The Cognātarium: Appendix B

Word Stems Denoting Direction or Position

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This document describes certain Latin-derived adjectives in English have three comparative forms: The positive form, the comparative form, and the superlative form.

BASIC FORM

The word stems listed below denote position with reference to the direction from a certain point (in front of, below, behind, etc.). Each of the word stems is listed as a lexeme in the body of this lexicon, with examples given.

Stem	Meaning
ante–	Before, in front of
extr–	Outside of
infr–	Under, beneath
intr–	Within, inside
post–	Behind, after
supr–	Above
ult–	Beyond

POSITIVE FORM

The suffix –ernal forms an adjective from the basic form. The adjective thus formed describes the simple position without comparison. Not all of the stems use this suffix.

external	Outside
internal	Within
infernal	Below; by transference, now used chiefly to refer to the ‘below’ or ‘nether regions,’ i.e., hell
supernal	Above; by transference, and in contrast to infernal, now used chiefly to refer to the ‘above regions,’ i.e., the sky, the heavens

COMPARATIVE FORM

In their original Latin form, from which English derives these words, the suffix –erior or just –ior denoted the comparative form of these stems. That is, as infernal meant ‘below’, inferior meant ‘farther below’ or ‘farther down.’ This meaning has been all but lost in modern English. (Superior and inferior still bear this comparative sense.) Now the suffix –erior is almost equivalent to –ernal, except that, for example, internal is an adjective meaning ‘inside,’ whereas interior can be an adjective meaning ‘inside’ or a noun meaning ‘the inside part.’ All of the stems listed above use this suffix.

anterior	The front, in front of
posterior	The rear, behind
exterior	The outside, outside of
interior	The inside, inside of
superior	That which is above, above
inferior	(Adjective form only) Below, and by transference, worse
ulterior	(Adjective form only) Beyond

SUPERLATIVE FORMS

The suffix –eme is the superlative form of these stems. It denotes the farthest or highest form. Only two of the stems use this suffix.

extreme	Farthest out
supreme	Farthest above, highest

The infix –im– is another superlative form. When the superlative lies within the word rather than at the end, –im– is used.

intimate	Farthest in (closest to the heart)
ultimate	Farthest beyond, last
maximum	Greatest, largest
proximate	Closest, nearest

OTHER FORMS

Another suffix which may be attached to some of the above-listed stems is –rorse, which means ‘turned in the given direction.’ –rorse is listed as a lexeme in the body of this lexicon. It is derived from the lexeme vers–, which means ‘to turn.’ Not all of the stems use this suffix.

antrorse	Turned forward, or to the front
extrorse	Turned outward
introrse	Turned inward

The stems dextr– and sinistr–, which mean ‘the right side’ and ‘the left side,’ respectively, also use the –rorse suffix, as does the stem retro–, which means ‘backward.’ Latin also had a word prorsus which meant “forward, straight ahead,” or one might say ‘turned forward.’ That word does not exist in English.

dextrorse	Turned to the right
sinistrorse	Turned to the left
retrorse	Turned backward

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