Suffix -age in English

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eldin raigmore
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Suffix -age in English

Post by eldin raigmore »

Are all the following word-pairs’ meanings related the same way?
amen :: amenage
aver :: average
band :: bandage
bar :: barrage
cab :: cabbage
cot :: cottage
disc :: discage
from :: fromage
garb :: garbage
host :: hostage
mass :: massage
mess :: message
mont :: montage
outre :: outrage
over :: overage
peer :: peerage
pill :: pillage
plum :: plumage
ramp :: rampage
rest :: restage
salve :: salvage
sauce :: sausage
self :: selvage
teen :: teenage
than :: thanage
then :: thenage
till :: tillage
carry :: carriage
chant :: chantage
crib :: cribbage
dress :: dressage
inter :: interage
marry :: marriage
missus :: misusage
small :: small age
staff :: staffage
still :: stillage
suffer :: sufferage
eng :: engage
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Sequor
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Re: Suffix -age in English

Post by Sequor »

The answer is very obviously no. I don't understand the point of this thread.
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Suffix -age in English

Post by eldin raigmore »

Ser wrote: 26 Aug 2019 07:33 The answer is very obviously no. I don't understand the point of this thread.
The unstated followup question is “why not”?
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Dormouse559
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Re: Suffix -age in English

Post by Dormouse559 »

eldin raigmore wrote: 26 Aug 2019 17:20The unstated followup question is “why not”?
Shall I count the whys? First of all, "-age" is a borrowed derivational suffix, and though a couple of the "-age" words you list were, or could have been, formed by English speakers using the suffix (overage, peerage), others were borrowed whole from French, while the root word was not.

Another issue is that you're comparing incomparable words. "Peerage" is a combination of the root "peer" and the suffix "-age" that derives from Latin "-aticum". The only meaning for "discage" I'm finding is a verb pronounced completely differently and formed as dis- + cage, "cage" coming from Latin "cavea". "Peerage" and "discage" have nothing to do with each other. More subtle are the words more recently borrowed from French, where the suffix is pronounced /ɑʒ/ (barrage, massage, montage); I doubt most people think about this version in the same way as the version pronounced /ɪdʒ/. You also seem to be ignoring well established aspects of English spelling, like silent E. Why would "plumage" = plum + -age? It's clearly plume + -age.

Regarding individual words:

cab :: cabbage - "Cabbage" comes from Norman "caboche".
from :: fromage - "Fromage" isn't an English word.
outre :: outrage - "Outrage" is ultimately connected to "outre", but its pronunciation implies it's been reanalyzed as a compound of out + rage. It also isn't derived from "outre", which English got not from the French preposition but from the past participle of the verb "outrer".
then :: thenage - I can't find evidence that "thenage" exists.
missus :: misusage - "Misusage" is transparently mis- + use + -age.
small :: small age - I assume this is supposed to be "smallage". Wiktionary derives it from small + Fr. ache, which comes from Latin "apium".
suffer :: sufferage - "Suff(e)rage" comes from Latin "suffragium".
eng :: engage - "Engage" is from French "engager", which breaks down as en- + gager. "Gager" is cognate with English "gage", "wage" and "wed".

EDIT: I misinterpreted "teenage", so I've replaced it with one of the other words that struck me as incomparable, "discage".

EDIT2: Added a few more individual words.
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Sequor
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Re: Suffix -age in English

Post by Sequor »

eldin raigmore wrote: 26 Aug 2019 17:20The unstated followup question is “why not”?
To the extent that you don't mind novel words, especially as a joke, I don't see why not either. You could use -age on a word on the left to form its mate on the right, using some semantic change typical of the suffix or other. Typical semantic changes of this suffix include:

- deverbal process noun (suck > suckage, spoil > spoilage, the act of giving spoilers)
- by extension from the above, noun object by which an action is accomplished (drain > drainage, freight > freightage, the price)
- by a similar extension, deverbal noun object that is in a related state (append > appendage, block > blockage, something blocking)
- deverbal result noun (brew > brewage, cleave > cleavage in a shirt, spoil > spoilage, the concrete words that spoil a movie or book)
- quantity of a noun (mile > mileage, ampere > amperage)
- state of being a noun or acting as a noun (chaperon > chaperonage, peon > peonage)
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Suffix -age in English

Post by eldin raigmore »

Dormouse, ser, thank you both for those last two posts.
Those are at least very good beginnings to the answers I was seeking.

(BTW a thenage or thanage seems to be the domain-of-responsibility of a thane.)
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