Structured Word Inquiry of 'Different'

What is the morphology of the word different? Upon first considering the word, I notice a likely -ent suffix because removal of the <ent> produces the word differ. I also hypothesize that the <fer> forms the base because words such as referent and confer that possibly share the same <fer>.

To accurately determine the morphology, I begin by looking up the word different in Etymonline and Wiktionary. Etymologically the word comes to Modern English through Old French different from Latin differēns. Both the Latin and Old French confirm my suspicion about an -ent suffix. The -ent suffix is an adjective suffix denoting “having the quality of; doing, being, or characterized by” as well as an agent noun suffix as in agent and student. Both French -ent as in different and Latin -ēns as in differēns are sources of the English -ent.

Digging deeper into the Latin differēns, I find that the word is a present participle of the verb differre. I then discover that differre consists of dis– +‎ ferre. The Latin dis- is a negating prefix that denotes “lack of, not, opposite of, apart, away, asunder.” The dif- prefix that surfaces in Latin differre and then English different is an assimilated form of the dis- prefix before <f>. Thus, the initial <dif> in different is a prefix.

Removing the dif- prefix and -ent suffix from different leaves the <fer> as graphemes in the base. Because the vowel-initial suffix -ent follows the <r> and the <r> does not double, I know that the base requires a replaceable <e>. The base of different must therefore be <Fere>. The English <Fere> base comes from the Latin ferre meaning “carry, bear.”

Putting the denotations of the three morphemes together, different means “pertaining to carrying apart,” which is a roundabout way of expressing “not the same.” Two things that are different have been carried apart in some way.

But is the base of different most accurately and completely identified as <Fere>? In my initial consideration of the word, I noted that removing the <ent> on the end, which I have confirmed as the -ent suffix, produces the word differ. When I look at the etymology of differ, I find that the ultimate source is the Latin differre, the same verb with the present participle differēns that developed into different. If the base were <Fere>, then the spelling would be *differe with a replaceable <e>. However, the spelling that surfaces is differ without the final <e>. The base of differ must be <Fer>.

Identifying two related bases, one with a replaceable <e> and one without, is an acceptable analysis. I could say that both <Fere> and <Fer> come from Latin ferre.

However, identifying two related but different (no word play intended) bases would obscure the relationship between derivationally different words like differ and different and, worse, between inflectionally different words like differ and differing. The form differing is the present participle of the verb differ. To prevent the <r> from doubling, the base of differing must be <Fere> with a replaceable <e>. But is identifying an inflected form of word as having a different base the most elegant analysis?

Instead of identifying two different but related bases, I can represent both bases as <Fer(e)> with the parenthetical <e>. A parenthetical <e> surfaces when necessary. When word-final or followed by a consonant-initial suffix, the <Fer(e)> surfaces as <Fer>. When followed by a vowel-initial suffix, the <Fer(e)> surfaces as <Fere> to prevent doubling of the <r>.

But what about words like deferrable, inferring, and referral, among others? Why does the <r> double in these words but not in differing, deferent, and conference.

The answer lies in English spelling conventions involving stress. The words defer, infer, refer, differ, and confer are morphologically complex words built from the bound base <Fer(e)> and various prefixes. Whether the <r> doubles or not when followed by a vowel-initial suffix depends on the stress of the resultant word.

When the stress falls on the first syllable (not containing the base), the replaceable <e> surfaces and prevents doubling.

<dif + Fer(e) + ing → differing> (stress on first syllable)
<de + Fer(e) + ent → deferent> (stress on first syllable)
<con + Fer(e) + ence → conference> (stress on first syllable)

When the stress falls on the syllable containing the base, the replaceable <e> does not surface and the <r> doubles.

<de + Fer(e) + able → deferrable> (stress on <Fer>)
<in + Fer(e) + ing → inferring> (stress on <Fer>)
<re + Fer(e) + al → referral> (stress on <Fer>)
<anti + de + Fer(e) + al → antideferral> (stress on <Fer>)

Most concisely, the replaceable <e> in <Fer(e)> does not surface when a vowel-initial suffix follows the base and the stress falls on the syllable with the base.

For the bound base <Fer(e)>, orthographic conventions conditioned by both morphology and stress, not morphology alone, govern consonant doubling. Representing the base as <Fer(e)> provides the most elegant and consistent analysis.

The word different consists of the prefix dif-, bound base <Fer(e)>, and suffix -ent. Identifying the base as <Fer(e)> highlights that doubling patterns can depend not only on morphological structure but also on prosodic stress. Most importantly, a base represents the consistent underlying form shared across a word family. Identifying the base as <Fer(e)> with a replaceable <e> that surfaces under orthographic conditions maintains this consistency and explains orthographic variation: When a vowel-initial suffix follows the base and the stress falls on the syllable with the base, the parenthetical <e> does not surface and the <r> doubles.