SEMANTICS AND ORIGIN OF THE LATIN SUFFIX -URIŌ

Abstract

In the present paper, I deal with the prehistory of the Latin suffix -uriō, which
is traditionally regarded as desiderative in meaning. After a detailed analysis of the available
attestations, I argue that the most frequently attested uriō- verbs – namely, ēsuriō and
parturiō – do not exhibit a desiderative semantics in their oldest occurrences. Etymologically,
I analyze the verbs in -uriō as denominative formations derived from unattested adjectives
in *-tu-ro-. Finally, I propose a possible explanation for the lacking of vowel weakening in
their open internal syllable – cf., e.g., Latin ēsuriō, not *ēseriō