Suffixes

Nominal suffixes

Nominal suffixes are often employed to derive abstract nouns from verbs, adjectives and nouns. Such
abstract nouns can denote actions, results of actions, or other related concepts, but also properties, qualities, etc.
Another large group of nominal suffixes derives person nouns of various sorts. Very often, these meanings are
extended to other, related senses so that practically every suffix can be shown to be able to express more than
one meaning, with the semantic domains of different suffixes often overlapping.

-AGE
- derives nouns denoting an activity or its result (coverage, leakage, spillage), or nouns denoting a
collective entity or quantity (acreage, voltage, yardage). Due to inherent ambiguities of certain coinages, the
meaning can be extended to include locations (orphanage). Base words can be verbal or nominal and are often
monosyllables.

-AL
- verbs take –al to form abstract nouns denoting an action or the result of an action (arrival, overthrowal,
recital, referral, renewal). Base words for nominal –al have their main stress on the last syllable.

-ANCE (with its variants –ENCE, -ANCY, -ENCY)

- attaching mostly to verbs, it creates nouns (absorbance, riddance, retardance). The distribution of the
different variants is not entirely clear; several doublets are attested (dependence / dependency, expectance /
expectancy). Sometimes the doublets seem to have identical meanings, sometimes slightly different ones.

-ANT
- it forms count nouns referring to persons (often in technical or legal discourse: applicant, defendant,
disclaimant) or to substances involved in biological, chemical, or physical processes (attractant, dispersant,
suppressant). Most bases are of Latinate origin.

-CE / -CY
- it attaches productively to adjectives in –ant/-ent (convergence, efficiency, emergence), but also to
nouns ending in these strings (agency, presidency, regency). Furthermore, adjectives in –ate are eligible bases
(adequacy, animacy, intimacy). Such nouns denote states, properties, qualities, or facts, or, by way of
metaphorical extension, they can refer to an office or an institution (presidency). Again the distribution of the
two variants is not clear, though there is a tendency for nominal bases to take –cy.

-DOM
- the native suffix –dom is semantically closely related to –hood and –ship, which express similar
concepts. It attaches to nouns to form nominals paraphrased as ‘state of being X’ (apedom, clerkdom, slumdom)
or which refer to collective entities (professordom, studentdom), or denote domains, realms, or territories
(kingdom).

-EE
- it derives nouns denoting sentient entities that are involved in an event as non-volitional participants
(employee – someone who is employed, biographee – someone who is the subject of a biography, standee –
someone who is forced to stand on a bus, for instance). As a consequence of the event-related semantics, verbal
bases are most frequent, but nominal bases are not uncommon (festschriftee). Phonologically, -ee can be
described as an autostressed suffix (it belongs to the small class of suffixes that attract the main stress of the
derivative). If base words end in the verbal suffix –ate, the base words are frequently truncated and lose their
final rime (amputate – amputee, rehabilitate – rehabilitee).
-EER
- a person-noun-forming suffix, whose meaning is ‘person who deals in / is concerned with / has to do
with X’ (auctioneer, cameleer, mountaineer, pamphleteer). Many words have a depreciative tinge. The suffix is
autostressed and attaches almost exclusively to bases ending in a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
syllable.

-ER (-OR)
- it signifies entities that are active or volitional participants in an event (teacher, singer, writer).
However, this is just a subclass and there is a wide range of forms with quite heterogeneous meanings
(instruments: blender, mixer, steamer, toaster, nouns denoting entities associated with an activity: diner,
lounger, winner, person nouns indicating place of origin or residence: Londoner, New Yorker, Highlander, New
Englander). This heterogeneity suggests that the semantics of –er should be described as rather underspecified,
simply meaning ‘person or thing having to do with X’. The more specific interpretations of individual
formations would then follow from an interaction of the meanings of the base and suffix and further inferences
on the basis of world knowledge.
-er is often described as a deverbal suffix, but there are numerous forms that are derived on the basis of
nouns (sealer, whaler, noser), numerals (fiver, tenner), or even phrases (four-wheeler, fourth-grader).
The orthographic variant –or occurs mainly with Latinate bases ending in /s/ or /t/ (conductor, oscillator,
compressor).

-(E)RY
- such nominals refer to locations which stand in some kind of connection to what is denoted by the base.
More specific meanings such as ‘place where a specific activity is carried out’ or ‘place where a specific article
or service is available’ could be postulated (bakery, brewery, fishery, pottery, cakery, carwashery, eatery), but
examples such as mousery, cannery, rabbitry speak for an underspecified meaning, which is then determined for
each derivative on the basis of the meaning of the base. In addition to locations, such nominals also denote
collectivities (confectionery, cutlery, machinery, pottery) or activities (crookery – ‘foul deeds’).

-ESS
- it derives a comparatively small number of mostly established nouns referring exclusively to female
humans and animals (princess, stewardess, lioness, tigress). The OED lists only three 20th century coinages
(hostess, burgheress, clerkess).

-FUL
- it derives measure partitive nouns (similar to expressions such as a lot of, a bunch of) from nominal
base words that can be construed as containers (bootful, cupful, handful, tumblerful).

-HOOD
- it forms nominals which express concepts such as states (adulthood, childhood, farmerhood) and
collectivity (beggarhood, Christianhood, companionhood). Metaphorical extensions can create new meanings
(e.g. the sense ‘area’: neighborhood, which originates in the collectivity sense of the suffix).

-(I)AN (-EAN)
- nouns denoting persons and places can take this suffix and form nominals with the general meaning
‘person having to do with X’ (technician, historian, Utopian), which, where appropriate, can be more
specifically interpreted as ‘being from X’, or ‘being of X origin’ (Bostonian, Lancastrian, Mongolian,
Scandinavian), or ‘being the follower or supporter of X’ (Anglican, Chomskyan, Smithsonian). Many –(i)an
derivatives are also used as adjectives.
Most words belonging to this category are stressed on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix,
exhibiting stress shift where necessary (Hungary – Hungarian, Egypt – Egyptian).

-ING
- such derivatives denote processes (begging, running, sleeping) or results (building, wrapping, stuffing).
–ing can attach to practically any verb.

-ION
- a Latinate suffix with three allomorphs: when attached to a verb in –ify, it forms nouns ending in –
ification (personification), when attached to a verb in –ate, it forms nouns ending in –ion accompanied by a
change of the base final consonant from /t/ to /sh/ (hyphenation), and we find –ation in all other cases
(starvation, colonization). –ion causes a stress shift in all cases (primary stress on the last-but-one syllable).
These derivatives denote events or results of processes, hence verbal bases are by far the most frequent,
but there is also a comparatively large number of forms where –ion attaches directly to a noun. These forms are
found primarily in scientific discourse with words denoting chemical or other substances as bases
(sedimentation).

-ISM
- it forms abstract nouns from other nouns and adjectives; derivatives denote state, condition, attitude,
system of beliefs or theory (Parkinsonism, conservatism, racism, revisionism, Marxism).

-IST
- it derives nouns denoting persons, mostly from nominal and adjectival bases (balloonist, careerist,
fantasist, minimalist). All nouns in –ism which denote attitudes, beliefs or theories have potential counterparts in
–ist. The semantics of –ist can be considered underspecified: ‘person having to do with X’, with the exact
meaning of the derivative being a function of the meaning of the base and further inferencing (balloonist –
someone who ascends in a balloon, careerist – someone who is interested in his/her careeer, fundamentalist –
supporter or follower of fundamentalism).

-ITY
- it forms nouns denoting qualities, state or properties usually derived from Latinate adjectives (curiosity,
productivity, profundity, solidity). Many –ity derivatives are lexicalized – they have become permanently
incorporated into the mental lexicons of speakers, thereby often adopting idiosyncratic meanings (antiquity:
‘state of being antique’ or ‘ ancient time’, curiosity: ‘quality of being curious’ or ‘curious thing’).
All adjectives ending in –able, -al, -ic and the phonetic string /id/ can take –ity ( readability, formality,
erraticity, solidity).

-MENT
- this suffix derives action nouns denoting processes or results from (mainly) verbs, with a strong
preference for monosyllables or disyllabic base words with stress on the last syllable (assessment, endorsement,
involvement, treatment).

-NESS
- quality noun-forming –ness is perhaps the most productive suffix of English. It is less restrictive with
regard to the bases it takes than its close semantic relative –ity. It can attach to practically any adjective and to
some nouns (thingness), pronouns (us-ness) and even phrases (over-the-top-ness, all-or-nothing-ness).

-SHIP
- it forms nouns denoting state or condition, similar in meaning to derivatives in –age, -hood and –dom.
Base words are mostly person nouns (apprenticeship, clerkship, friendship, membership, statesmanship).
Extensions of the basic senses occur: activity (courtship – courting, censorship – censoring).

Verbal suffixes

-ATE
- -ate derivatives form a rather heterogeneous group. Some verbs take chemical substances as bases
(fluorinate – ornative meaning: ‘provide with X’, methanate – resultative meaning: ‘make into X’). Other
examples: formate, regulate, dissonate, etc.

-EN
- the Germanic suffix –en attaches to monosyllables that end in a plosive, fricative or affricate. Most
bases are adjectives (blacken, broaden, quicken), but a few nouns can also be found (strengthen, lengthen). The
meaning of –en formations is causative: ‘make (more) X’.

-IFY
- this suffix attaches to three kinds of bases: monosyllabic words, words stressed on the final syllable and
words stressed on the last but one syllable followed by a final syllable ending in unstressed /i/. Neologisms
usually do not show stress shift, but some older forms do (humid – humidify, solid – solidify). These restrictions
have the effect that –ify is in almost complementary distribution with –ize.

-IZE
- both –ize and –ify are polysemous suffixes, which can express a whole range of related concepts:
locative, ornative, causative/factitive, resultative, inchoative, performative, similative. Locatives can be
paraphrased as ‘put into X’ (computerize, hospitalize, tubify). Patinatize, fluoridize, youthify are ornative
(‘provide with X’), randomize, functionalize, humidify are causative (‘make (more) X’), carbonize, itemize,
trustify and Nazify are resultative (‘make into X’), aerosolize and mucify are inchoative (‘become X’),
anthropologize and speechify are performative (‘perform X’), cannibalize, vampirize are similative (‘act like X’).

Adjectival suffixes

-ABLE / -IBLE
- it combines with transitive and intransitive verbs (deterrable, perishable), as well as with nouns
(serviceable, fashionable, marriageable, knowledgeable). The meanings are ‘capable of being Xed’ (breakable,
deterrable, readable) and ‘liable or disposed to X’ (agreeable, perishable, variable). What unites the two
patterns is that in both cases the referent of the noun modified by –able adjectives is described as a potential non-
volitional participant in an event (similar to –ee nominals). In established loan words we also find the
orthographic variant –ible: comprehensible, discernible, flexible, reversible.

-AL
- it attaches almost exclusively to Latinate bases (accidental, colonial, cultural, federal, institutional,
modal). There are two variants: -ial (confidential, labial, racial, substantial), and –ual (contextual, gradual,
spiritual, visual).

-ARY
- it usually attaches to nouns (complementary, evolutionary, fragmentary, legendary).

- ED
- it derives adjectives with the general meaning ‘having X, being provided with X’ (broad-minded, pig-
headed, wooded). The majority of derivatives are based on compounds or phrases (empty-headed, pig-headed,
air-minded, fair-minded).

-ESQUE
- it attaches to both common and proper nouns to convey the notion of ‘in the manner or style of X’
(Chaplinesque, Hemingwayesque, picturesque, Kafkaesque). There is a strong preference for polysyllabic base
words.

-FUL
- it has the general meaning ‘having X, being characterized by X’ and is typically attached to abstract
nouns (beautiful, insightful, purposeful, tactful). Yet, verb bases are not uncommon (forgetful, mournful,
resentful).

-IC / -ICAL
- it attaches to foreign bases (nouns and bound roots). Quite a number of –ic derivatives have variants in
–ical (electric – electrical, economic – economical, historic – historical, magic – magical). Sometimes the forms
are clearly distinguished in meaning.

-ING
- it forms present participles that can be used as adjectives in attributive positions mainly (compare
‘changing weather’ vs. ‘the weather is changing’ vs. ‘the film was boring’).

-ISH
- it can attach to adjectives (clearish, freeish, sharpish), numerals (fourteenish), adverbs (soonish,
uppish) and syntactic phrases (out-of-the-wayish) to convey the concept of ‘somewhat X, vaguely X’. When
attached to nouns referring to human beings, the derivatives can be paraphrased as ‘of the character of X, like X’
(James-Deanish, monsterish, townish). Some forms have a pejorative meaning (childish).

-IVE
- it forms adjectives mostly from Latinate verbs and bound roots ending in /t/ or /s/ (connective,
explosive, fricative, offensive, passive, preventive, primitive, receptive, speculative). Some nominal bases are
also attested (instructive, massive). Apart from some exceptions (alternate – alternative), there is no stress shift,
but a number of fairly systematic base alternations can be observed: /d/ turns into /s/ (conclude – conclusive),
/iv/ into
/ept/ (receive – receptive), /djus/ into /dakt/ (produce – productive). Probably modeled on the highly frequent
derivatives in –ate, some forms feature the variant –ative without an existing verb in –ate ( argumentative,
quantitative, representative).

-LESS
- semantically, denominal –less can be seen as antonymic to –ful, with the meaning ‘without X’
(expressionless, hopeless, speechless, thankless).

-LY
- it attaches to nouns and adjectives. With base nouns, it usually conveys the notion of ‘in the manner of
X’ or ‘like an X’ (brotherly, fatherly, daughterly, womanly). Other common types of derivative have bases
denoting temporal concepts (half-hourly, daily, monthly) or directions (easterly, southwesterly).

-OUS
- it derives adjectives from nouns and bound roots, the vast majority being of Latinate origin (curious,
barbarous, famous, synonymous, tremendous). There are further variants of the suffix: -eous (erroneous,
homogeneous), -ious (gracious, prestigious), and –uous (ambiguous, continuous).

Adverbial suffixes

-LY
- the presence of this exclusively deadjectival suffix is for most part syntactically triggered and
obligatory, and it therefore can be considered inflectional. In some formations there is a difference in meaning
between the adjective and the adverb derived by –ly attachment (shortly, hardly, dryly are semantically distinct
from their base words and hotly, coldly and darkly can only have metaphorical sense). Such changes of meaning
are unexpected for an inflectional suffix, which speaks against the classification of adverbial –ly as inflectional.

-WISE
- it derives adverbs from nouns. There are two subgroups: manner/dimension adverbs and viewpoint
adverbs. The former have the meaning ‘in the manner of X, like X’ (The towel wound sarongwise about his
middle.) or indicate a spatial arrangement or movement (The cone can be sliced lengthwise.) The smaller and
more recent group of viewpoint adverbs have the meaning ‘with respect to X, regarding X, concerning X’. the
scope of viewpoint adverbs is not the verb phrase, but the whole sentence, a fact which is visible in the surface
word order (They make no special demands food-wise. / Statuswise, you are at a disadvantage.)

Prefixes

Semantically they classify into various groups:

(1) - a large group that quantify over their base words’ meaning:
‘one’ (uni-, unilateral, unification)
‘twice’ or ‘two’ (bi-, bilateral, bifurcation and di-, disyllabic, ditransitive)
‘many’ (multi-, multipurpose, multilateral and poly-, polysyllabic, polyclinic)
‘half’ (semi-, semiconscious, semidesert)
‘all’ (omni-, omnipresent, omnipotent)
‘small’ (micro-, microsurgical,
microwave)
‘large’ (macro-, macroeconomics, macrobiotic)
‘to excess’ (hyper-, hyperactive, hypermarket and over-, overestimate, overtax)
‘not sufficiently’ (undernourish, underpay)

(2) - there are numerous locative prefixes

circum- - ‘around’ (circumnavigate, circumscribe)
counter- - ‘against’ (counterbalance,
counterexample) endo- - ‘internal to X’ (endocentric,
endocrinology) epi- - ‘on, over’ (epiglottis,
epicentral)
inter- - ‘between’ (interbreed, intergalactic)
intra- - ‘ inside’ (intramuscular, intravenous)
para- - ‘along with’ (paramedic,
paranormal)
retro- - ‘back, backwards’ (retroflex, retrospection)
trans- - ‘across’ (transcontinental, transmigrate)

(3) - there are temporal prefixes

‘before’ – ante- (antechamber, antedate), pre- (predetermine, preconcert, premedical), fore- (forefather,
foresee
) ‘after’ – post- (poststructuralism, postmodify, postmodern)
‘new’ – neo- (neoclassical, Neo-Latin)

(4) - prefixes expressing negation: a(n)-, de- , dis-, in-, non-, un-

(5) – miscellaneous:
‘wrong, evil’ (mal-, malfunction, malnutrition)
‘badly, wrongly’ (mis- misinterpret, mistrial)
‘false, deceptive’ (pseudo-)
‘together, jointly’ (co-)
‘in place of’ (vice-)

The vast majority of prefixes do not change the category of their base words, they merely act as modifiers.
Moreover, they generally attach to more than one kind of syntactic category (verb, adjective or noun) and do not
influence the stress pattern of the bases.
A(N)-
- it occurs only in Latinate adjectives derived from nouns and has the meaning ‘without what is referred
to by the nominal base’ (achromatic, asexual) or ‘not X’ (ahistorical, asymmetrical)

ANTI-
- it forms denominal, deverbal and deadjectival derivatives behaving like adjectives and has the meaning
‘against, opposing’ (anti-war, anti-abortion, anti-capitalistic, anti-scientific, anti-freeze): anti-war movement,
Are you pro-abortion or anti-abortion?, an anti-freeze liquid
- another type of denominal anti- are nouns denoting ‘the opposite of an X’ or ‘not having the proper
characteristics of an X’ (anti-hero, anti-particle, anti-professor)

DE-
- it attaches to verbs and nouns to form reversative or privative verbs (decolonize, decaffeinate,
depollute, dethrone, deselect). Very often de- verbs are parasynthetic formations (decaffeinate does not have a
corresponding form to caffeinate)

DIS-
- it is closely related semantically to un- and de- and forms reversative verbs from foreign verbal bases
(disassemble, disassociate, discharge, disconnect, disqualify). Also, this prefix uniquely offers the possibility to
negate the base verb in much the same way as clausal negation does: disagree – ‘not agree’, disobey – ‘not
obey’, dislike – ‘not like’.
- it can also attach to nouns with the meaning ‘absence of X’ or ‘faulty X’ ( disanalogy, disfluency,
disinformation) and to adjectives which are lexicalized with the meaning ‘not X’ (dishonest, dispassionate,
disproportional)

IN-
- this negative prefix is exclusively found with Latinate adjectives and the general meaning ‘not’
(incomprehensible, inactive, intolerable, implausible, illegal, irregular)

MIS-
- modifying verbs and nouns, mis- conveys the meaning ‘inaccurate(ly), wrong(ly)’ (misalign,
mispronounce, misreport, misstate, misdemeanor, mistrial, miscount, mismatch)

NON-
- when attached to adjectives, it has the meaning ‘not X’ (non-biological, non-commercial, non-
returnable). In contrast to un- and in-, negation with non- does not carry evaluative force (unscientific vs. non-
scientific, irrational vs. non-rational). Non- primarily forms complementary opposites.
- nouns prefixed with non- can either mean ‘absence of X’ or ‘not having the character of X’ (non-delivery, non-
member, non-profit, non-stop). The latter meaning has been extended to ‘being X, but not having the proper
characteristics of an X’ (non-issue, non-answer)

UN-
- un- can attach to verbs and sometimes to nouns (mostly of native stock) to yield a reversative or
privative meaning (unbind, uncork, unleash, unsaddle, unwind, unwrap). The prefix is also used to negate simple
and derived adjectives (uncomplicated, unhappy, unsuccessful, unreadable). Adjectival un- derivatives usually
express contraries, especially with simple bases.
- nouns are also attested with un-, usually expressing ‘absence of X’ (unease, unbelief, unrepair,
uneducation).
- meaning extension: ‘not having the proper characteristics of X’ (uncelebrated, un-Hollywood)
PRINCIPAL ENGLISH SUFFIXES SINCE OE PERIOD

Suffix Source Date Grammatical Example

change
-able F. 14 c. V>A Breakable
-acy F. 14 c. A>N Confederacy
-ade Sp. 19 c. N>N Orangeade
-age F. 13 c. N > N, V > N Baggage. Passage
-al L. 14/18 c. N>A Suicidal
-an L. 16 c. N > A, N > N African
-ance, -ence F. 14 c. V>N Entrance, existence
-ancy, -ency F. 14 c. N > N, A > N Presidency, hesitancy
-ant, - ent L. 14 c. V>N Assistant, president
-arian L. 16 c. N>N Parliamentarian
-ary L. 15 c. N>A Fragmentary
-ate F. 13/16 c. A > V, N > V Activate, orchestrate
-athon Gk. 20 c. V>N Talkathon
-bære (productive of) N>A Lustbære (agreeable)
-bora N>N Mundbora (protector)
-burger Gm. N>N Shrimpburger
-cade Gk. 20 c. N>N Motorcade
-cracy L. N>N Mobocracy
-cund (has the nature of) N>A Godcund (divine)
-cy L. 14 c. N > N, A > N Captaincy, accuracy
-dom N >N, A> N Sportsdom, wisdom
-e A > Adv Hlude (loudly)
-ed (provided with) N>A Legged
-ee F. 15 c. V>N Payee
-eer F. 16 c. V > N, N > N Auctioneer, conventioneer
-el V>N ∂yrel (hole)
-els V>N Byrgels (tomb)
-en N>A Woolen
-en A>V Darken
-end (agent) V>N Demend (judge)
-er V>N Driver
-ery F. 13 c. N > N, V > N Fishery, bribery
-ese It. 15 c. N > A, N > N Japanese
-esque It. 17 c. N>A Kiplingesque
-ess Gk. 14 c. N>N Goddess
-estre N>N Mobster, punster
-ett V>N Bærnett (burning), thicket
-ette F. 16/19 c. N>N Usherette
-fæst N > A, A > A Headfast, steadfast
-feald N>A Fourfold
-fest Ger. 20 c. N > A, A > A Songfest, gabfest
-ful N >A Sinful
-furter Ger. 20 c. N>N Fishfurter
-had N>N Nationhood
-ian L. N > A, N > N Austrian
-ie, -y N>N Daddy, Katie
-ie V > N, A > N Movie, quickie
-iana F. 18 c. N>N Shakespeariana
-ic F. 17 c. N>A Alcoholic
-ician L. 15/20 c. N > N, A > N Beautician, musician
-ify L. 15 c. N>V Liquefy
-ig N>A Earthy
-iht N>A Þorniht (thorny)
-isc N > A, A > A Girlish, reddish
-ism Gk. 14/16 c. N > N, V > N, A > Militarism, criticism,
N extremism
-ist Gk. 17 c. N>N Behaviorist
-ite F. / L. 13/19 c. N > N, A > N Israelite, suburbanite
-itis Gk. 20 c. X>N Hepatitis
-ity F. 14/16 c. N > N, A > N Christianity, sentimentality
-ive F. / L. 14 c. V>A Assertive
-ize F. 13/19 c. A > V, N > V Finalize, crystallize
-lac V>N Reaflac (robbery)
-leas N>A Friendless
-læcan A>V Nealæcan (approach)
-le F. 15 c. V>V Sparkle
-let F. 16 c. N>N Piglet
-lic A > A, N > A Sickly, kingly
-like 15 c. N >A Godlike
-ling N>N Princeling
-mania Gk. 20 c. N>N Automania
-ment F. 14 c. V>N Amusement
-ness/ -nis A>N Weariness
-ol V>A Þancol (thoughtful)
-orium L. 20 c. V > N, N > N Corsetorium, printatorium
-ory L. 16 c. V>A Obligatory
-o∂ A > N, V > N Length, growth
-ous F. 14 c. N>A Poisonous
-ræden N>N Hatred
-s A > Adv thereabouts
-scipe N>N Friendship
-sian N>N Mærsian (proclaim)
-st P>P Amongst
-sum A>A Lonesome
-teria Sp. 19/20 c. N>N Cafeteria
-type 20 c. A > A, N > A Oldtype, Chicago-type
-ung V>N Running
-ure F. 14 c. V>N Pressure
-weard N > Adv Homeward
-wende A>N Halwende (healthy)
-wise 20 c. A > Adv happywise

1. What is the difference between the functions of suffixes and prefixes?

2. What OE suffixes are still genuinely productive? What is the percentage of retention? What is
the present percentage of native versus borrowed productive suffixes?
3. Are there any suffixes which have virtually become words themselves?
4. Would it be possible to give up the native suffixes entirely?
5. Play the role of Saxonizer (work with –ize and –er).
6. What semantic information is conveyed by various suffixes?
PRINCIPAL ENGLISH PREFIXES SINCE OE PERIOD

Prefix Date Example Prefix Date Example

(source/meaning) (source/meaning)
a- (perf./intensifier) Afysan (drive away); await Hyper- (Gk.) 15/17 c. Hyperactive
a- (generalizes ahwæ∂er (either of two) In- Inside
pronouns
And- (against, Andsaca (adversary), In- (intensifier) Infrod (very wise)
toward) [answer]
Ante- (L) 16 c. Ante-chamber Inter- (F.) 14 c. International
Anti- (Gk.) 16 c. Anti-aircraft Intra- (L.) 19 c. Intracellular
Arch- (Gk. But in OE) Arch-thief Mal- (F.) 15 c. Maladapted
Auto- (L.) 19 c. Autohypnosis Meta- (L.) 19 c. Metatheory
Æ- (without) Ægilde (without payment) Micro- (L.) 19 c. Microbus
Æf- (perfective Æfwyrdla (damage) Mid- Mid-century
aspect)
Æfter- Afternoon, aftershock Mini- (L.) 20 c. Mini-skirt
Æg- (generalizes Æghwa (everyone) Mis- Misbegotten
pronouns, adverbs)
Be- (around/over; Bedeck, befriend Multi- (L.) 17/19 c. Multi-coloured
intensifier; N>V)
Bi- (L.) 16 c. Bi-valve Neo- (Gk.) 19 c. Neo-classical
Circum- (L.) 15/17 c. Circumnavigate Non- (L.) 14 c. Non-payment
Co- (L.) 15 c. Co-worker Of- (perfective) Ofgyfan (give up)
Counter- (E.) 14/16 c. Counterstatement Ofer- Overpayment
De- (F.) 15/20 c. Decontaminate On- (begin/reverse Onbyrdan (incite),
action on) unbind
Dis- (F.) 14 c. Disallow Or- Orsawle (lifeless)
(without/intensifier)
Ed- (again/back) Edwenden (return) o∂- (close to) o∂standan (stand
still)
El- (from elsewhere) Elland (foreign country) Pan- (Gk.) 17 c. Pan-American
En/em- (F.) 14 c. Encircle, embolden Para- (Gk.) 19 c. Para-military
Ex- (L.) 19 c. Ex-wife Poly- (Gk.) 18 c. Polydialectical
Extra- (L.) 15 c. Extraterrestrial Post- (L.) 17/19 c. Postgraduate
For- Forswear Pre- (F.) 14/19 c. Predetermine
(intensifier/perfective,
negation)
Fore- Foreshadow Pro- 19 c. Pro-communist
(precedence/pre-
eminence)
for∂- (motion Forthcoming Proto- (Gk.) 16 c. Proto-Germanic
towards)
Ful- (complete) Fulfill Pseudo- (Gk.) 14/16.c Pseudo-intellectual
Gain- (against) Gainsay Re- (F.) 13/15 c. Reclassify
Ge- Gesceran (cu through); Retro- (Gk.) 14/19 c. Retrospective
(perfective/collective) [enough] t
Sam- (half) Samworht (half-built)
Semi- (L.) 14 c. Semicircle Un/in/im/il- (OE/F.) Unequal, insincere,
impersonal, illegal
Sin- Sinnihte (perpetual night) Under- Understandan
(extensive/lasting) (perceive)
Sub- (L.) 14 c. Subsurface Uni- (L.) 15/19 c. Unicellular
Super- (L.) 15 c. Superheated Up- Uphold
Supra- (L.) Supra-national Ut- Outlay
To- (motion towards) Tocyme (arrival); [toward] Vice- (L.) 15 c. Vice-chairman
To- (perfective) Tobrecan (break up) Wan- (negative Wanhal (sick)
prefix)
Trans- (L.) 16/19 c. Trans-Atlantic wi∂- (away/against) Withhold,
withstand
Þurh- Throughout wi∂er- wi∂ersaca
(through/complete) (opposing/counter) (adversary)
Ultra- (L.) 19 c. ultrasonic Ymb(e)- Ymbgang (circuit)
(around/about)

7. What, if any, are the semantic differences between OE prefixes and the borrowed prefixes?
8. What proportion of the descendants of OE prefixes are still used today productively?
9. What is the general proportion of productive native English versus borrowed prefixes?
10. Are there any prefixes which have virtually become words themselves?
11. Would it be possible to give up the productive native prefixes entirely?
12. Would the answers to any of these questions be significantly different if we decided to call the
following elements prepositions rather than prefixes? Æfter, fore, for∂, mid, ofer, on, to, þurh, under,
up, ut, wi∂, wi∂er, ymbe.