Prefixation and Suffixation în Modern English

Introduction

Words in English (and other languages too) can often be broken down into different parts, including prefixes and suffixes. Knowing the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes in English is very helpful when trying to figure out the meaning of a new and unfamiliar word. If you know the meaning of a prefix or suffix you can separate it from the base word in order to give you some understanding of the new word.

A number of the words we use today are shaped from prefixes, root words, and suffixes that originally came from many other languages, especially Latin, Greek, Old English, and French.

Root words (base words) can add either prefixes or suffixes to create other words. Take, for instance, the root word bene, meaning good. If you add various prefixes (letters that come at the beginning of a word) and suffixes (letters that come at the end of a word) to bene, you can create other words such as benefit, benevolent, benediction, and unbeneficial. Each prefix and suffix has a meaning of its own; so by adding one or the other — or both — to root words, you form new words. You can see the root word bene in each of the new words, and each of the new words still retains a meaning having to do with good, but the prefix or suffix changes or expands on the meaning. (The prefix un-, for instance, means “not.” That gives a whole new meaning — an opposite meaning — to the word unbeneficial.)

In another example, look at the root word chron, which comes from Greek and means time. Adding the prefix syn- (meaning together with) and the suffix -ize (meaning to cause to be) creates the modern word synchronize, which means to set various timepieces at the same time. Use a different suffix, -ology, meaning the study of, and you have chronology, which means the study that deals with time divisions and assigns events to their proper dates.

Interesting, too, is the way ancient word forms have been used to create words in modern times. Two thousand years ago, for instance, no one knew there would be a need for a word that meant sending your voice far away — but that's what the modern word telephone means. It's a combination of tele, meaning distant or far away, and phon, meaning voice or sound.

If we describe a word as an autonomous suit of language in which a particular meaning is associated with a particular sound complex and which is capable of a particular grammatical employment and able to form a sentence by itself, we have the possibility to distinguish it from the other fundamental language unit,

namely, the morpheme. According to the role they play in constructing words, morphemes are subdivided into roots and affixes.

Affixation has been one of the most productive ways of word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.

Chapter I . Suffixation

1.1.Classification of suffixes

Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of speech from another, the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech, e.g. educate v – educatee n.

There are different classifications of suffixes.

1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of speech are given here:

a) noun-forming suffixes: -er criticize, -ism ageism;

b) adjective-forming suffixes: –able breathable, -less symptomless, -ous prestigious;

c) adverb-forming suffixes: -ly singly, -ward tableward, -wise jet-wise;

d) numeral-forming suffixes: -teen sixteen, -ty seventy, -fold twofold.

2. Semantic classification. Suffixes changing the lexical meaning of the stem can be subdivided into groups, e.g. noun-forming suffixes can denote:

a) the agent of the action: -er teacher, -ist taxist, -ent student;

b) nationality: –ian Russian, -ese Japanese, -ish English.

c) collectivity: -dom kingdom, -ry peasantry, -ship readership;

d) diminutiveness: -ie horsie, -let booklet, -ette kitchenette,

e) quality: -ness copelessness, -ity answerability;

f) feminine gender: -ess actress, -ine heroine, -ette cosmonette;

g) abstract notion: -hood childhood, -ness politeness, -ence/ance tolerance;

h) derogatory meaning: -ard drunkard, -ster gangster

3.Lexico-grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes added to certain groups of stems are subdivided into:

a) suffixes added to verbal stems: -er commuter, -ing suffering;

b) suffixes added to noun stems: -less smogless, -ism adventurism;

c) suffixes adde to adjective stems: -en weaken, -ish longish.

4. Origin of suffixes:

a) native (Germanic) suffixes: -er teacher, -ful careful, -less painless, -ly

swiftly, -dom, -ed, -en, -hood, -ing, -ish, -ness, -ship, -teen, -ty, -ward;

b) Romanic suffixes: -tion attention, -ment development, -able/-ible

terrible, moveable, -age, -ard, ance/ence, -ate;

c) Greek suffixes: -ist taxist, -ism capitalism, -ize organize;

d) Russian suffixes: -nik filmnik.

5. Productivity of suffixes:

a) productive: -er dancer, -ize specialize, -ly wetly, -ness closeness;

b) semi-productive: -ette kitchenette, -ward sky-ward;

c) non-productive: -ard drunkard, -th length.

6. Structure:

a) simple: -er speaker, -ist taxist;

b) compound –ical, ironical, -ation formation, -manship sportsmanship,

ably/ibly terribly, reasonably.