4.1 Affixation
4.1.1 Prefixation
By Jennifer , Summy
Prefixes of
Orientation and Attitude
Against---- anticontracounterFor ------ pro-
anti- (1) “against , opposed to”
e.g. anti + tank anti-tank 反坦克的
anti + war anti-war 反战的
anti + government 
anti- government 反政府的
(２) preventing ,destroying
e.g.
anti +freeze 冰冻
anti-freeze 防冻剂
Anti + septic 细菌的
 anti-septic 杀菌的
（３）“against traditional characteristics”
& “of or belonging to the hypothetical
world consisting of antimatter”
e.g. anti-hero 不按传统主角品格
anti –novel 不按一般传统创造方法写成的小说
anti–art
anti-cinema
anti –music
anti - theatre
Contra-
“opposite contrasting”
e.g. contra + ary 
contrary 相反的
contradict v. 反驳 矛盾
(contra +dict 说 反着说 反驳)
contra-vane 违反
(contra + van 走＋e  反着走违反）
contraband 走私
(contra + band 命令
违反命令的做法走私）
counter- “against in opposition to “
e.g. counter－espionage 反间谍行动
counteract 对抗
counterfeit 伪造
counterrevolution 反革命
counterattack 反击
Comparison: anti-& counterSimilarity :
Difference:
“opposed to”
Anti---suggest an attitude of opposition
e.g. anti-war literature anti–nuclear campaign
Counter--- implies an action in
opposition to or in response to a previous action
e.g. counter-attack counter-revolution
Pro - “ for , on the side of”
e.g. pro-democracy
pro-authority
pro-American
pro-slavery
pro-student
pro-abortionist
Locative prefixes
Extra-
“outside beyond “
e.g. extra—curricular 课外的
（extra + curricular 课程的）
extra-solar太阳系以外的
(extra +solar太阳的）
Extravert
外向的
(extra + vert 转性格向外外向的）
Tele -e.g.
“distant “
telescope
telecommunication
teleprinter
fore-
“front part of “
e.g. forehead
forearm
Inter-
“between among”
e.g. international
国际的
interpersonal
人与人之间的
intercollegiate
大学之间的
Intra-
“within”
e.g. intranational
国内的
intrapersonal
个人内心的
intracollegiate
大学内的
Super-
“above”
e.g. superstructure 上层建筑
supervise 监视
（super +vise 看+e 在上面看 监视)
superficial 肤浅的
（super + fic 做
在表面上做

＋ial 
肤浅的）
Trans-1.（可以自由的缀在地理名词中）
meaning “across, from one place to anther)
e.g. trans-continental trans-oceanic
trans-African trans-Pacific
2. (常常与字干连接，不能分开)
meaning “to change thoroughly
into anther state)
e.g. translate transliterate
transform transmit
Prefixes of time and order
ex -
“former”
e.g.
foree.g.
ex-wife
ex-president
ex-member
ex-emperor
“before”
foreword
forefather
foreknowledge foreshadow
post-
“after”
e.g. post-war
post-election
post-graduate post-independence
pre-
“ before, in advance”
e.g. prefixes
preschool
prehistory prewar
prepay
prejudge
Ree.g.
“again, back “
remarriage reread reconsider
reappear
Note that:
rearrange rebuild
among the words derived from the prefix re,some words with a hyphen differ from those
without a hyphen in meaning
.
e.g.
react ---- respond to somebody or
something with hostility 反击
re-act ---- act again 在作
recount ---- tell a story 叙述某事
re-count ---- count again 重数
recover ---- get back or become well again
恢复（健康等）
re-cover ----supply with a new cover
给某物 换上新的覆盖物
recreate ---- refresh or entertain
娱乐、休养
re-create ----create again
重做、再创造
reform ----become or make better
改良
re-form ---- form again 再组合
Number Prefixes
semi- demi- hemimeaning “half”
e.g. Semicircle -hemicycle
Poly-
multi-
meaning “many”
e.g. Polyhedron
multinational
Monocycle/unicycle
bicycle
quadricycle
tricycle
pentagram
hexagram
heptagram
enneagon
octogon
decagon
Conversion
a-
Prefixes
added to verbs to form predicative
adjectives , i.e. v.  adj./adv.
e.g. asleep alive atremble
alone
aware awash
be- (1) added to nouns to form
transitive verbs, i.e. n  v
e.g. befriend 友好对待
befool 欺骗
bewail 悲悼
(2) be + nouns + ed adjectives
e.g. beloved bewildered
en- (em-) chiefly with nouns and adjectives
to create transitive verbs, and em- occurs
to words beginning with /p, b, m/.
（１） en- (em-) +n  v
en + danger  endanger 使危险
em + power  empower 授权
（２）en- (em-) + adj  v
en + large  enlarge 扩大
em + bitter  embitter 使痛苦
Other prefixes having this classchanging function, such as
(1) n  v
dedelouse
ununearth
(2) n adj
antianti-pollution
inter- inter-library
post- post-war
prepre-revolution
propro-conservation
Miscellaneous
auto-
“self”
e.g. autobiography
neo-
Prefixes
autograph autosuggestion
“new, revived”
e.g. neo-liberal
Neolithic 新石器时代
neoclassical 新古典主义的
pan-
“all, the whole of “
e.g. pan-continental
pan-African
proto-
pan-European
pan-Indian
“first, original”
e.g. Prototype 雏形
protoplasm 原生质
protozoa 原生生物
Vice- “deputy, subordinate”
e.g. vice-chairman
vice-president
vice-governor
Thanks
my partner Gralian
for all the help.
Suffixation
By Jennifer , Summy
What is suffixation?
What is suffix?
Generally, suffixes do not change the
meaning of the root in most cases, but
change the grammatical function (part
of speech) of the words.
eg. survive + or = survivor
survive v., continue to live or exist
survivor n., person who continue to live or
exist
Exceptions:
Meaning---full of meaning; significant
Meaning + less = meaningless---without sense
or motive
In a word, suffix have only a small
semantic role, their primary
function being to change the
grammatical function of the base.
Suffixes
All the Suffixes
Verb Suffixes
Noun Suffixes
Adverb Suffixes
What is a noun suffix?
Noun
Adj.
Verb
Other Words
+ Noun Suffix
Noun
1. Denominal nouns （n.+suffix ——n.）
a. Concrete —— the suffixes of this
group are added to noun bases to
produce concrete nouns.
-eer （engineer）， -er （teenager），
-ess （hostess）， -ette （cigarette），
-let （starlet） -ster (gangster)
b. Abstract ——the following suffixes
come at the end of noun bases to form
abstract nouns.
-age （storage）， -dom（officialdom），
-ery （slavery），-ful (mouthful),
-hood （childhood）,-ster (involved in)
-ing （farming）， - ism（terrorism），
-ship（sportsmanship）
2.Deverbal nouns （v.+suffix——n)
a. Denoting people
-ant （assistant）， -ee （trainee），
-ent （respondent）， -er（recorder)
b. Denoting action， result，
process， state， ect.
-age （linkage）， -al （dismissal）
-ance （attendance），
-ation, -ition， -tion， -sion， -ion
(realization, imagination, addition)，
-ence （existence），
-ing （savings）， -ment （statement）
3. De-adjective nouns（adj+suffix—
—n.）
-ity （popularity）， -ness （happiness）
Some times, both –ity and –ness can be
added to the same base to form new words.
e.g, sensible—sensibility—sensibleness,
pompous—pomposity—pompousness
-ness can also exist together with other
deadjectival formations,
e.g. normalness—normality--normalcy
infiniteness—infinitude--infinity
4. Nouns and adjectives suffixes
-ese （Chinese）， -an （Australian），
-ist （主义） （socialist）
-ite (Thatcherite)
When adding to the same bases, -ist, -ian
and –ite have similar meanings, but they
still have some minor differences.
The first one would suggest greatest
commitment to the views or theory
concerned, the second would be more
neutral and thus gradable and the third
one tends to be disparaging and would be
used chiefly by those who themselves are
not adherents.
e.g. He is an out-and-out Darwinist.
Isn’t that approach rather Darwinian?
He is a Darwinite. ( not “ I’m a
Darwinite)
Adjective suffixes
1. Denominal suffixes ——
-ed （wooded）， -ful （successful），
-ish （foolish）， -less （priceless），
-like （lady-like）， -ly （friendly）， -y （smoky）
-al（-ial， -ical） （cultural， residential），
-esque （picturesque）， -ic （economic），
-ous（-eous， -ious） （coutageous）
-ic and –ical can be affixed to the same stem in some cases，
but differ in meaning.
Historic （important in history） historical （of history）
Classic （great， memorable） classical （of Latin or Greek）
Comic （of comedy） comical （funny）
Economic （in the economy） economical （money-saving）
Electric （powered by electricity） electrical （of electricity）
Bonus Point
-ic, -ical
The adjective suffix –ic can also be used as
a noun suffix and it means “an art or system
of thought or a person connected with sth.”
When it is used as a noun suffix, the
adjective form of that newly-formed word
is usually ended with the suffix –ical.
eg. music (n,) musical (adj.)
logic (n.) logical (adj.)
rhetoric (n.) rhetorical ( adj.)
critic (n.) critical (adj.)
-like,
manly,
-ish
manlike
mannish
childlike, childish
2. Deverbal suffixes ——
-able （-ible） （washable），
-ive（-ative， -sive） （active， decisive）
Adverb suffixes ——
-ly （calmly）， -ward（s)（homewards），
-wise （clockwise）
Verb suffixes ——
-ate（originate）， -en （darken），
-（i）fy （beautify），
-ize （ise） （modernize）
There are some seemingly productive fashionable
affixes like –nik, which yield quite a few words .
But most of them are considered slang and have
not entered popular use yet.
Thank you very much for your
Attention!!!
