history - Whats the difference between "-ist" and "-er"


The suffixes -ist, and -er are added to a base word to name a person who does an action: pitch, pitcher.


Some more examples:


carpenter      artist
painter        nationalist
banker         dentist

These all seem to be professions, but is there a conceptual difference between names ending with "-ist" and those ending with "-er"? Any history behind it?



Answer



From Wiktionary :


-ist



Added to words to form nouns denoting:



a person with a particular creative or academic role;


one who subscribes to a particular theological doctrine or religious denomination;


one who owns or manages something;




And :


-er



(added to verbs) Person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.


(added to a noun denoting an occupation) Person whose occupation is (the noun).




The etymology part says that :




  • -ist comes from Latin -ista from Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs), from -ισ (-is) + agent suffix -τής (-tḗs)...



    • one who practises or believes.




  • -er comes from Middle English -er, -ere, from Old English -ere (agent suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz (agent suffix). Usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin -ārius from Proto-Indo-European relational adjectival suffix *yo- (“belonging to”)...




    • Used to form adjectives from nouns or numerals.




    • (masculine only) -er; Used to form nouns denoting an agent of use, such as a dealer or artisan, from other nouns.






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