-ula
Translingual
Finnish
Suffix
-ula (front vowel harmony variant -ylä, linguistic notation -UlA)
- Forms diminutive nouns.
Usage notes
- The suffix is productive. See, for instance, vempula.
Derived terms
Latin
Etymology 1
Probably from Proto-Indo-European *-tlom, *-dʰlom, suffix forming instrumental nouns, with simplification of the suffix-initial stop when it came after another stop. However, the details of the development are debated.
The words rēgula and tēgula are notable in showing a lengthened vowel relative to the base verbs regō and tegō. Sihler (1979) reconstructs *-dʰl- in rēgula and tēgula; in contrast, Nielsen (1998) reconstructs *-tl-, suggesting that the lengthened vowels are the result of Lachmann's Law before a sequence of originally voiced + voiceless stop (as in the participles rēctus and tēctus).[1] As this would be expected to result in forms with voiceless stops (*rēcula and *tēcula), Nielsen proposes that either the voiced stop /g/ was reintroduced by analogy, or a phonetic change caused /k/ to be voiced when preceded by a long vowel and followed by /l/ across a morpheme boundary (*rēk-la, *tēk-la > *rēg-la, *tēg-la); this is supported by two additional proposed etymologies, *strāto-lo- > *strāk-lo- > *strāg-lo- > strāgulum and *trājak-kla > *trāk-la > *trāg-la > trāgula. (Voicing of a stop before /l/ in a heterosyllabic cluster might also be seen in neglego, and is argued by Sen 2015 to have occurred in pūblicus; in contrast, a voiceless stop can be found after a morpheme boundary in instrument nouns in -culum such as pōculum).
Alternatively, related to the suffix -ulus used to form some deverbal agent nouns such as gerulus, gerula.
Compare instrument nouns in -ulum.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /u.la/, [ʊɫ̪ä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /u.la/, [ulä] (stressed on the antepenult)
Declension
First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -ula | -ulae |
| Genitive | -ulae | -ulārum |
| Dative | -ulae | -ulīs |
| Accusative | -ulam | -ulās |
| Ablative | -ulā | -ulīs |
| Vocative | -ula | -ulae |
Derived terms
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Pronunciation
- -ula: (Classical) IPA(key): /u.la/, [ʊɫ̪ä]
- -ula: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /u.la/, [ulä]
- -ulā: (Classical) IPA(key): /u.laː/, [ʊɫ̪äː]
- -ulā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /u.la/, [ulä]
Suffix
-ula
- inflection of -ulus:
- nominative/vocative feminine singular
- nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural
References
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
- Nielsen, Benedicte (2004) “On Latin instrument-nouns in */-lo-/”, in James Clackson and Birgit Anette Olsen, editors, Indo-European Word Formation (Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European; 2), Museum Tusculanum Press, pages 189-213
Polish
Etymology
Compare Russian -у́ля (-úlja).
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu.la/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ula
- Syllabification: u‧la
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- -ula in Polish dictionaries at PWN