PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYetymonline-suffix-al
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
5 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.
historical dictionaryetymonline-suffix-al
-al — Online Etymology Dictionary
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Etymonline
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
010
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
No ranked contrarian reveal currently cites this source.
021
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedcontextestablished
Is -al the lexical ancestor of verbal?
No. Latin -alis is a derivational component of verbalis; the lexical base verbum and the suffix have separate graph branches.
-al suffix history ending in Latin -alisSupplies the separately reviewed affix branch.
034
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 609supportsprobable
-al → -al
Present-Day English → Old French · borrowing
- SOUND
- Middle English receives the suffix through French formations.
- MEANING
- The adjective-forming function remains stable.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
Middle English from French or directly from Latin -alisSupplies the French channel.
EDGE 610supportsproposed
-al → -ālis
Present-Day English → Latin · competing borrowing
- SOUND
- English also forms learned words directly on Latin -alis.
- MEANING
- The adjective-forming function remains stable.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
Middle English from French or directly from Latin -alisSupplies the direct Latin channel.
EDGE 611supportsestablished
-al → -ālis
Old French → Latin · inheritance
- SOUND
- Old French -al continues Latin -alis through regular Romance loss of final syllables.
- MEANING
- The adjective-forming function remains stable.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Douglas Harper
French -al from Latin -alisSupplies the Romance suffix route.
EDGE 612supportsboundary
-ālis → UNKNOWN
Latin → Beyond secure reconstruction · knowledge boundary
- SOUND
- No deeper unique source is promoted from the reviewed suffix entry.
- MEANING
- The branch stops before unsupported segmentation.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- SET-U editorial boundary
Entry endpoint at Latin -alisDefines the reviewed horizon.
040
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
No lexical witness currently cites this source.
050
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
No comparative-relative record currently cites this source.
060
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
No journey-stage claim currently cites this source.
070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE