-yer

From Middle English, partly an alteration of -ier; and partly from -yere, -iere, -ȝere, the suffix -er appended to words ending in ȝ or g. More at -ier, -er.

-yer

1. (rare, usually no longer productive) Agent suffix, equivalent to -er, appended to some nouns (especially those ending in the letter "w" or "v").

   ‎law + ‎-yer → ‎lawyer

   ‎saw + ‎-yer → ‎sawyer

• -ery, Rey, Rye, e'ry, eyr, rye, yre