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I found that there are some adj. words that can be modified to be nouns by adding "e" at the end. For example, chorale and morale.

Etymonline said in the case of chorale, "-e" indicates stress. So I wonder if it is the same for morale?

What other examples with suffix "-e"?

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    I assume what Etymonline means is that adding -e to chorale and morale causes the second syllable to be lengthened and stressed. But I don't think I'd call that a "suffix" usage. I'm not even sure I'd call the second e in née a suffix (even supposing I accept né, née as "English" words, which is also debatable). Nov 9, 2013 at 17:50
  • The noun from moral is morality: morale has only a tenuous relationship with either. Nov 9, 2013 at 17:58
  • finale, locale, fatale... or perhaps fatale is just French. Nov 9, 2013 at 18:22
  • @FumbleFingers: divorcé, macramé, paté, which without accent are definitely English words.
    – Mitch
    Nov 9, 2013 at 18:22
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    This final e is not a suffix. As in your previous question about initial s and f, it is important that you see the difference between a prefix/suffix and a letter that just happens to be at the beginning/end of a word. Their position alone does not make them suffixes. A suffix is something you can add to a word to derive a new word based on the base word. -e it's no such thing. Nov 10, 2013 at 0:48

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One that I can think of immediately is 'rationale', but I feel sure there must be others.

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  • Although etymologically, the origin is different, the pronunciation of this word seems to have been influenced by words like morale and chorale: originally rationale was pronounced "ration-AIL-ee" (due to its Latin origin), but today the "e" is most often silent ("ration-AL" or "ration-AHL").
    – herisson
    Dec 17, 2015 at 22:12

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