Prefixation & characteristic features of suffixation

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W
WORD -
FORMATION
Group 1:
…
Hoàng Thị Tuyết Nhung

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AFFIXATION
• AFFIXATION is the formation of new words
with help of affixes.
• Prefixes and Suffixes are both Affixes
un + cook + ed = uncooked
prefixes suffixes

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1.1. PREFIXATION

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a, Characteristic features:
The prefixes rarely form new parts of speech:
Ex: organize --------- disorganized
possible --------- impossible
spell -------------- misspell
There are some prefixes which coincide with words mostly prepositions and
adverbs: over-, out-, up-,…
Ex: cook-------- overcooked
water ------ underwater
visible ------ invisible

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b, Classification of prefixes:
- Prefixes are classified in many ways, either according
to their origin or meaning or function.
- Three groups of meaning:
• Meaning negation
• Reversal or repetition
• Space and time relationship

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 Meaning negation: un-, dis-, miss-, non-, in- (ill-, im-, ir-,)…
Ex: believe ------ unbelievable stop ----- non-stop
polite -------- impolite legal ----- illegal
 Reversal or repetition: un-, dis-, re-
Ex: connect ------ disconnect lock --------- unlock
cycle ---------- recycle act ----------- react
 Space and time relationship: pre-, post-, fore-, over-, super-,…
Ex: view ------ preview see --------- foresee
size ------- oversize market ----- supermarket

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* Notes:
- The prefix in- occurs in different phonemic
shapes depending on the initial sound of
word it goes with: irregular, illegible,
imbalance,…
- in- and un- are rather strangely
distributed.
Interchangeably:
Instable- unstable
Irrecognizable – Unrecognizable
Immovable – Unmovable
Infrequent - Unfrequent
“compete” with each other:
Usable ~ inability
Undecided ~ indecision
Unstable ~ Instability
Unjust ~ injustice
Ungrateful ~ ingratitude

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1.2. SUFFIXATION:

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a, Characteristic features:
- The most distinctive feature of suffixes is that they usually change the meaning of
stems, both lexically and grammatically.
- Modifying the lexical meaning of stems and transferring words to different part of
speech:
• Happy – happily/happiness
• Clean - cleanable
• Create – creative
- Suffixes do not change the part of speech:
• Child – childhood
• Tiger – tigress

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 Connecting the peculiarities of suffixes special attention must be paid to
the so called “lexicalized grammatical suffix”
 The morpheme does not indicate plurality, so it is a derivational
morpheme “s” not a grammatical one:
spectacles (eye glasses)/ spectacle (sight)
customs (duties, taxes)/ custom (habitual practice)
 We can also mention “ing”, “ed”
Ex: The baby is amusing/ The baby is amusing its parents

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• The polysemy of a suffix in no less peculiar:
“er” means:
+ the doer of an action: player, teacher,…
+ a person living in a certain place: London villager, Sydneysider,…
+ a device a tool or instrument: eraser, boiler,…
“y” means:
+ characterized by…: windy, sunny
+ full of, composed of: watery, sandy
+ dear, intimate: daddy, dolly
+ resembling what the stem denotes: busby, inky

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