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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 Description: right arrowdislike), 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 Description: right arrowactivate). 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."




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