# tore, trice, trix, tra



## mzsweeett

I had originally asked this in another posting. but I think it was mistaken for something else. I have opened this thread up to clarify (hopefully) what I am looking for.
Alfry has explained the Italian suffixes -tore and -trice:  "They come from Latin '-tor' and '-trix'. In English we have taken many of the '-tor' words: director, protector, reactor, actor. And we have also have a few of the '-trix' form, although they are rarer: protrectrix, directrix (technical sense in mathematics), testatrix, dominatrix."


I took Latin for 2 years in school... may I inquire as to when "trix" was used (in Latin)...was it common usage or not so common? I can't remember it in my classes. What I do recall is that we used "tra" to indicate feminine. I do find this difference intriguing. Was my teacher wrong, did she omit this, or was this something more down the line that I did not get to? (If I had my old notes then I could state more, but this was 10 years ago)
Can anyone please explain the difference here or am I just dyslexic?  
Moreover, does this transcend to Italian? 

I think I may want to pick up on Latin again!!   LOL
Thanks and Have a Great Day


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## Alfry

mzsweeett said:
			
		

> I had originally asked this in another posting. but I think it was mistaken for something else. I have opened this thread up to clarify (hopefully) what I am looking for.
> Alfry has explained the Italian suffixes -tore and -trice: "They come from Latin '-tor' and '-trix'. In English we have taken many of the '-tor' words: director, protector, reactor, actor. And we have also have a few of the '-trix' form, although they are rarer: protrectrix, directrix (technical sense in mathematics), testatrix, dominatrix."
> 
> 
> I took Latin for 2 years in school... may I inquire as to when "trix" was used (in Latin)...was it common usage or not so common? I can't remember it in my classes. What I do recall is that we used "tra" to indicate feminine. I do find this difference intriguing. Was my teacher wrong, did she omit this, or was this something more down the line that I did not get to? (If I had my old notes then I could state more, but this was 10 years ago)
> Can anyone please explain the difference here or am I just dyslexic?
> Moreover, does this transcend to Italian?
> 
> I think I may want to pick up on Latin again!!  LOL
> Thanks and Have a Great Day


 
Now you are forcing me to access one of the deepest parts of my brain... it's really dark there...

Sincerely I've studied Latin for 5 years but I can't remember the -tra suffix.

I do remember both -tor and -trix suffixes... 
anyway you can be right... it was too time ago so I forgot 92,4% of what I studied


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## mzsweeett

alfry said:
			
		

> Now you are forcing me to access one of the deepest parts of my brain... it's really dark there...
> 
> Sincerely I've studied Latin for 5 years but I can't remember the -tra suffix.
> 
> I do remember both -tor and -trix suffixes...
> anyway you can be right... it was too time ago so I forgot 92,4% of what I studied


Ok, right about which...that I am dyslexic, my teacher taught incorrectly or I somehow missed it?  Truly I want to understand.  HELP!


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## shaula

I thought of "magister" vs "magistra", "filiaster" (=stepson) vs "filiastra" (=stepdaughter)...just to save your teacher's reputation . Probably she meant that words ending in "-stra" are feminine.

In Italian couple of words ending in "-tore" and "-trice" are definitely more common as they are in Latin. I guess you haven't met them because in basic vocabulary you don't find many of them.

Ciao
shaula


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## mzsweeett

shaula said:
			
		

> I thought of "magister" vs "magistra", "filiaster" (=stepson) vs "filiastra" (=stepdaughter)...just to save your teacher's reputation . Probably she meant that words ending in "-stra" are feminine.
> 
> In Italian couple of words ending in "-tore" and "-trice" are definitely more common as they are in Latin. I guess you haven't met them because in basic vocabulary you don't find many of them.
> 
> Ciao
> shaula


Ahh, thanks so much.     I thought all the work I had done in Latin was a waste.    Brings me back to the idea I should try Latin again, so as not to sound foolish when speaking of roots and deriviatives.     Have a wonderful day!!!!


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## Silvia

mzsweeett, please do not post questions about Latin in the Italian-English Forum 

I'm moving this thread to the Other Languages Forum.


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## mzsweeett

Silvia said:
			
		

> mzsweeett, please do not post questions about Latin in the Italian-English Forum
> 
> I'm moving this thread to the Other Languages Forum.


 I'm sorry Sylvia.  I had it running on the same track as a thread from the Italian forum.    I didn't think of it that way.  I will be more careful next time.    Thanks.

Sweet T.


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