-tio

Forms

-tiō f (genitive -tiōnis); third declension^[1] After verbs with a supine in -sum it appears as -siō.^[2] Wiktionary also lists the spelling -ciō.^[1]

Etymology

The suffix is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *-tiō, an n-stem extension of Proto-Indo-European *-tis.^[1] Sihler likewise analyses it as an agglutination of the ōn-stems and the feminine nouns of action in -ti-.^[3] Wiktionary also records two alternatives: a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *-Hō, or from Proto-Indo-European *-tyon, with Old Armenian -ութիւն (-utʻiwn) as a cognate.^[1] Fortson too relates the Armenian suffix to the Latin abstract nouns in -tiōn-.^[4]

Sihler notes that the formation is also abundant in Celtic.^[3] In Italic it has a parallel in Oscan úíttiuf (“use”), from Proto-Italic *oitiōns, beside ūtiō, which is more archaic in having no -n in the nominative singular and no added -s.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An inscription from Praeneste (CIL 1.60) has a genitive of nātiō “birth” spelled with the ending ⟨-onu⟩.^[2] Among literary texts, Plautus already has ōrātiō, for the action of speaking, in the Amphitruo, and cantiō, a song, in the Stichus.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Weiss calls it far more productive than the older deverbal abstracts in -iō¹,^[5] and Sihler describes it as vigorously productive,^[3] with extended forms such as -ātiō and -ītiō.^[3] Its nouns name the action of the verb, then often the result: lēctiō is both a selection and a reading.^[5]

In English the ending appears as -tion; in Middle English, in words that came through Old French, it was often spelled -cion and was later regularized.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has ōrātiō and cantiō.^[2][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero has audītiō and mōtiō.^[5][7]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Added to verbs, forms feminine action nouns naming the process, action or result of the verb, like English -tion and -ing: ōrātiō, cantiō.^[2][1]
2. As -siō, with verbs whose supine is in -sum: cursiō, missiō.^[2]

Word family

• ōrātiō
• cantiō
• cursiō
• missiō
• accūsātiō
• āctiō
• audītiō
• lēctiō
• mōtiō
• nātiō
• ratiō
• mentiō

Related words

• English -tion
• French -aison
• Italian -zione
• Romanian -ciune
• Spanish -zón

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
4. ^ a b Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2010), Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Malden, MA / Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
5. ^ a b c Weiss, Michael (2020), Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd ed., Ann Arbor: Beech Stave
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de