On 2007-06-12 20:39, stlatos wrote:
> The dim. ra:stellus not -illus makes it seem late.
All is regular here. The treatment of secondary syllabic *r. and *l. in
Latin was different! The former yielded *er _before_ the rhotic was
assimilated --
*-tr-elo- > *-tr.lo- > *-terlo- > -tellu-
Similarly, ager, sacer < *agr.s, *sakr.s < agros, sakros, and agellus <
*agerlos < *agr.los < agrelos
-- whereas secondary *l. and *n. developed *i before the sonorant, hence
tignus : tigillus, po:culum : po:cillum.
Piotr