Affixation

VARIOUS TYPES AND WAYS OF FORMING WORDS
Word-formation is the system of derivative types of words and the

process of creating new words from the material available in the
language after certain structural and semantic formulas and patterns. A
distinction is made between two principal types of word–formation:
Word-derivation and Word-composition.
The basic ways of forming words in word-derivation are affixation
and conversion. Affixation is the formation of new words with the help
of affixes. Conversion is the formation of a new word by bringing a stem
of this word into a different formal paradigm. The basic form of the
original and the basic form of the derived words in case of conversion
are homonymous.
Word-composition is the formation of a new word by combining two
or more stems which occur in the language as free forms.
Apart from principal there are some minor types of modern word-
formation: shortening, blending, acronymy, sound interchange, sound
imitation, distinctive stress, back-formation.
AFFIXATION
Before turning to the various processes of making words, it would be

useful to analyse the related problem of the composition of words, i.e. of
their constituent parts.
If viewed structurally, words appear to be divisible into smaller units,
which are called morphemes.
(Morphemes do not occur as free forms but only as constituents of
words. Yet they possess meanings of their own.) All morphemes are
subdivided into two large classes: roots and affixes. The latter, in their
turn, fall into prefixes which precede the root in the structure of the word
( as in re-read, un-well) and suffixes which follow the root (as in teach-
er, dict-ate).
The process of affixation consists in coining a new word by adding an
affix or several affixes to some root morpheme. Affixation is generally
defined as the formation of words by adding derivational affixes to
different types of bases. Affixation includes suffixation and prefixation.
Etymology of derivational affixes
From the etymological point of view affixes are subdivided into two
main classes: native and borrowed affixes.
N a t i v e affixes are those existed in the Old English period or were
formed from Old English words.
Some Native Affixes ( especially frequent native affixes)
-er worker, teacher, driver painter

-ness loneliness, coldness, loveliness
-ing meaning, singing, reading,
Noun-forming -dom understanding
suffixes -hood freedom, kingdom, wisdom
-ship childhood, manhood,
-th motherhood
-let friendship, leadership,
mastership
health, length, truth
booklet, coverlet
-full careful, wonderful, skilful

-less sleepless, cloudless, senseless
-y snowy, tidy, cozy
Adjective-forming -ish English, Spanish, stylish
suffixes -ly ugly, likely, lovely
-en golden, silken, wooden
- handsome, tiresome,
some quarrelsome
-like dreamlike, ladylike, cowlike
Verb-forming -en sadden, darken, redden

suffixes
Adverb-forming -ly hardly, simply, warmly

suffixes
be- befriend. befool, befog

Prefixes mis- misname, misuse, mismanage
un- unselfish,
over- overdo, overact, overanalyze
B o r r o w e d affixes are those that have come to the English language

from different foreigh languages. The affixes of foreign origin are
classified according to the source into:
-able/-ible advisable, divisible

-ant/-ent servant, student
Latin extra- extraterritorial,
pre- extracurricular
ultra- pre-school, pre-election
ultra-high, ultra-intelligent
-ist artist, realist
-ism materialism, darwinism
G r e e k -ite vulcanite
anti- anti-democratic
sym-/syn- symmetrical
-age percentage, wreckage
-ance/- perseverance, coherence
ence wizard, drunkard
F r e n c -ard doctorate, filtrate
h -ate employee, absentee
-ee princess, authoress
-ess enlist, embed
en-/em-
The adoption of countless foreign words caused the appearance of many

hybrid words in the English vocabulary. Hybrids are words that are
made up of elements derived from two or more different languages.
There are two basic types of forming hybrid words:
1/ a foreign base is combined with a native affix, e.g. uncertain,
colourless
2/ a native base is combined with a foreign affix, e.g.drinkable, ex-wife.
There are also many hybrid compounds, such as schoolboy (Greek +
English), blackguard (English + French).
Productive and Non-Productive affixes

Productive affixes
By productive affixes we mean the ability of being used to form new,
occasional or potential words, which take part in deriving new words in
this particular period of language development.
The most productive prefixes in Modern English are:

de- /decontaminate/
re- /rethink/
pre- /prefabricate/
non- /non-operational/
un- /unfunny/
anti- /antibiotic/
dis- /disappoint/
The most productive English suffixes are:
Noun-forming suffixes -er, -ing, -ness, -ation, -ee, -ism, -ist, -

ance/-ancy, -ry, -or, -ics
Adjective-forming suffixes -able, -ic, -ish, -ed, - less, -y
Verb-forming suffixes -ize/-ise, -ate, -ify
Adverb-forming suffixes -ly
Non-productive affixes
By non-productive affixes we mean affixes which are not able to form
new words in the period in question. Non-productive affixes are
recognized as separate morphemes and possess clear-cut semantic
characteristics.
Some non-productive English suffixes are:
Noun-forming suffixes -th, -hood, -ship

Adjective-forming suffixes -ful, -ly, -some, -en, -ous
Verb-forming suffixes -en
It is worthy of note that an affix may lose its productivity and then
become productive again in the process of word-formation. The native
noun-forming suffixes –dom and – ship ceased to be productive
centuries ago. Yet, Professor I.V.Arnold in The English Word gives
some examples of comparatively new formations with the suffis –dom:
boredom, slavedom, serfdom and –ship, salesmanship. The adjective-
forming –ish, which leaves no doubt as to its productivity nowadays, has
comparatively recently regained it, after having been non-productive for
many centuries.
The productivity of an affix should not be confused with its frequency
of occurrence. The frequency of occurrence is understood as the
existence in the vocabulary of a great number of words containing the
affix in question. An affix may occur in hundreds of words, but if it is
not used to form new words, it is not productive. For example, the
adjective suffix – ful is met in hundreds of adjectives beautiful, hopeful,
trustful, useful , but no new words seem to be built with its help, and
so it is
non-productive.
Classification of Suffixes and Prefixes
Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer
words to a different part of speech. There are suffixes, however, which
do not shift words from one part of speech into another. They can
transfer a word into a different semantic group, e.g. a concrete noun
becomes an abstract one : friend – friendship.
Suffixes and Prefixes can be classified into different types in accordance

with different principles.
1. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base suffixes

and prefixes are usually added to, they may be: deverbal, denominal,
deadjectival.
2. According to the class of words they form suffixes and prefixes fall
into several groups: noun-forming, adjective-forming, verb-forming,
adverb-forming. According to the part of speech formed suffixes may be
numeral-forming. It should be mentioned that the majority of prefixes
function in more that one part of speech.
3. Semantically suffixes and prefixes fall into: monosemantic,
polysemantic.
4. According to their stylistic reference suffixes may be classified into:
those characterized by neutral stylistic reference, those having a certain
stylistic value ( these suffixes occur in terms and are bookish).
5. According to their generalizing denotational meaning:
suffixes may fall into several groups: e.g. the agent of the action,
collectivity...
prefixes fall into: negative (un-, non-, in-, dis-, a-), reversative (un-, de-,
dis-), pejorative (mis-, mal-, pseudo-), prefixes of time and order (fore-,
pre-, past-, ex-), prefixes of repetition (re-), locative (super-, sub-, inter-,
trans-).

Affixation

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VARIOUS TYPES AND WAYS OF FORMING WORDS

Word-formation is the system of derivative types of words and the

Before turning to the various processes of making words, it would be

Some Native Affixes ( especially frequent native affixes)

-er worker, teacher, driver painter

-full careful, wonderful, skilful

Verb-forming -en sadden, darken, redden

Adverb-forming -ly hardly, simply, warmly

be- befriend. befool, befog

B o r r o w e d affixes are those that have come to the English language

-able/-ible advisable, divisible

The adoption of countless foreign words caused the appearance of many

Productive and Non-Productive affixes

The most productive prefixes in Modern English are:

The most productive English suffixes are:

Noun-forming suffixes -er, -ing, -ness, -ation, -ee, -ism, -ist, -

Some non-productive English suffixes are:

Noun-forming suffixes -th, -hood, -ship

Classification of Suffixes and Prefixes

Suffixes and Prefixes can be classified into different types in accordance

1. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base suffixes

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