-ulus

See also: ulus, ułus, and Ulus

Translingual

Etymology

From Latin -ulus (diminutive suffix).

Suffix

-ulus

(taxonomy) used to form genus names, especially from other genus names, indicating smaller size

Latin

Alternative forms

-olus (after a vowel)
-lus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *-elos (whence Faliscan -𐌄𐌋𐌏𐌔 (-elos)), from Proto-Indo-European *-elós, thematized from Proto-Indo-European *-lós.^[1]

Cognate with Proto-Germanic *-ilaz and *-ulaz, whence scarcely productive English -le (as in dimple and nozzle), Dutch -el, German -el.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ʊ.ɫʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [u.lus] (stressed on the antepenult)

Suffix

-ulus (feminine -ula, neuter -ulum); first/second-declension suffix

Used to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating small size or youth.
Used to form a diminutive of an adjective with diminished effect, indicating “somewhat” or “-ish”.
Used to form an agent noun or adjective from a verb.

Usage notes

The suffix -ulus is added to a noun to form a diminutive of that noun. Latin diminutives typically match the gender of the base word.

Examples:

‎rēx m (“king”) + ‎-ulus → ‎rēgulus m (“prince, petty king”)

‎virga f (“twig, rod, switch, staff”) + ‎-ulus → ‎virgula f (“little twig, small rod, wand”)

‎oppidum n (“town, settlement”) + ‎-ulus → ‎oppidulum n (“small town or settlement, village”)

‎calx f (“limestone, game counter”) + ‎-ulus → ‎calculus m (“pebble, little stone”)

The allomorph -olus, -ola, -olum is regularly used to form diminutives of nouns ending in -ius, -ia, -ium, -eus, -ea, -eum.

When added to an adjective, it forms a diminutive of that adjective:

‎albus (“white”) + ‎-ulus → ‎albulus (“whitish”, literally “a little white”)

When added to a verb, it forms an adjective with the relational meaning “doing …” or “tending to …”:

‎tremō (“tremble”) + ‎-ulus → ‎tremulus (“trembling, tending to tremble”)

‎crēdō (“believe”) + ‎-ulus → ‎crēdulus (“believing, tending to believe”)

Declension

First/second-declension noun or adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	-ulus	-ula	-ulum	-ulī	-ulae	-ula
genitive	-ulī	-ulae	-ulī	-ulōrum	-ulārum	-ulōrum
dative	-ulō	-ulae	-ulō	-ulīs
accusative	-ulum	-ulam	-ulum	-ulōs	-ulās	-ula
ablative	-ulō	-ulā	-ulō	-ulīs
vocative	-ule	-ula	-ulum	-ulī	-ulae	-ula

Derived terms

Latin terms suffixed with -ulus

-culus
- -unculus (originally, on nouns ending in -ō)
-ellus
-illus
-uleus
-ullus (often on nouns ending in -r)

Descendants

→ English: -ule, -le
Old Galician-Portuguese: -oo
- Galician: -ó, -oa (no longer productive)
→ Greek: -ούλα (-oúla)
Italian: -olo, -ola
Sicilian: -ulu, -ula
Spanish: -uelo, -uela

References

^ de Goede, Tim (2014), de Vaan, Michiel, editors, Derivational Morphology: New Perspectives on the Italo-Celtic Hypothesis (Research master thesis)‎^[1], Leiden University, pages 14-15

[1] Goede, Tim (2014), de Vaan, Michiel, editors, Derivational Morphology: New Perspectives on the Italo-Celtic Hypothesis (Research master thesis)‎^[1], Leiden University, pages 14-15

[1]