-illus

== Latin == === Etymology === From the diminutive suffix -lus by rebracketing of nouns such as sigillum and pōcillum (diminutives of signum and pōculum). In words like these, -ill- was the regular phonetic outcome of earlier [n̩l] and [l̩l] (with syllabic [n̩] and [l̩]), which arose from adding the suffix -lus to stems that originally ended in a consonant + /n/ or /l/. After being reinterpreted as a suffix of its own, the ending -illus was attached freely to nouns of any form. Compare -ellus. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ɪl.lʊs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [il.lus] === Suffix === -illus Used to form diminutives of nouns. ‎furca f (“fork”) + ‎-illus → ‎furcilla f (“very small fork”) ‎haedus m (“goat kid”) + ‎-illus → ‎haedillus m (“kidling, young kid”) ‎pūnctum n (“point, spot”) + ‎-illus → ‎pūnctillum n (“very small dot”) ==== Usage notes ==== One of various Latin suffixes that could be attached to a noun to derive a diminutive. As a rule, the gender of a diminutive matches the gender of the base noun, and the form of the suffix changes accordingly: -illus m, -illa f, -illum n. ==== Declension ==== First declension for feminine nouns, second declension for masculine or neuter nouns. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== Sicilian: -iḍḍu, -illu === References ===