Suffix "-ón"
Is "-ón" an accepted suffix in Spanish? It exists also in French (salle / salon) and perhaps other Romance languages as well. Consider: "callejón" is a small calle, but "hombrón" is a large hombre. Does this come from Latin? How did "large" and "small" both come to be associated with "-on"? [My various college-level language dictionaries have been no help.]
1 Answer
It is an augmentive. I cannot fully answer your question, but this may be of some interest:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-ón
7 for very few cases, indicates small size of or a lack of something (such as an ironic augmentative)
pelón - with little or no hair (from pelo)
rabón - with little or no tail (from rabo)
ratón - mouse (from rata, rat)
tapón - cork, stopper, a "little cover or lid" (from tapa)
montón - heap, pile, a "little mountain" (from monte); although its origin may be a comparison with a little mountain of something, it also means "big amount"
