In my last post, I introduced what Allen and Greenough refer to as ‘gentile’ adjectival suffixes—these relate the idea of ‘relating to’ or ‘pertaining to’ or ‘belonging to’. -ānus performs this function, but so do a host of similar suffixes:
-ēnus, -īnus, -ās, ēnsis, -cus, -acus, -ācus, -icus, -eus, -ëius, -icius
Let’s look at a few examples of these adjectives in action—
- Nox serēna mentem quiēvit: a calm night calms the mind. (sērus, -a, -um, late)
- Officium cīvicum fācite: do your civic duty! (cīvis, -is, citizen)
- Navis Siciliēnsis in portū visa est: A Sicilian ship was seen in the port.
Like the suffix -anus, the rest of these can also pan out into nouns as well as adjectives.
- laniēna, -ae, a butcher’s stall (lanius, -ī, butcher)
- inquilīnus, -ī, a lodger (incola, -ae, an inhabitant)
- ruīna, -ae, a collapse (ruō, fall)
- doctrīna, -ae, learning (doctor, -ōris, teacher)
The Essential AG: 249.1, 249.2, 249.2a
Latin for Addicts 