| 释义 |
▪ I. -o, suffix1
of combining forms of words. On the analogy of Greek combinations (in which the combining stem usually ended in -o, as thematic vowel or its representative, or as an addition to a consonant stem), and their adaptations and imitations in Latin, late and mediæval, like Syrophœnix, Gallogræci, Gallohispani, Anglosaxonicus, etc., -o- has come to be, in modern Latin and in English, the usual connecting vowel in combinations, not merely in ethnic names as Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Indian, Indo-European, etc., but in scientific terms generally; it is affixed, not only to terms of Greek origin, but also to those derived from Latin (Latin compounds of which would have been formed with the L. connecting or reduced thematic vowel, -i), especially when compounds are wanted with a sense that Latin composition, even if possible, would not warrant, but which would be authorized by the principles of Greek composition. Such are concavo-, convexo-, cymbo-, dolicho-, oblongo-, ovato-; chloro-, iodo-; cirrho-, cumulo-; occipito-, pneumo-; dramatico-, economico-, historico-, politico-; joco-, serio-; etc.
1. The primary and etymological function of a combining form in -o is to qualify adverbially the adj. to which it is prefixed; as, in Gr., λευκό-χλωρος ‘whitely green’, pale green; mod.L. ovato-cordatus ‘ovately heart-shaped’, cordate with ovate modification; Anglo-Norman, Norman as modified in England. Such a comb. is, as it were, the adj. with adverbial qualification, belonging to a n. with adj. qualification; thus, as to the qualified n. steady industry (adj. + n.) the corresponding qualified adj. is steadily industrious (adv. + adj.), so to political economy the corresponding adj. is politico-economic. Lord Campbell has used lego-literary in the sense ‘pertaining to legal literature’.
2. But the use of these forms has been extended, so as to express, as by a kind of abbreviation, almost any manner of relation between the two components. Anglo-French, originally ‘French of an English sort’, ‘French as established or spoken in England’, is sometimes taken with the converse meaning of ‘English settled in France’, and commonly with that of ‘English in alliance, conjunction, or partnership with French’; so Franco-German may even mean ‘French in conflict with German’, Græco-Latin ‘common to Greek and Latin’; pneumo-gastric, ‘communicating with both lungs and stomach’; occipito-frontal, ‘reaching from occiput to forehead’, or connecting these parts; occipito-temporo-parietal, ‘including the occipital, temporal, and parietal (lobes of the brain)’; gramino-carnivorous, ‘feeding on grass as well as flesh’.
3. This -o is used also, on Greek analogies, in word-formation. From its regular appearance before certain suffixal elements, as -cracy, -graphy, -logy, -meter, it tends to be treated practically as a part of these elements; hence, such expressions as ‘the bureau-ocracy, shop-ocracy, trade-ocracy, and other -ocracies’, ‘a professor of all the -ologies,’ ‘the last new -ology,’ ‘galvanometers, lactometers, and other -ometers without number’.
▪ II. -o, suffix2
Perh. connected with O int. 3 and reinforced by the final syllable of abbrev. forms such as compo, hippo, photo, etc. The use of the suffix is widespread in English-speaking countries but nowhere more so than in Australia (e.g. afto, arvo, Commo, etc.). a. Forming colloq. or slang equivalents added as a final syllable to (a) shortened forms of ns., as aggro, ammo, beano, combo, compo2, metho1, etc.; (b) ns., as boyo, bucko, kiddo, etc.; (c) adjs., as cheapo, deado.
1967J. Burke Till Death us do Part ii. 31 You can buy that cheapo, cos no one wants it. 1969It 13–25 June 16/2 Hustle the bread from whatever source you can... If all the above sounds like too much aggro don't..go and..run your benefit event in conjunction with an existing club. Ibid. 10–23 Oct. 10/1 At the moment kids are split up into different subcultural groups which have been driven by the system into a permanent state of aggro with each other. 1969Daily Mail 8 Nov. 8/3 How do we get past him, man? Like he might start some agro. 1970Observer 11 Jan. 28/2 Hippies and aggro-boys may look collectively and individually startling, pretty or repulsive according to tribal loyalty. 1973A. Hunter Gently French iii. 29, I gets hold of the bastard and tries to pull him up. Then I sees he's bloody deado. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 65 It wasn't day-to-day aggro, nor the drooped, guilty, somehow sexless disgruntlement I had seen overtake many relationships. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xi. 215 It was possible to judge..that his aggro was strictly verbal.
b. Forming personal (chiefly occupational) ns. from non-personal ns., as bottle-oh, milko, wino, etc.
c. Forming ns. from adjs., as pinko, weirdo, etc.
d. As a meaningless ending in other words, as billy-o, good-o, cheerio, right(y)o, etc. |