A Stealth Suffix
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2022 5:42 pm
It struck me - I may be the last to know - that ‘-th’, seemingly an integral part of some words, is actually a suffix. Obvious in such words as ‘growth’ and ‘truth’, it’s less so in ‘bath’, ‘birth’, ‘death’, ‘math’, ‘oath’, ‘ruth(less)’ (from verbs). And ‘dearth’, ‘death’, ‘depth’, ‘health’, and ‘mirth’ (from adjectives).
The specifics in the foregoing screed courtesy of the OED.
The specifics in the foregoing screed courtesy of the OED.