She’s a Maniac

Want to see something spectacular?

English has an <-ac> suffix.

It’s the clearest thing under the sun. Let me shine a little light on it:

< helium → heli + um >
< heliac → heli + ac >

Here’s another one, if you have the heart to continue:

< cardiologist → cardi + o + log(e) + ist >
< cardiac → cardi + ac >

Here’s one for those who have the guts:

< ileum → il(e) + e + um >
< ileus → il(e) + e + us >
< ileal → il(e) + e + al >
< ileitis → il(e) + e + itis >
< ileac → il(e) + e + ac >

Of course, anyone can look and see that suffixes don’t have to be word final, so we also have such wonders as

< spectacular → spect + ac + ule + ar >
< spectator → spect + ate + or >
< specter → spect + (e)r >
< spectrum → spect + (e)r + um >

And another, for the love of words!

< logophile → log(e) + o + phile >
< logophilia → log(e) + o + phile + ia >
< logophiliac → log(e) + o + phile + i + ac >

We all know by now that <tion> is not a suffix, no matter who may think so. Whether or not something is a suffix is not a matter of opinion or how someone feels; it’s a matter of structure. Often, when people say, “That’s not a suffix” after seeing proof that it is, what they really mean is, “Hey, it’s news to me that that is a suffix, and I am destabilized by it, even though you’ve laid out evidence.” It’s a really stodgy kind of argument, and it’s not at all scientific. I can’t dance around it: the 80s called and wants its understanding back.

Often, people are thrown because what they are looking at is not a productive suffix in English, meaning that we don’t use it for new words. For example, <-ing> and <-ish> are productive suffixes, because we can invent words like Googling  or cyborgish and people will know what we mean. But kids these days aren’t exactly neologizing words like Googlac, and if they did, it’s unlikely that the meaning would be immediately evident.

However, present-day productivity is not a requirement for an affix to be an affix. If someone wants to argue that <-ac> is not a suffix because it’s not productive, then they’d have to also find that the following suffixes are, well, not suffixes, by the same logic: <-ible>, <-ion>, <-or>, <-ar>, <-ant>, <-ence>, and on and on and on.

And, well, that’s just crazy.

< manic → man(e) + ic >
< mania → man(e) + ia >
< maniac → man(e) + i + ac>

12 Comments

  1. Very cool and, yes, clear! Thanks!

  2. I’ve definitely found myself debating between ‘ac’ and ‘ace at times. “Cardiac” and “maniac” make the ‘ac’ so apparent. But I’m wondering, wouldn’t the ‘ule’ in “spectacular” force doubling of the ‘c’ ?

    • No, because doubling is lexical. We double consonants at the end of a lexical base element, not a suffix-final consonant. Also, because the letter ‘c’ doesn’t double.

      We do have an ‘ace’ suffix, as in words like preface and populace and menace, but those are respelled Latinate s. They all have relatives: preface – fate; populace – population; menace – minatory.

      Likewise an ‘ice’ : service, justice, hospice.

      The ‘ic’ and the ‘ac’ have no final ‘e’. They are etymologically distinct from the ‘ace’ and ‘ice’ suffixes.

  3. fans of barenakedladies refer to their live album, rock spectacle, in an abbreviation: rock spectac. accent on the -ac.

  4. Lisa Mills says:

    Gina; Looking at your first word sum for helium brought to mind a question my third grade word detectives want an answer to (I thought you had addressed this before but can’t find it). In the word vacuum the -um is a suffix, correct? Latin I believe? But is the first u grapheme a connector vowel maing the base vac (or is it vace).
    thanks for your help!!

    Lisa Mills

    • Hi Lisa. We do have a Latinate -um suffix. It is not a productive suffix, so we would not add it to new words, but it’s definitely there. The fact that there is a plus sign between the connecting vowel letter -u- and the -um suffix explains how we are allowed to get away with two consecutive u’s. We see the same thing in continuum.

      That -um suffix also shows up in words like album (compare albumen), spectrum (spectral), calcium (compare calcify), podium, and gymnasium. I do put the final e on a ‘vace’ base element, because it’s lexical and that is consistent with how Latinate base elements are constructed. Although a c typically doesn’t double, the final e marks the lexical base and allows for a coherent *system.*

  5. Benita Brock Belsley says:

    Your cleverness and knowledge is appreciated!

  6. As always, Gina, I love reading your clear and logical explanations. Although I don’t study words professionally, you and Old Grouch have turned me into a word-structure lover. I may list it as a hobby on my next resumé. 🙂

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