Re: Italian falegname "joiner"

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel J. Milton" wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, João Simões Lopes Filho
> <josimo70@...> wrote:
>> If Portuguese had an analogous formation would be "faz-lenhame",
>> but there's no such formation. In Portuguese we use "carpinteiro".
>
>> From: Daniel J. Milton
>> According to Buck's "Synonyms":
>> From 'fare' "do, make" and 'legname'"woodwork, articles made
>> of wood" (< Latin 'lignum').
>
> Would someone explain the suffix "-me" in It. "legname" vs. "legno"
> (and apparently Port. "lenhame" vs. "lenha")? I can't think of a
> direct source in Latin.

The correct derivation is Lat. "ligna:me(n)" (`timbering`) > It.
"legname", Port. "lenhame"; Latin word is a derivative of "lignum"
(`(piece of) wood`) with collective or generic suffix -(a:)me(n),
still active (though not as much as other Latin suffixes) in Romance.
See for instance Lat. "co:gita:men" `thinking, thought` (< cogito ),
"frustra:men" `deception` (< frusto), "spurca:men" `dirt, filth`
(< spurco), "aera:men" `copper, bronze` (< aes, -ris) etc..
In Aromanian, the collective sense is preserved: "armâname"
`(generic for) Aromanian people`.

Regards,
Marius Iacomi