DictionaryRoot: -al
English
-al
connected with
Forms
- -al
Origin
Borrowed through French and Latin from Latin -alis.
Note
English now adds it to new bases as well as retaining it in inherited borrowings.
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adjective / noun
laryngeal
luh-RIN-jee-ul/ləˈrɪndʒiəl/
Of the voice box and its sound-producing action.
Etymology
Latin laryngeus already meant ‘of the larynx,’ so the English ending reinforces that relationship. The term concerns the voice-producing cavity, rather than the throat generally.