[Lexicog] Re: -dom

[Fritz Goerling]

Dear George,

 

The suggestion 'seldom' and 'random' came from an SIL colleague Neal
Brinneman and I took it as friendly teasing, as he had done similar things
on this list.

(I remember his bit on 'gullible'). Well, I did not fall for it. That's why
I added a smiley face in my answer to him.

The German suffix -tum corresponds approximately to English -dom, but one
cannot use it for creative word formations like in English (chessdom,
queendom,

dogdom). 

 

Best wishes,

Fritz

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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