ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the main processes in the historical evolution of Spanish suffixes. It focuses on the influence of the initial state, Latin, loan processes, reanalysis, competition of suffixes and cultisms. Starting from four Latin suffixes—-tor/ris, -torius/a/um, -bilis, -icius/a/um —the chapter details their situation in Latin, the suffixes that have resulted in Spanish and the main evolution processes. The Latin feminine form of the suffix -tor was -trix, which resulted, in Spanish, in -triz or -driz. The Latin suffix created agent nouns, usually professional and, to a lesser extent, active adjectives; therefore, the meanings Instrument, Place and Relational of the Spanish suffix -dor cannot be attributed to Latin inheritance. In the combination -dor+ia, the -o- can be closed and create -duria without compelling phonological reasons. The suffix -duero, a regular result of the Latin suffix in Spanish, was short lived mainly because of the pressure of the suffix -ero/a.
