Affixation is the formation of words by adding affixes to root-morpheme. There are two ways of affixation: suffixation and prefixation.
Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a different part of speech. There are also suffixes which don’t shift words from one part of speech into another. They transfer a word into a different semantic group (friend - friendship). Suffixes can be classified into different types in accordance with different principles.
1. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base
a) deverbal suffixes which are added to the verbal base (read ing, speak er, agree ment)
b) denominal suffixes which are added to the nominal base (endless, armful)
c) deadjectival suffixes which are added to the adjectival base (rapidly, brightness)
2. According to the part of speech formed
a) noun-forming suffixes: -age (breakage, bondage), -ance/ -ence (assistance, reference), -dom (freedom), -er (teacher), -ess (actress), -ing (building), -hood (childhood), -ness (prettiness), -ship (partnership)
b) adjective-forming suffixes: -able/ -ible/ -uble (unbearable, audible, soluble), -al (formal), -ic (poetic), -ant/ -ent (repentant, dependent), -ed (wooden), -ful (delightful), -ish (reddish), -ive (active), -ous (curious)
c) numeral-forming suffixes: -fold (twofold), -teen (fourteen), -ty (sixty), -th (seventh)
d) verb-forming suffixes: -ate (facilitate), -er (glimmer), -fy/ -ify (terrify, speechify), -ize (harminize), -ish (establish)
e) adverb-forming suffixes: -ly (quickly), -ward/ -wards (upward, northwards), -wise (likewise)
3. Semantically suffixes fall into:
a) monosemantic (the suffix –ess has only one meaning “female” – tigress, tailoress)
b) polysemantic (the suffix –hood has two meanings: 1) “condition or quality” – falsehood, womanhood), 2) “collection or group” – brotherhood)
4. According to their generalizing denotational meaning suffixes may fall into several groups. For instance, noun-suffixes fall into those denoting:
a) the agent of the action: -er (baker), -ant (assistant)
b) appurtenance: -an/ -ian (Victorian, Russian), -ese (Chinese)
c) collectivity: -dom (officialdom), -ry (peasantry)
d) diminutiveness: -ie (birdie), -let (cloudlet), -ling (wolfling)
5. According to their stylistic reference suffixes may be classified into:
a) those characterized by neutral stylistic reference: -able (agreeable), -er (writer), -ing (meeting)
b) those having a certain stylistic value: -oid (asteroid), -tron (cyclotron) There suffixes occur usually in terms and are bookish
Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes. Prefixes are derivational morphemes affixed before the base. They modify the lexical meaning of the base.
Prefixes can be classified according to different principles.
1. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base
a) deverbal which are added to the verbal base: re- (rewrite), over- (overdo), out- (outstay)
b) denominal which are added to the nominal base: un- (unbutton), de- (detrain), ex- (ex-president)
c) deadjectival which are added to the adjectival base: un- (uneasy), bi- (biannual)
2. According to the class of words they preferably form
a) verb-forming prefixes: en-/ em- (embed, enclose), be- (befriend), de-(dethrone)
b) noun-forming prefixes: non- (non-smoker), sub- (subcommittee), ex- (ex-husband)
c) adjective-forming prefixes: un- (unfair), il- (illiterate), ir- (irregular)
d) adverb-forming prefixes: un- (unfortunately), up- (uphill)
It should be specially mentioned that the majority of prefixes function in more than one part of speech.
3. Semantically prefixes fall int:
a) monosemantic (the prefix ex- has only one meaning “former” – ex-boxer)
b) polysemantic (the prefix dis- has four meaning: 1) “not” – disadvantage, 2) “reversal or absence of an action or state” – diseconomy, disaffirm, 3) “removal of” – to disbranch, 4) “completeness or intensification of an unpleasant action” - disgruntled)
4. According to their generalizing denotational meaning prefixes fall into:
a) negative prefixes: un- (ungrateful), non- (non-political), in- (incorrect), dis- (disloyal), a- (amoral)
b) reversative prefixes: un- (untie), de- (decentralize), dis- (disconnect)
c) pejorative prefixes: mis- (mispronounce), mal- (maltreat), pseudo- (pseudo-scientific)
d) prefixes of time and order: fore- (foretell), pre- (pre-war), post- (post-war), ex- (ex-president)
e) prefix of repetition: re- (rewrite)
f) locative prefixes: super- (superstructure), sub- (subway), inter- (inter-continental), trans- (transatlantic)
5. According to their stylistic reference prefixes may be classified into:
a) those characterized by neutral stylistic reference: over- (oversee), under- (underestimate), un- (unknown)
b) those having a certain stylistic value: pseudo- (pseudo-classical), super- (superstructure), ultra- (ultraviolet), uni- (unilateral), bi- (bifocal)
These prefixes are of a literary-bookish character.
The word-forming activity of affixes may change in the course of time. This raises the question of productivity of affixes which means the ability of being used to form new words.
By productive affixes (словообразующие) we mean affixes which take part in deriving new words (-er, -ing, -ism, -ist, -ance, -ish, -able, -less, -ate, -ize/ise, -ly, un-, re-, anti-, non-).
By non-productive affixes (формоизменительные) we mean affixes which are used for changing the grammatical form of the word and can’t form new words. Non-productive affixes are recognized as separate morphemes and possess clear-cut semantic characteristics. (-ed, -th, -hood, -ship, -ful, -some, -en, -ous). It is worthy of note that an affix may lose its productivity and then become productive again in the process of word-formation.
From etymological point of view affixes are classified into native and borrowed.
Native affixes are those existed in the Old English period or were formed from Old English words
-er (worker, teacher), -ness (coldness, loveliness), -ing (feeling, meaning), -dom (freedom, wisdom), -hood (childhood, motherhood), -ship (friendship), -th (length, health), -ful (careful, wonderful), -less (careless, cloudless), -y (cozy, snowy), -ish (reddish, English), -ly (ugly, lovely, warmly, hardly), -en (silken, golden, darken, widen), -some (handsome, tiresome), -like (dreamlike), -wise (otherwise), un- (unpleasant), be- (befool), mis- (mismanage), over- (overdo). Borrowed affixes are those that have come to the English language from different foreign languages.
Latin affixes -ion (session, union), -tion (relation, temptation), -ate (create, appreciate), -ute (distribute, attribute), -ct (act, connect), -d(e) (divide, applaud), -able (curable, detestable), -ate (accurate, graduate), -ant (constant, important), -ent (absent, evident), -or (major, minor), -al (final, material), -ar (familiar), dis- (distract, disagree), co- (coexistence), extra- (extra-linguistic), ultra- (ultra-high), pre- (pre-school)
French affixes -ance (endurance), -ence (patience, intelligence), -ment (appointment, development), -age (courage, marriage), -ess (lioness, actress), -ous (dangerous, serious), en- (enable), -ee (employee);
Greek affixes -ist (artist), -ism (materialism), -ite (vulcanite), anti- (anti-pollution), sym-/ syn- (symmetrical, synthesis)
Conversion is the formation of new words from some existing words by changing the category of a part of speech, the morphemic shape of the original word remaining unchanged.
There are 4 types of conversion: verbalization (the formation of verbs: a water - to water, dust - to dust, yellow - to yellow), substantivation (the formation of nouns: to answer – an answer, to walk - a walk), adjectivation (the formation of adjectives: down - down), adverbalization (the formation of adverbs: home - home). The two categories of parts of speech especially affected by conversion are nouns and verbs. Verbs converted from nouns are called denominal verbs. Nouns converted from verbs are called deverbal substantives.
Shortening is a process of word-formation in which a part of the original word is taken away. There are two ways of shortening: clipping and abbreviation.
Using the first way of shortening you make a new word from the syllable of original words. Clipping (сокращение, урезание) is the cutting of one or several syllables from a word. There are four types of clipping:
1. final clipping - apocope (the final part of the word is taken away - advertisement = ad, advert, vegetables = veg,);
2. initial clipping - aphesis (the beginning of the word is taken away - telephone = phone, defend = fend);
3. medial clipping - syncope (the middle part of the word is taken away - mathematics = maths, pantaloons = pants, spectacles = specs, fantasy = fancy); 4. final and initial clipping (the beginning and the final part of the word is taken away - refrigerator = fridge, influenza = flu).
Using the second way of shortening you make a new word from the initial elements and it is called abbreviation. There are 3 types of abbreviation.
1. forming new words from initial letters
a) abbreviated word is read as though it is a word (NATO [neitou]- North Atlantic treaty organization, UNESCO - United nations of educational, scientific and cultural organization)
b) abbreviated word with alphabetic reading (MP - member of Parliament, TV - television, BBC - British broadcasting corporation)
2. forming new words from initial syllables (interpol - international police)
3. forming new words by a combination of the abbreviation of the first member of the phrase with the last unchanged member (victory day = V-day, hydrogen bomb = H-bomb, gravity force = G-force).
Composition or compounding is the process of word-formation in which new word produced by combining of two or more stems and such new word is called compound word. There are 3 ways of composition:
1. composition without connecting element (neutral) - heartache, heartbreak
2. composition with a vowel or a consonant as a linking element (morphological) - speedometer, statesman
3. composition with a preposition, a pronoun or a conjunction as a linking element (syntactical) - son-in-law, forget-me-not
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