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September 12, 2014 12:36 am
Why is it a swimmer swims and a dancer dances, but a tinker doesn't tink, and a lawyer doesn't lawy, (or barrist or solicit)?
Is there a rule that determines whether a action is performed by the action plus -er (or =or) or the action and the person performing the action are the same word, or is this just a quirk of each act/actor pair?
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September 14, 2014 12:45 am
There are fixed word-building patterns in the language, determining each word (e.g. V+er/or, etc). And there are occasional uses when the word-building pattern is missing. It lies with the diachronical development of the language, I think. Etymological survey may best answer. Language is really a fascinating thing, its development and use - sometimes unpredictable.