbreviate -us.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al (feminine -ale, masculine plural -aux, feminine plural -ales)

    1. -al; appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form; often added to words of Latin origin, but used with other words also

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Norwegian Bokmål: -al
    • Turkish: -sal (learned)
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    German

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Latin -ālis.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. pertaining to, using; adjectival suffix appended to nouns

    Derived terms

    Hungarian

    Etymology

    From -a- (linking vowel) + -l (verb-forming suffix).

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. (verb-forming suffix) Added to a noun to form a verb.
      szárny (a wing) + -alszárnyal (to soar)
    2. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a verb to form a noun. No longer productive in this role.
      von (to pull) + -alvonal (line)
    3. (organic chemistry) -al (forms the names of aldehydes)
      etanalethanal

    Usage notes

    • (verb-forming suffix) Variants:
      -l is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-. Final long vowels may shorten, e.g. űü.
      -ol is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant
      -al is added to other back-vowel words ending in a consonant
      -el is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant
      -öl is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant
      -ál is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

    Note: Certain words take another, synonymous suffix, -z/-oz/-az/-ez/-öz/-áz or -zik/-ozik/-azik/-ezik/-özik.

    • (noun-forming suffix) Variants:
      -al is added to back-vowel words
      -el is added to front-vowel words

    Derived terms

    See also

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    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al

    1. Forms nouns from adjectives
      tew (cold) + -altewal (coldness)
      k’ak’ (new) + -alk’ak’al (youngster)
    2. Forms nouns from -aj verb suffix
      mujaj (to shade) + -almujaj (shadow)
      q’ebaj (to go across) + -alq’ebal (large earthen jar)
    3. Forms nouns from adverbs
      nojim (slowly) + -alnojimal (slowness)
      nabe (firstly) + -alnabeal (firstborn)
    4. Forms nouns from nouns
      k’o’x (gourd cup) + -alk’o’xal (shell of a dead animal)
      süb (tamalito of corn) + -alsübal (pot for making tamales)

    References

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    Latin

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From the recurrent substantivation of apocopated adjectives in -āle, the nominative neuter singular ending of -ālis. Compare the nominal suffixes -ārium, -ium and -cum (among others), all derived from the neuter stem of adjective-forming suffixes.

    Suffix

    -al n (genitive -ālis); third declension

    1. noun-forming suffix

    Declension

    Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem).

    Derived terms

    Lepontic

    Suffix

    -al

    1. romanization of -𐌀𐌋

    Malay

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Dutch -aal and English -al.

    Pronunciation

    Suffix

    -al (Jawi spelling ـل)

    1. -al
      konvensionalconventional

    Derived terms

    Manx

    Alternative forms

    Etymology 1

    Extracted from goaill.

    Suffix

    -al f

    1. suffix used to form verbal nouns

    Etymology 2

    Extracted from goaill.

    Suffix

    -al

    1. suffix used productively to form denominative verbs and their associated verbal nouns
      yiarn (iron) + -alyiarnal (to iron)
      post (post) + -alpostal (to post)

    Etymology 3

    From Middle Irish -amail (compare Irish -úil, Scottish Gaelic -ail, -eil), from Old Irish -amail.

    Suffix

    -al

    1. An adjectival suffix applied to various words, usually nouns, to make an adjective.

    Derived terms

    See also

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

      Borrowed from Old French -al, -el and its source Latin -ālis.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /-al/, /-aːl/, /-ɛl/, /-ɛːl/

      Suffix

      -al

      1. (chiefly not productive) Forms adjectives from Latin and Romance vocabulary.

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      References

      Munsee

      Suffix

      -al

      1. A suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words.
        síipuw (river)siipúwal (rivers)
        máxkeew (it is red)maxkéewal (they are red)

      Usage notes

      • -al is the most common suffix used to form the plurals of inanimate words, including most body parts and some words ending in the vowel a.

      Norman

      Etymology

      From Old French -al, from Latin -ālis.

      Suffix

      -al

      1. -al (of or pertaining to; adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form)

      Derived terms

      Norwegian Nynorsk

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      From Old Norse -all in adjectives like þagall and gamall, from Proto-Germanic *-alaz.

      Suffix

      -al (neuter -alt, definite singular and plural -ale, comparative -alare, indefinite superlative -alast, definite superlative -alaste)

      1. Forms adjectives from verbs meaning “doing” or “pertaining to doing” the verb.
        våga (dare) + -alvågal (daring, risky)

      Derived terms

      • blåsal
      • brekal
      • frostal
      • grinal
      • gråtal
      • hatal (hateful)
      • heftal
      • krakal
      • lidal
      • vågal
      • yppal

      References

      • “-al” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
      • “*all” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

      Old French

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

        Borrowed from Latin -ālis. Compare the inherited -el.

        Suffix

        -al

        1. suffix used to form adjectives from nouns
          mesnal (from mesnee)domestic; household

        Descendants

        • Middle French: -al

        Polish

        Etymology

          Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-aľь.

          Pronunciation

          • IPA(key): /al/
          • Rhymes: -al
          • Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]

          Suffix

          -al m

          1. forms masculine nouns, usually augmentative in nature
            nos + -alnochal

          Declension

          Animate/personal:

          Inanimate:

          Surnames:

          Derived terms

          Further reading

          • -al in Polish dictionaries at PWN

          Portuguese

          Pronunciation

           

          • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
          • Hyphenation: -al

          Etymology 1

          From Old Galician-Portuguese -al, from Latin -ālem.

          Suffix

          -al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, plural -ais)

          1. -al, appended to noun X, forms adjectives meaning “of or relating to X”
            Synonyms: -ar, -ário, -eiro, -ico, -eal, -ial
            abismo (abyss) + -alabismal (abyssal; abysmal)
            indústria (factory; industry) + -alindustrial (industrial)
          2. (rarely productive) forms synonyms of adjectives containing the suffix -ico
            angélico (angelic) + -alangelical (angelical)
          Alternative forms

          Suffix

          -al m or f by sense (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

          1. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a collection X” or “a large quantity of X”
            Synonym: -ário
            ninho (nest) + -alninhal (a bunch of nests)
            edito (edict) + -aledital (notice board)
          2. appended to noun X, forms nouns meaning “a place where there is plenty of X” or "field where a plant is cultivated"
            Synonyms: -açal, -egal, -eiro
            trigo (wheat) + -altrigal (wheatfield)
            sobreiro (cork oak) + -alsobreiral (an orchard of cork oaks)
            pedra (rock) + -alpedregal (a rocky field)
            colmeia (beehive) + -alcolmeal (a place with many beehives)
            cátedra (clergy) + -alcatedral (a large or important church building)
          Usage notes

          The following ending(s) change(s) in words appended with this suffix:

          • -ição (being part of a hiatus in feminine nouns, incl. plurals) → -(i)cion
          • -ção, -são (in feminine nouns, incl. plurals) → -cion, -sion
          • -ão (as a non-verb suffix, incl. plurals) → -on
          • -ã(o) (incl. plurals) → -(i)an, -am, or -(i)on, depending on the base word's etymology
          • -m (incl. plurals) → -n
          • -z (in some nouns from Latin, incl. plurals) → -c(i)
          • -vel (unstressed and adjectival, incl. plurals) → -bili
          • -z (adjectival, incl. plurals) → -ci
          • -dade (as a noun suffix, incl. plurals) → -t
          Derived terms

          Etymology 2

          From the first syllable of álcool (alcohol) and aldeído (aldehyde).

          Suffix

          -al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ais)

          1. (chemistry) forms the names of alcohols
          2. (chemistry) forms the names of aldehydes

          Romanian

          Etymology

          Borrowed from Latin -alis. Compare French -al, Italian -ale.

          Pronunciation

          Suffix

          -al m or n (feminine singular -ală, masculine plural -ali, feminine and neuter plural -ale)

          1. -al; of or pertaining to, forms adjectives from nouns.
            săptămână (week) + -alsăptămânal (weekly)

          Declension

          More information singular, plural ...

          Derived terms

          Spanish

          Etymology

          Inherited from Latin -ālis.

          Suffix

          -al m or f (adjective-forming suffix, masculine and feminine plural -ales)

          1. indicates relation
            cultura (culture) + -alcultural (cultural)

          Suffix

          -al m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ales)

          1. indicates a place where something is grown, or where there is plenty of it
            maíz (corn) + -almaizal (corn field)
            naranja (orange) + -alnaranjal (orange grove)
            escoria (scoria) + -alescorial (bed of lava)

          See also

          Derived terms

          Further reading

          Swedish

          Suffix

          -al

          1. -al, of or pertaining to; forming an adjective from a noun

          Derived terms

          See also

          Anagrams

          Wikiwand - on

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