-illa

Morpheme

-illa

Type

suffix

Denotation

diminuative suffix denoting “of” (plural -illae)

Etymology

(1) Latin -illa, -illus, from rebracketing of diminutive suffix -lus; (2) Spanish -illa; Old Spanish -iella; Latin -ellam, from -ella, from -ellus, from rebracketing of diminutive suffix -lus

Evidence

cabrilla, chinchilla, flotilla, guerrilla, hydrilla, orchilla, rachilla, rhachilla, seguidilla, tortilla

Notes

<ll> spells [j] in loanwords directly from Spanish

See Also

-illae, -illo, -illus, -illum, -il, -a