What is the morphology of the word commemoration? Before I study the word, I hypothesize a com- prefix and -ate and -ion suffixes, which would leave <memor>. The remaining <Memor> could be the base of the word as <Memor> or <Memore>, although I also know that -or is sometimes a suffix, which would leave <Meme> as the base. I thus have two hypothesized word sums:
?<com + Memor + ate + ion → commemoration>
?<com + Meme + or + ate + ion → commemoration>
Looking at the etymology of the word, I find that commemoration ultimately comes from Latin commemorātiōnem, the accusative form of commemorātiō. Latin commemorātiō comes from the verb commemorāre + -tiō. Latin -atiōnem is a source of the English -ate suffix when followed by -ion. Latin -tiō is also a source of the English -ion suffix. I have thus found evidence for my hypothesized -ate and -ion.
<Commemor + ate + ion → commemoration>
Looking further into the Latin commemorāre, I find that the verb comes from con- + memorāre. Because the con- precedes and <m>, the assimilated form com- surfaces in the Latin. The Latin com- also gives English the com- prefix, which is an assimilated form of con- before <b, m, p> that denotes “together, with.” I therefore have evidence for my hypothesize com-.
<com + Memor + ate + ion → commemoration>
Having removed three affixes, I am left with the <memor>. Looking more at the Latin memorāre, I learn that the infinitive comes from memor + -āre. The -āre is a Latin infinitive verb ending. The memor is an adjective meaning “mindful, remembering, heedful, recalling.” Latin memor is the root without any derivational or inflectional affixes, so the base of commemoration is <Memor>. A replaceable <e> is not necessary because the stress falls on the first syllable. (However, identifying the base as <Memore> also words because I cannot find any words that end with the base or that do have a vowel-initial suffix that would replace the replaceable <e>.)
The bound base <Memor> is forms the foundation of a number of other English words related to remembering including, but not limited to, memory, memoria, memorable, memorize, and memoranda.
<Memor + y → memory>
<Memor + i + a → memoria>
<Memor + able → memorable>
<Memor + ize → memorize>
<Memor + anda → memoranda>
The words memory and memoria are doublets. Both words ultimately come from Latin memoria. English borrowed memoria directly, but memory passed through Anglo-Norman memorie and Old French memoire. A third doublet is memoir, which English borrowed from French mémoire, which also comes from Latin memoria. <Memor> and <Memoir> are thus related bases.
A third related base is the bound base <Memb(e)r>. Denoting “memory, think about,” <Memb(e)r> forms the foundation of words such as remember and remembrance. The base comes from Middle English -membren from Old French -membrer from Latin memorārī from memorāre from memor. The <b> is a regular insertion. As the Latin form passed through French into English, a common phonological process called excrescence, which facilitates pronunciation between nasal and liquid sounds, occurred. (Other examples include English number from Latin numerus and English chamber from Latin camera.)
<re + Memb(e)r → remember>
<re + Memb(e)r + ance → remembrance>
The word commemoration, which means “the act of remembering someone or something, especially through ceremony or observance,” consists of the prefix com-, the bound base <Memor>, and the suffixes -ate and -ion.
