On Adaptation of Suffixes in Congeneric Classes of Substantives

Maurice Bloomfield was a professor at John's Hopkins University and a great authority on Sanskrit literature and comparative linguistics. In this paper he applies the principles of linguistics to rationalize certain irregular forms in a variety of languages. The discussion focuses on words for body parts, animals, plants, and directionality in a variety of Indo-European languages, giving reasons for the retention of irregular word formations along all branches of Indo-European languages. This paper is of interest primarily to linguists, but is readable enough for specialists in other disciplines.