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The noun supellex takes the stem supellectil- in declined forms. The -il- part seems related to the suffix -ilis as in fragilis, but it disappears in the nom. sg. form.

(By the way, the expected nom. sg. form supellectilis is also attested.)

According to Wiktionary, it comes from an unattested verb *superlegere. It reminds me of another noun supplex, which comes from the verb supplicare but without -il- in its declined forms.

How did this happen? Are there any similar examples for abnormal declension patterns?

Kotoba Trily Ngian
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    I think it's clear that the oblique forms are suppletive, but the question of why still remains. However, that might not be answerable. – cmw Dec 16 '23 at 05:55

1 Answers1

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This appears to just be suppletion.

The nominative and vocative continue supellex, *supellectis whilst all the other forms continue the extended supellectilis, supellectilis.

Tristan
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