When I was writing about 3rd declension nouns, I explained that knowing English derivatives can go – quite far – in showing you how they work.
You can do something similar
with 4th declension nouns. Many of them end up in English either as derivatives
or borrowings with the original -us ending missing.
corn: not the food [that’s
of Germanic origin], but the condition from which people’s feet can be affected
Modern English (ME): corn
< Old French: corn < Latin: cornū (horn)
The grammatical ending in
Latin is lost in Old French before it ends up in English.
And there is a pattern to
this in the derivatives and borrowings:
ME: aqueduct; MFr: aqueduc
< Latin: aquaeductus
ME: audit < Latin: audītus
ME: course < Old French:
cours < Latin: cursus
ME: fig < Old French:
figue < Latin: fīcus
ME: lake < Old French:
lac < Latin: lacus
ME: magistrate < Latin:
magistrātus
ME: pace < Old French:
pas < Latin: passus
ME: port < Anglo-Saxon:
port, borrowed from Latin: portus
ME: senate < Latin: senātus
ME: sense < Old French:
sen(s) < Latin: sēnsus
ME: spirit < Old French:
espirit < Latin: spīritus
ME: use < Old French: us
< Latin: ūsus
ME: verse < Old French:
vers < Latin: versus
However, it is not
guaranteed that an English derivative displaying this feature is a 4th
declension noun:
ME: pork < Old French:
porc < Latin: porcus [2nd declension] pig
ME: angle < Latin:
angulus [2nd declension] corner
And posted is a favourite of
mine! Part of a Roman fresco depicting a basket of figs: fīcus.
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