Linguistics (Base and Affixes)

AFFIXES AND BASES

1. Affixes

            An affix is a letter or group of letters, for example `un-' or `-y', which is added to either the beginning or the end of a word to form a different word with a different meaning. Adding affixes to existing words (the base or root) to form new words is common in academic English. There are two kinds of affixes which which will add the meaning of the word. They are Prefixes and Suffixes. A prefix is a letter or group of letters, for example `un-' or `multi-', which is added to the beginning of a word in order to form a different word. For example, the prefix `un-' is added to `happy' to form `unhappy'.  Prefixes are added to the front of the base (like dislike), whereas a suffix is a letter or group of letters, for example `-ly' or `-ness', which is added to the end of a word in order to form a different word, often of a different word class. For example, the suffix `-ly' is added to `quick' to form `quickly'. Suffixes are added to the end of the base (active activate). Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word. The more explanation and example will be shown below.

a. Prefixes

Spatial Prefixes

The largest group of prefixes denote relationships that occur in space. Often, these spatial meanings are metaphorically extended to relationships in time. These prefixes may also have additional meanings and variant forms, which are listed in the glossary. Prefixes aid in determining the meaning of words. While some prefixes have only one meaning, others may have more than one, or there may be several prefixes with the same meaning. It is a situation that helps lead to the richness of the English vocabulary.

Prefix	Usage	Example
a-/an-	without	amoral, anarchy
ad-	to, toward, near	adhere, advert
ante-	before in time or order	antechamber, antecedent
anti-	against, opposed to	antiaircraft, antibiotic
bene-	good	beneficial, benefactor
bi-	two	bicycle, bipolar
by-	aside or apart from	bystander, byproduct
circum-	around	circumpolar, circumnavigate
co-/col-/com/ con-/cor-	together, with, jointly	co-author, collaborate, combine, conspire, correspond
contra-	against, opposite	contraception, contraband
de-	down from, away, off	descent, declassify
dia-	across, through	diagonal, diagram
dis-	away from, apart	disconnect, disown
epi-	upon, above, outside, in addition to	epidermis, epilogue
ex-	out of, thoroughly	exhale, exasperate
hyper-	beyond, excessive, extreme	hyperbole, hyperactive
hypo-	under, beneath, down, less than	hypodermic, hypothesis
il-/im-/in-/ir-	in, into, on not	illegible, impolite, inoperable, irrefutable
inter-	between, with each other	interchange, intercede
intra-/intro-	within, inside of	intramural, introvert
mal-	bad, evil, wrong	malformed, malignant
micro-	small	microscope, microorganism
mis-	wrong	mistake, misinformation
mono-	one, alone	monotone, monopoly
multi-	many, much	multilingual, multiply
non-	not	nonentity, nonconformist
ob-	against, in opposition	objection, oblivious
over-	above, on top of, superior	overactive, overdraft
peri-	around, near	perimeter, perihelion
poly-	many	polygamy, polygon
post-	after in time or order	postdated, postmortem
pre-	before in time or order	predict, precaution
pro-	forward, toward the front, occurring earlier	project, prognosis
re-	back again	redo, renew
retro-	back again, backward	retrospective, retroactive
semi-	half, partly	semiconductor, semiconscious
sub-/suc-/suf-/sup-/sus-	under, beneath	submarine, succumb, suffocate, support, suspect
super	above, greater, better	superfluous
syl-/sym-/syn-	with, together, associated with	syllable, sympathy, synapse
tri-	three	tricycle
trans-	across, through	transform, transfuse
ultra-	beyond, excessive, extreme	ultramarine, ultraviolet
un-	not, opposed to; back	unavoidable; undo
uni-	one, alone	unicorn, uniform

Non-Spatial Prefixes

Some prefixes convey non-spatial concepts such as the comparison of one object with others, or information about the size or quantity of the object or substance

• Comparative relations

hetero- 'other, different'

homo- / homeo- 'same'

iso- 'equal'

• Quantity and Size

micro- 'small'

macro- 'long, large'

omni- 'all'

pan- / pant- 'all, overall'

• Negative Prefixes

Negative prefixes convey the concept of 'not' as well as related concepts such as 'opposite of', 'lacking', or simple 'bad'.

a- / an- 'not, without'

in- 'not'

dys- 'bad'

anti- 'the opposite of' or 'opposed to'

contra- / counter- 'opposed to, in opposition'

• Intensive prefixes

Many spatial prefixes can be used to strengthen or intensify the meaning of the root to which they are attached. When these prefixes are used intensively, they should be glossed as 'very', 'intensively', 'completely', 'strongly', or some similar meaning, rather than using their spatial meaning. Although these "double meanings" of spatial morphemes may seen odd at first, it is actually quite common in languages. English has a number of native words and phrases with spatial meanings that are used to strengthen other words. Below are some examples of Latin spatial morphemes and English spatial words used intensively.

conspicuous 'very easily seen'	"altogether visible"
declare 'very clear'	"downright clear"
inflammable 'very flammable' (in- 'in', NOT in- 'not')	"out and out flammable"
perfect 'completely done'	"done through and through"
insist 'to stand strongly (for something)'	"stand outright (for something)"

It is sometimes tricky to be sure that the prefix has an intensive meaning, but be sure to consider it when the spatial meaning doesn't seem to make sense.

b. Suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes that are used in English give clues as to the meaning and, or, the function of words. Typically suffixes indicate the function of a word in a sentence. For instance there are some suffixes that are used only for nouns and others that are used for verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The particular suffix used in forming a word also helps to give meaning to a word, for instance ‘competition’ and ‘competitor’ are both nouns that are formed from the verb ‘compete’. The ‘-or’ suffix, however, indicates that there is a person performing the action, whereas the ‘-tion’ suffix indicates a condition or state of being. Do note, that some suffixes are used with more than one type of word, so on their own they cannot be used to infer the function of the word in the sentence. In those situations, other context clues are needed to provide the function of that word in a particular sentence.

There are two different classes of suffixes: Inflectional and Derivational. Each has its own special function in a word. Briefly,

INFLECTIONAL Suffixes * add only grammatical information * never change the part of speech

DERIVATIONAL Suffixes * make a new word with a new meaning * usually change the part of speech

Let's take a closer look at each of these classes.

INFLECTIONAL Suffixes

Inflectional suffixes are required to make a sentence grammatically correct, but they add little meaning to the word. They never change a word from one grammatical class to another, but each grammatical class has its own special set of inflectional suffixes. Consequently, these suffixes can be useful in helping you determine whether the word is a NOUN, VERB, or ADJECTIVE. In any case, you need to recognize and ignore inflectional suffixes when you are analyzing a word. It's especially important not to confuse them with derivational suffixes, which do alter the meaning of the word and must be glossed.

English has only eight inflectional suffixes; they are listed with examples in the table below.

ENGLISH INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES
Grammatical Class	Suffix	Example
NOUN	-s 'plural'	The two girls had eaten dinner.
	-'s 'possessive'	The cat's tail was twitching.
VERB	-ed 'past tense'	The blackest dog never barked.
	-s '3rd person present tense'	The smaller dog barks a lot.
	-ing 'present participle'	The cat's tail was twitching.
	-en 'past participle'	The two girls had eaten dinner.
ADJECTIVE	-er 'comparative'	The smaller dog barks a lot.
	-est 'superlative'	The blackest dog never barked

The noun suffixes -s and -'s indicate either plurality or possession. They both sound the same in the spoken language, although they are distinguished in the written form. Be careful not to confuse these suffixes with a derivational suffix with same form (in Morpheme Set 3).

Verbs have four suffixes: -ed, -s, -ing, -en. Their main function is to distinguish the tense of the verb. Notice that verbs also have a suffix -s, although in this case it indicates that the verb is present tense and being used with a third-person subject, i.e. something other than "I" or "you."

The adjective suffixes -er and -est are also considered inflectional. They are used when comparing two things (-er) or more than two things (-est). Be sure to distinguish the -er suffix from a derivational suffix with the same form (in Morpheme Set 2).

Remember: You need to be able to recognize inflectional suffixes; you do not need to gloss them. If an inflectional suffix occurs, it will always be the last suffix of any type in the word, and there will only be one inflectional suffix in any word.

DERIVATIONAL Suffixes

In this Lecture, we will discuss all the derivational affixes in the course as a group. Of course, you always are only responsible for the affixes given in the current and earlier morpheme sets. As you study each new morpheme set, you may wish to refer back to this section.

Derivational suffixes are used to make (or derive) new words. In particular, they are used to change a word from one grammatical class to another. For example, the noun "pore" can be changed into an adjective by adding the suffix -ous, resulting in the adjective "porous" 'having pores'. In some cases, the suffix doesn't change the part of speech, but it may add significantly to the meaning and these changes will affect the literal meaning.

We can organize derivation suffixes into three groups, depending on the type of new word they create. In the example above, we call -ous an Adjective-Forming Suffix because it creates adjectives. Below are some more examples of derivation suffixes which change parts of speech.

Suffix Type	Grammatical Change	Example
Noun-Forming Suffixes	VERB --> NOUN	speak + er
	ADJ --> NOUN	economic + s
Adjective-Forming Suffixes	NOUN --> ADJ	person + al
	VERB --> ADJ	act + ive
Verb-Forming Suffixes	NOUN --> VERB	victim + ize
	ADJ --> VERB	vocal + ize

As we've seen, one can add derivational suffixes almost indefinitely. For example, the word "educationalization" contains one prefix, one root, and six derivational suffixes.

e /	duc /	ate /	ion /	al /	ize /	ate /	ion
'away, out'	'lead, draw, pull'	VERB	NOUN	ADJ	VERB	N, A, V	NOUN

Some derivational suffixes do multiple tasks. For example, the suffix -ate can create nouns, adjectives and verbs. This sometimes makes it difficult to gloss non-final derivational suffixes. If you can't tell for sure, just use the complete gloss which you memorized. When words are used in the context of a sentence, their grammatical class is clear and the exact meaning of the derivational suffix can be determined. When the word is given to you in a sentence, all final suffixes must have a SINGLE gloss. You will always be given words in sentences on exams. This usually isn't the case on homework problems; consequently, your answers may differ slightly from ours.

Derivational suffixes can be redundant, that is, two suffixes in a row may indicate the same part of speech. We can see this in these examples:

electric / electrical

philosophic / philosophical

 

No matter how many suffixes are strung together at the end of a word, the rules is always the same:

• The last derivational suffix determines the part of speech.
• The last suffix is glossed as either NOUN OR VERB OR ADJECTIVE if the word is given in a sentence.

The literal meaning that you construct for a word depends on its part of speech. In the next section, we'll take a look at how literal meanings should be constructed for NOUNS, VERBS, and ADJECTIVES.

Meanings of Derivational Suffixes

When you analyze words, it is usually easiest to gloss derivational suffixes as NOUN, VERB, or ADJECTIVE. When you construct a literal meaning, you need to be careful that this meaning is appropriate to the part of speech that the word belongs to. For example, 'running' is a literal meaning for an adjective, but 'that which runs' is a literal meaning for a noun. (The words are cursive and cursor.)

NOUN Suffixes

Literal meanings for nouns almost always begin with words such as 'a', 'an', 'the', 'that which', or 'one who'. Different types of noun suffixes have slightly different meanings.

• General noun suffixes just tell you 'this is a noun'.
• Abstract nouns often refer to abstract concepts or entities that are a result of some action.
• Agent nouns refer to the person or entitiy which performs an action.
• Locative nouns refer to places.
• Medical terms often have suffixes that indicate specific medical conditions.

Noun-Forming Suffixes
Suffix form	Suffix Meanings	Example	Literal meaning
General
-ic	'a thing' 'a substance' 'one that is related to' 'that which pertains to'	topic	'that which pertains to a place'
-ment		segment	'a thing which is cut'
-s		pathos	'the feeling'
-um		album	'a white thing'
-ure		nature	'the properties of something present from birth'
Abstract
-ence / -ance	'an act of' 'a state of' 'the process of' 'the result of'	prominence	'the result of jutting forth'
-ion		action	'the result of acting'
-ive		missive	'the result of sending' (or 'that which was sent')
-sis		genesis	'the process of birth' ('the beginning')
-y		biology	'the act of studying living things' (or 'the study of life forms')
-ism	'the belief' 'the practice'	baptism	'the practice of dipping'
-ity	[name of a quality]	verity	'the quality of being true'
Agent
-ate	'one who' 'that which'	advocate	'one who speaks toward (for) something'
-er / -or		worker	'one who works'
-ent / -ant		servant	'one who serves'
-ist	'one who engages in a belief or practice'	communist	'one who practices communism'
Location
-arium	'a place where'	aquarium	'a place where water is'
-ary / -ory		dormitory	'a place for sleeping'
-ia	'the land' 'the area'	suburbia	'the land below the city' (i.e. 'the area secondary to the city')
Diminuative
-le / -ole / -cle	'little'	muscle	'a little mouse'
Medical
-ia	'a medical condition'	insomnia	'a medical condition of lacking sleep'
-itis	'an inflammation'	bronchitis	'an inflammation of the bronchial tubes'
-oma	'a tumor' 'a growth'	fibroma	'a tumor having fiber (i.e. fibrous tissue)'

VERB Suffixes

Literal meanings for verbs should always begin 'to', the infinitive marker. (The infinitive form of a verb is one that doesn't show any tense.) In some cases, verbs convey the meaning 'to cause to' or 'to make', but in other cases the idea of causation has been lost, although the same suffix is used in each case. One special verb suffix is -esc / -sc conveys a notion of change or mutation and often means 'to become'. Here are some examples:

Verb-Forming Suffixes
Suffix form	Suffix Meanings	Example	Literal meaning
-ate	'to VERB' 'to cause to' 'to make'	liberate	'to free'
-ize		vocalize	'to make vocal'
-sc / -esc	'to become' 'to change'	convalesce	'to become much stronger'

ADJECTIVE Suffixes

Literal meanings for adjectives often begin with the words 'having', 'being', or 'pertaining to' . When an adjective is formed from a verb, you can sometimes gloss it as 'VERB + ing' (VERB stands for whatever the original verb was.) One special case is -oid which almost always should be glossed 'resembling'. Another adjective suffix with a special meaning is -able / ible 'able to'. Here are some examples:

Adjective-Forming Suffixes
Suffix form	Suffix Meanings	Example	Literal meaning
-able / -ible	'able to'	adorable	'able to be adored'
-al	'having' 'being' 'pertaining to' 'VERB + ing '	natal	'pertaining to birth'
-ary / -ory		sensory	'pertaining to feeling'
-ate		irate	'having anger (ire)'
-ent / -ant		fluent	'flowing'
-ic		chronic	'pertaining to time'
-ile		senile	'being old'
-ine		canine	'pertaining to dogs'
-ite		finite	'having an end'
-ive		cursive	'running'
-ous		dolorous	'suffering'
-oid	'resembling'	android	'resembling a man'

2. Bases

            In the English language, morphemes may also be classified into the following types: root, stem, or affix. A root, sometimes called a base, is the morpheme which gives the word its meaning. For example, the root morpheme “bird” gives the word “birds” its meaning, which is a particular type of animal. A stem is the root of a word combined with any affixes. An affix is a morpheme that comes at the beginning, called a prefix, or at the end, called a suffix, of a root morpheme.

Many people believe that morphemes are the same as syllables, but this would be incorrect. The word “apple,” for example, has two syllables but only one morpheme. “Apple” cannot be broken up into "app" and "le," which are two separate syllables, because “app” and “le” have no semantic meaning on their own. Most roots in English are free morphemes (for example, dog, syntax, and to), although there are a few cases of roots (like -gruntle as in disgruntle) that must be combined with another bound morpheme in order to surface as an acceptable lexical item.

            A word like 'house' or 'dog' is called a free morpheme because it can occur in isolation and cannot be divided into smaller meaning units. . The word 'quickest' . . . is composed of two morphemes, one bound and one free. The word 'quick' is the free morpheme and carries the basic meaning of the word. The 'est' makes the word a superlative and is a bound morpheme because it cannot stand alone and be meaningful."