[Lexicog] Re: -dom

[Aubin, George (Mod & Class Languages)]

Dear Fritz:

I always enjoy your questions and the answers they elicit from the other members of the Lexicography List, and your question about '-dom' did not disappoint.

I do have question or two about some of the suggestions made, however.

To be specific: I don't see how 'seldom' fits in with the other words cited as having as having the suffix '-dom' beyond the spelling. What is the purported morpheme 'sel-' supposed to mean in modern English so that one of the various meanings of '-dom' can be affixed to it as a domain, collection of persons, rank or station, general condition, or whatever? Much the same can be asked of 'random' --- I have no clear idea what the morpheme 'ran-' is supposed to mean here. 

Can one really separate each of these two words into two separate morphemes? Unlike your example of 'chessdom', I think these two words are composed of _one_ morpheme each, in spite of the spelling similarity with the other suggestions in '-dom' ...

George F. Aubin
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