Prefixation

Week 5
 Affixation: Prefixation
Affixation is the process of attaching affixes (prefixes and
suffixes).
Prefixation is a morphological process of adding prefix to the
base, with or without change the word-class. A prefix is an
affix added before a root or base (Katamba, 1993). The vast
majority of prefixes in English are class-maintaining. For
example, un-, meaning ‘not’, is the prefix in the word unkind,
here, kind is the root. Thus, unkind means‘not kind’,
The word unnecessary consists of the prefix un- and the noun
necessary which means ‘not necessary’, etc.
 Examples:
a. We know that the bridge was unsafe
b. He dislikes sleeping long.
Notice: a prefix un- in example (a) is added before the
adjective ‘safe’. In example (b), the prefix dis- is attached to
verb ‘like’.
 Important
Prefixes in English are derivational affixes as they rarely
change the grammatical category of the word, but bring
the different lexical meaning. For example, appear is a
‘verb’; and disappear (meaning, the opposite of ‘appear’),
is also a ‘verb’. Hence, the prefixes like dis- are called
class maintaining derivational prefix.
In English, class changing derivational prefixes are also
available. For example,
forest belongs to the grammatical category of a ‘noun’
which means ‘an area of land covered with trees and
plants’. When the prefix –re is added to the word ‘forest’,
it changes its grammatical category into the verb reforest
to mean ‘to plant trees on an area of land’. Here, re- is a
class-changing derivational prefix.
It should be noted that some prefixes can function as both
‘class-changing’ and ‘class-maintaining’ derivational
prefixes. For instance, write is a ‘verb’; rewrite (meaning,
‘writing again’) is also a ‘verb’. Here, the prefix re-
changes only the meaning of the word, not the
grammatical category.
Verbal Affixes

The category of verbs remains verbs by adding the following

prefixes to the verbs followed:
Prefix Meaning Verb Verb
re- ‘again’ organize reorganize
un- ‘the opposite of’ cover uncover
mis- ‘the opposite of’ apply misapply
dis- ‘not, the opposite of ’ please displease
The e word organize is a ‘verb’, when the prefix re-‘again’
is attached to it, it becomes reorganize ‘change the way in
which something is organized’. Both words, the root
organize and the derived one reorganize are two different
words having the same word class but different meanings.
The verb organize means “to arrange something or a part
of something into a particular order” whereas the new
derived verb reorganize means “to change the way in
which something is organized”.
 The following prefixes are attached to a ‘noun’ to form a ‘verb’.
Prefix Meaning Noun Verb
‘treat somebody or
be- friend befriend
something as’
en- ‘to cause to be’ title entitle

The lexical item title “the name of a book, poem, painting, piece of
music”, which is a ‘noun’. When the prefix en- ‘to cause to be’ is added
to it, the 'verb' entitle ‘to give a right or claim’ is formed. The suffixes
–ify, -ize and the prefix be-, en- are all class-changing derivational
affixes that convert nouns into verbs
 Notice
Dis- can be used with verbs, nouns, adjectives.

appear, obey disappear, disobey

honest, similar dishonest, dissimilar
advantage disadvantage
agreeable, disagreeable, disagreeably, disaster disasterly
It is important to know what different prefixes mean as
they can help you to understand the additional meanings of
words.
 restructure, revisit,
re- again or back reappear, rebuild,
refinance

disappear, disallow,
reverses the
dis- disarm, disconnect,
meaning of the verb
discontinue

overbook, oversleep,
over- too much
overwork

reverses the unbend, uncouple,

un-
meaning of the verb unfasten
 Negative Prefixes
Negative prefixes are the prefixes that carry negative meaning
in word formation, such as the following prefixes:
un- which means ‘the opposite of’ or ‘not’, non- which means
‘not’,
in- which has meaning as for un-, dis- which has meaning as
for un-, and prefix a- which means ‘lacking in’
Prefix non- is used to express negative meaning of ‘not’. It is
also used to say that someone or something is not a particular
thing, or does not do a particular thing.
 Note that un-, il-, in-, ir-, non-, mis-, dis- de-mean “not” or
“opposite of” in English. The choice of one is governed by
phonological conditions, for instance,
-im is placed before bilabial sounds /p, b, m) as in

balance imbalance
patient impatient
possible impossible
 -in is placed before alveolar and velar sounds /d, k, s/and the labio
dental fricative /v/
visible invisible
sincere insincere
credible incredible

-ir is used before r: relevant irrelevant

-il is used before l: legal illegal
-de compose decompose
-un necessary unnecessary
-dis courage discourage
-non static non-static
Prefixes such as dis-, in-, im-, il-and ir- can be added to
adjectives such as honest, credible, polite, logical and
resistible, to derive the opposite meanings of those
adjectives dishonest, incredible, impolite, illogical, and
irresistible.
The word honest is an ‘adjective’, when the prefix
dis-‘not’ is attached to it, it becomes dishonest. Both
words, the root honest and the new derived one dishonest
are two different words belonging to the word class of
adjectives.
The adjective honest gives the meaning of ‘telling the truth
without cheating the other parties’, whereas the new
derived adjective dishonest means ‘the state of being not
honest with the intention of tricking other individuals’.
Although newly derived adjective dishonest indicates the
opposite meaning of the original adjective honest but they
still belong to the same syntactic category.
There are ten prefixes of degree or size, they are prefix arch-, super-,
out-, sur-,sub-, over-, under-, hyper-, ultra-, and mini-.
arch- carries the meaning of ‘highest’ and ‘worst’,
super- means ‘above’, ‘more than’ and ‘better’ (this prefix can be
added to nouns and adjectives)
out- means‘ to do something faster, longer, etc than…’,
sur- means ‘over and above’,
sub has sense of ‘lower than’ or ‘less than’,
over- has meaning of ‘too much’,
Under means ‘too little’,
hyper means ‘extremely’,
ultra- means ‘extremely’ and ‘beyond’,
mini- has sense of ‘little’.
 Suffixation
According to Aarts etal (2014), a suffix is an affix added at the
end of a word or base to form a new word or an inflectional
form of a word. For example, the word, teachers, contains two
suffixes: -er (meaning, ‘one who ….’) and -s (means ‘more
than one’); and teach is the root or base.
Further, in reader and readable, read is the root or base, -er
and –able (meaning, ‘capable of being’) are suffixes,
respectively.
Some common suffixes in English, their meanings, and
examples are represented in the table, below:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-al relation to elemental, spinal
-ance action disturbance, variance
-er/ -or one who... reader, director
-ful full of truthful, beautiful
-ion action action, dictation
-ise/-ize to make neutralise, visualise
-ity state unity, punctuality
-less without colourless, useless
-ly manner beautifully, truly,
-ment result agreement, amusement
Suffixes are of two types: derivational suffixes and
inflectional suffixes.
Derivational suffixes can be further divided into two
categories. They are class-maintaining and
class-changing. The divisions of the suffixes are presented
in the following diagram:
Class Maintaining Derivational Suffixes

Class-maintaining derivational suffixes are affixes which

are added to an existing lexeme. As a result, a new lexeme
is formed, but the grammatical category of both lexemes
remains the same. For instance, the word economic is an
‘adjective’; when the suffix -al is added to ‘economic’,
then it becomes economical, which is an ‘adjective’ too;
both words ‘economic’ and ‘economical’, though they are
different words, maintain the same word class. Thus, the
suffix -al is an example for class-maintaining derivational
suffixes.
1)Nominal Suffixes

In English, the existing nouns retain the grammatical categories of

the new nouns when the following suffixes are added to them as
summarized in the groups below:
Group 1:concrete nouns remain concrete nouns by adding the
following suffixes to them:

Concrete Noun Suffix Meaning Concrete Noun

murder -ess ‘used to form a feminine’ murderess
president -ency ‘equivalent to’ presidency
The above item president is a ‘noun’, when the suffix –ency
‘state of being’ is attached to it, it becomes presidency which
is also a ‘noun’. The changes occur when the suffix -ency is
added to the word president. The noun president means “a
person in charge of organization while the noun presidency
refers to “the period of time somebody holds as a president’.
Group 2: concrete nouns can be changed into abstract nouns
by adding the below suffixes to them:

Concrete Noun Suffix Meaning Abstract Noun

adult -hood ‘express state’ adulthood
king -dom ‘the condition or state of’ kingdom
leader -ship ‘state or condition’ leadership
The item adult is a ‘concrete noun’ when the suffix –hood
‘express state’ is attached to it, it becomes adulthood
which is an ‘abstract noun’.
The changes occur only in the meaning of the two
lexemes. The existing lexeme adult means “a fully grown
person who is legally responsible for their action” and the
new derived lexeme adulthood refers to “the state of being
adult”.
2- Adjectival Affixes

Adjective Suffix Meaning Adjective

green -ish ‘somewhat,rather greenish

The word green is an ‘adjective’ when the suffix -ish‘is attached to

it, it becomes greenish. Both words, the root green and the new
derived one greenish are two different words belonging to the
category of adjectives but they convey to some extent different
meanings. The adjective green is “a color that is similar to a grass
or the leaves of most plants and trees”, whereas the new derived
adjective greenish refers to fairly green color.
3)Numeral Affixes

The cardinal numerals remain cardinals when the suffixes–teen and –ty
are attached to them as shown below:

Cardinal Numeral Suffix Cardinal Numeral

Four -teen fourteen
Four -ty forty
-th seventieth
In English, the class of numerals retains its grammatical categories when
the suffixes -teen, -ty, are attached to them.
Class Changing Derivational Suffixes

Class-changing derivational suffixes are suffixes which are

attached to an existing word. Then, a new word is formed, and
the grammatical categories of both words are not the same. For
example, the word teach is a ‘verb’; when the suffix -er is
added to ‘teach’, then it becomes teacher, which is a ‘noun’;
and both words ‘teach’
and ‘teacher’ are different words, and at the same time they
belong to the different parts of speech, as well. Thus, the suffix
-er is an example for class-changing derivational suffixes.
In certain places, the derivational suffixes can also cause “a
major grammatical change” which means that “moving the
base from one word class into another as in –less” which
changes a ‘noun’ into ‘an adjective’. For instance, when the
suffix –less ‘without, not having’ is added to the ‘noun’
home, it becomes ‘an adjective’ homeless ‘without home’.
In English, various affixes contribute in ‘class-changing’
derivational affixes by the process of multiple affixation.
For instance, the 'noun‘ nation when the suffix –al
‘relating to’ is added to it, it becomes the 'adjective'
national and at the same time, the 'adjective' national has
the capacity to derive new word including the 'adverb'
nationally as well as the 'noun' nationality. From the
adjective national, the 'verb' nationalize, and the 'noun‘
nationalization can also be formed.
Nominal Affixes

Certain lexical categories such as a ‘verb ’and an

‘adjective’ can be converted into nouns by adding the
following suffixes.
GROUP 1: verbs convert into nouns by adding the
following suffixes: -ance, -ant, -ancy, -or, -ture , -ion, -er,
-ery, -ee, -ment
Verb Suffix Meaning Noun
annoy -ance ‘the action or state of’ annoyance
consult -ant ‘doing or performing’ consultant
consultant -ancy ‘doing or performing’ consultancy
sail -or ‘one who’ sailor
depart -ture ‘the action or result of’ departure
depress -ion ‘act or state of being’ depression
dance -er ‘one who is’ dancer
enquir -ery ‘quality of’ enquiry
‘a person who is the
refer -ee referee
object’
achieve -ment ‘refer to the action’ achievement
The item depress is a ‘verb’, when the suffix –ion ‘act or state
of being’ is attached to it, it becomes depression which is a
‘noun’.

The changes occur in the grammatical category of the 'verb

depress which changes into the noun depression and the
meaning of the two lexemes, the former gives the meaning of
someone who is depressed and the latter refers to a medical
condition of feeling sad.
GROUP 2: Adjectives convert into nouns by adding the
following suffixes:

Verb Suffix Meaning Noun

sad -ness ‘the quality, state or character of’ sadness
fool -ish ‘having the nature of’ foolish
national -ism ‘the state or quality of’ nationalism
brilliant -ance ‘act of, state of’ brilliance
wise -dom ‘state of being’ wisdom
private -cy ‘the state or quality of’ privacy
abundant -ce ‘act of being’ abundance
‘describe the actions or
social -ist socialist
occupations’
absent -ee ‘a person who is the object’ absentee
The item brilliant is an ‘adjective’ that refers to a person
who is extremely“clever”. When the suffix –ance ‘act of,
state of’ is attached to it, it becomes a noun brilliance. It
changes the grammatical category of the existing lexeme
(from a noun into an adjective). This new word makes a
minor
change of meaning “the quality of being extremely
intelligent or skillful”
2.Adjectival Affixes

Adjectival affixes are used to form adjectives from;

other lexical categories. As in the following groups
GROUP 1: Nouns convert into adjectives by adding the
following suffixes:
-al , -ate ,-y ,-ous , -able, -ive, -ly , -ary, -ish, -ful, -ic
Noun Suffix Meaning Adjectives
profession -al ‘relating to’ professional
passion -ate ‘full of or having the quality of’ passionate
cloud -y ‘characterized by’ cloudy
danger -ous ‘full of’ dangerous
fashion -able ‘capable of’ fashionable
attract -ive ‘having the nature of’ attractive
friend -ly ‘resembling’ friendly
revolution -ary ‘connected with’ revolutionary
child -ish ‘relating to’ childish
pain -ful ‘full of’ painful
academy -ic ‘connected with’ academic
In English, the lexical item profession is a ‘noun’ when the suffix –al
‘relating to’ is attached to it, it becomes professional which is an
‘adjective’. Hence, the grammatical category is converted from a noun
profession into an adjective professional and the meaning of the
existing lexeme “a type of job that needs special training or skill” has
been changed to a ‘well trained and extremely skilled’ person.
The lexical item passion is a ‘noun’ when the suffix –ate ‘showing;
full of’ is attached to it, it becomes passionate which is an ‘adjective’,
the meaning of the original lexeme is a “strong feeling of […]
enthusiasm” has been shifted into ‘a person who is enthusiastic about
something’.
GROUP 2: Verbs convert into adjectives by adding the following
suffixes: -ive, -able, -ible, -ent, -dom, -y, -less, -ic, -ory

Verb Suffix Meaning Adjective

assert -ive ‘connection with’ assertive
achieve -able ‘having the quality of’ achievable
reduce -ible ‘having the quality of’ reducible
differ -ent ‘doing or performing’ different
bore -dom ‘the condition of state of’ boredom
anger -y ‘characterized by’ angery
end -less ‘not able to do something’ endless
class -ic ‘relating to’ classic
‘involving the action
sense -ory sensory
concerned’
The lexical item achieve is a ‘verb’ which is connected with
fulfilling a “particular goal”. When the suffix –able ‘having the
quality of’ is attached to it, it becomes achievable which is an
‘adjective’ that refers to a
person who makes considerable efforts. The newly
derived lexeme and the original one has different
meanings and belong to two different grammatical
categories.
The suffixes – ive, able, -ible, -, –dom, –less, –
ory –able, –ent, –y, –ic are all class changing suffixes that
convert verbs into adjectives
Notice

The 'verb' assert ‘state clearly and firmly’ is converted

into an 'adjective' assertive ‘confident personality’, as well
as the 'adverb' assertively ‘confidently’. Here, the
adjectival suffix –ive ‘having a tendency or connection
with’ and the suffix –ly ‘in the manner of’ changes the
word class from a ‘verb’ into an ‘adjective’ and into an
‘adverb’, respectively. These suffixes are called class
changing derivational suffixes as shown below:
3-Verbal Affixes

Verbal affixes are used to form verbs from other

lexical categories listed in the following groups:
GROUP 1:Nouns convert into verbs by adding the
following affixes:

Noun Suffix Meaning Verb

beauty -ify ‘to make or become’ beautify
apology -ize ‘cause to become’ apologize
The above item apology is a ‘noun’ that means “saying sorry
for something that causes a problem”. When the suffix –ize
‘cause to become’ is attached to it, it becomes apologize which
is a ‘verb’. Hence, the grammatical categories of the new
lexeme has been changed while the meaning of the new lexeme
has not considerably been changed since the 'verb‘ apologize
means “saying sorry for doing something wrong”, its
grammatical categories have also been converted.
GROUP 2: Adjectives convert into verbs by adding the
affixes, -en, -ize, t-h

Adjective Suffix Meaning Verb

soft -en ‘to make’ soften
real -ize ‘cause to become’ realize

The above lexical item soft is an ‘adjective’ which means

“smooth and pleasant to touch”. When the suffix –en ‘to
make’ is attached to it, it becomes soften which is a ‘verb’
that means making “something softer”
 Adverbial Affixes
Adverbial affixes are concerned with forming adverbs
from other lexical categories.
Group 1:Nouns convert into adverbs by the following
derivational affixes:
Examples

Noun Suffix Meaning AdVerb

‘in or toward a certain
river -ward riverward
direction’
‘in or toward a certain
heaver -wards heavenwards
direction’
‘indicating direction or
clock -wise clockwise
manner’
length -ways ‘in the direction of’ lengthways
The lexical item length is a ‘noun’ which refers to “the
size or measurement of something from one end to the
other”. When the suffix –ways ‘indicating direction or
manner’ is attached to it, it becomes lengthways which is
an ‘adverb’ that expresses “the same direction as the
longest side of something”
GROUP 2: Adjectives convert into adverbs by affixing –ly
‘as below:

Adjective Suffix Adverbs

brave, -ly bravely
constantly,
constant, honest, ‘in the way
honestly,
persuasive mentioned’ persuasively

The lexical items brave is an ‘adjective’ that means

‘courageous and valiant’. When the suffix –ly ‘in the way
mentioned’ is attached to it, it becomes bravely which is
an ‘adverb’ which means‘ courageously.
 Numeral Suffixes
The cardinal numbers can also be changed into ordinals when
the suffix –th is added to them, as shown below:
Cardinal Numeral Suffix Ordinal Numeral
Seven -th seventh
Seventy -th seventieth

In English, cardinal numerals change into ordinals when the

suffixes -th are attached to them.