Proto-Basque: *-lari / *-le
Meaning: agent suffix, suffix of profession
Bizkaian: -lari / -la
Gipuzkoan: -lari / -le
High Navarrese: -lari / -le
Low Navarrese: -lari / -le
Lapurdian: -lari / -le
Zuberoan: -lari / -le
Roncalese: -lari / -le
Comments: These seem to be specialized developments of PSC *ŁĭwlV̆ ~ *ɫĭwŁV̆ 'male, man', parallel with Nakh: Chechen belχa-lō 'worker', etc. = Bsq. *egi-le 'doer, maker', etc. Bsq *-lari is usually lumped together with the suffix -ari, claimed to be from Latin -ārium, but this does not account for the /l/ in words such as guda-lari 'soldier' (gudu 'war'), margo-lari 'painter' (margo 'color, paint'), etc. Possibly both -ari and -lari are native Basque.
