Conversione di suffissi nel metalinguaggio grammaticale: latino -tīvus e greco -(τ)ικός

It is well-known that the suffix -tīvus frequently occurs as the equivalent of -(τ)ικός in loan translations from Greek into Latin in the technical vocabulary. As is shown in this paper, however, this suffix conversion rule, once established, could work also in the opposite direction, with the creation of Greek terms in -(τ)ικός on the model of Latin terms in -tīvus. Dositheus’ grammar, in which part of the Latin texts is accompanied by a Greek translation, offers interesting evidence of this phenomenon, as is shown by the terms for ‘ablative’ and ‘subjunctive’.