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Chapter 4
MORPHOLOGY
1. Introduction
Knowing or using a language essentially means knowing the words of
that language. Obvious enough, not all words appear in their simplistic forms,
but with additions before and after themselves. Therefore, knowing a language
also means the ability to derive certain meanings by considering the additions
(affixes) to a word stem. Therefore, it works both ways: 1) changing the
meaning of words through affixes in order to use a particular word for a
different function in both speaking and writing, and 2) analyzing the meaning of
words through the affixes they get in listening and reading. The scientific study
of words and word parts is called “morphology.”
In this chapter, firstly, the notion of word, more specifically, the concept
of morpheme is examined with reference to its types. Secondly, open and
closed class of words, followed by ways of making new words: word coinage.
Later, another distinction is drawn between inflectional and derivational
morphology in terms of changing syntactic functions. Then, the productive rules
used in producing new words are discussed. Finally, the last section looks at
ways of using morphological knowledge in language teaching.
2 What is (in) a WORD?
Any normal speaker (illiterate or literate) knows a great number of
words (about 20-40 thousand) in his first language. This collection of words that
a speaker can use is referred to as “vocabulary” or “lexicon”. In terms of use
and comprehension, vocabulary is divided into two:
1) Active Vocabulary. It is that part of vocabulary a language user
actively uses, including in speaking.
2) Passive Vocabulary. Always greater than active vocabulary, it is that
part of vocabulary that a language user understands when seen or heard but is
unable to use both in speech and writing.
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When we say we “know” a word, what do we actually know about it?
Equipped with six pieces of information about a word, we have the ability to
i.
pronounce that word and divide it into the smallest sounds (Phonetics),
ii.
identify possible changes in sounds as they interact in speech
(Phonology),
iii.
divide complex words into stems and affixes (Morphology),
iv.
use it in a phrase or sentence (Syntax),
v.
identify its meaning with relative exactness (Semantics), and
vi.
use it in appropriate social contexts (Pragmatics).
Almost every speaker has an intuitive idea of what a word is. However,
when a speaker is directly confronted what it is, certain problems are bound to
arise. The term “word”, no matter how frequently used, is a vague one when
one seriously analyses it in an effort to define it. It is common knowledge that
the smallest word in English is /a/ while a longer one would be
/antidisestablishmentarianistically/ (in line with the belief which opposes
removing the tie between church and state). Obviously, it is a little difficult to
come up with a definitive answer to the simple question “What is a word?”
Perhaps it is best to approach this problem by considering simple forms of
words that we know and proceed from there.
In that case a differentiation between simplex words and complex
words need to be made. A simplex word, also known as “stem”, is one which
does not have any additions neither before nor after it. Whereas a complex
word is one that has at least one addition to it. In the two examples given
above, /a/ and /antidisestablishmentarianistically/, the former is a simplex word
while the latter is a complex one. Interestingly, /a/ cannot be subdivided simply
because there is only one sound in it. Can we divide the word window? The
answer is No, simply because the meaning that window carries will be lost.
Given that the term “word” is troublesome to be applied to all
meaningful parts, particles, entities in a language, we need to introduce a more
concise term, or a concept: “morpheme.” Considering what has been said
above, one can arrive at the following definition:
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A morpheme is the smallest independent meaning bearing particle in a
language into which a word can be divided.
Parts of Speech
Not all morphemes/words in a language have the same function. Some
are names for objects while others are names for actions. So, words serving a
special purpose in this sense of the word are called “parts of speech”. It is
important to know various functions of words to understand how morphemes
interact in speech and writing. Also, we will be constantly using this terminology
to explain certain concepts involved in morphology. Parts of speech in English
can be classified into 9 categories: noun, adjective, adverb, verb, article,
pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection.
Parts of Speech
Description
Example
Verbs
They are used for actions, physical or
Bite
imaginary.
Prepositions
They are used to indicate positional and time
Into
relation between actions and situations.
Adjectives
They are used for the quality of these objects.
Red
Nouns
They are used for objects, concepts, physical
Apple
or imaginary.
Adverbs
They are used for the way these actions are
Slowly
carried out.
Now we can have a look at the types of morphemes in terms of their
contributions to the overall structure of words (and sentences).
3 Types of Morphemes
Not all morphemes in English are of the same type for the way they
function in the language. We need to recognize the differences between them.
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Morphemes
Free Morphemes
Open Class
Bound Morphemes
Closed Class
e.g.
Verbs
e.g.
Conjunctions
Prefixes
e.g.
re-write
Adjectives
Demonstratives
un-clean
Adverbs
Comparatives
pre-text
Nouns
Quantifiers
Articles
Prepositions
post-man
ab-normal
Affixes
Infixes
e.g.
sppedo-meter
sisterin-law
now-adays
Suffixes
e.g.
speak-s
Contractible
Forms
e.g.
’s
real-ize
’ve
edit-or
’ll
grow-th
ideal-ist
port-able
’d
Based on the classification made, it is time to explain what is meant by
each grouping. First, free morphemes.
3.1 Free Morphemes
Free morphemes, as the name suggests, are those morphemes that
can be used without the help/existence of any other morpheme, entity, or
particle. In other words, they have a meaning of their own. They are
conventionally divided into two bread categories: 1) open class of words, and 2)
closed class of words.
Open vs. Closed-Class of Words
Content vs. Function Words
The term “open” refers to the ability or freedom of a particular
morpheme to be used for meanings, functions other than the original one
through the addition of certain affixes. (They are also known as “content” words
in linguistic studies for they carry an independent meaning.) This class of words
can stand alone in a sentence or utterance in their base, stem forms, therefore
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also known as “base morphemes” or “stems”. The open class of words consists
of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. For instance, through the addition of
suffix –ly, a noun like brother can turn into an adjective: brotherly.
Open class of words can also be used for various syntactic functions
without getting any affixes. For instance, the base morpheme increase can be
used both as a verb and noun depending on the location it occupies in a
sentence:
There has been an increase in the number of drop-out students.
The number of drop-out students can increase soon.
Closed class of morphemes, also known as “function” words, also can
stand alone in sentences but with one difference: they need to occur with open
class of words. Closed class of words includes articles, prepositions,
conjunctions, demonstratives, quantifiers, and comparatives.
Articles
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Demons
Quantifiers
Comparatives
A
At
And
This
Some
-er
An
In
But
That
Much
More
the
Off
Either/or
These
Half
-est
some
out
Both/and
those
Three
most
To illustrate some differences between languages in terms of the
relative independence of morphemes, let us examine what Turkish does with
prepositions. While prepositions in English can appear alone, they appear
bound in Turkish. Consider the example below which illustrates the noun
declension/case system for nouns in Turkish (Ø = zero/absence):
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Turkish stem-affix
Case
Function
English
adam-Ø
nominative
Subject
Ø
adam-ı
accusative
Objective
the
adam-a
dative/benefactive
Direction/Benefit
to/for
adam-da
locative
Location
on/at
adam-dan
ablative
Departure
from/away/off
adam-la
instrumental
Instrument
with/through
adam-ın
genitive
Possession
Adam’s
As seen, dependent and independent status of morphemes changes
from one language to the next. What may be preposition and independent in
English can still function as a preposition but be a dependent morpheme in
Turkish. Now it is time to examine the bound morphemes in English.
3.2 Bound Morphemes
Bound morphemes are the particles, lexical items that cannot appear
alone either in speech or writing because they do not have an independent
meaning. There are two kinds: 1) Contractible Morphemes and 2) Affixes.
Contractible morphemes are what are known as auxiliary modals such as will,
shall, has, have, had, and would. In informal style of speaking and writing, they
may be contracted to the lexical item they follow. Consider the examples:
Formal Style
Informal Style
Formal Style
Informal Style
I will
I’ll
It has got
It’s got
They had
They’d
He would have
He would’ve
As for the affixes, there are three kinds of them: 1) Prefixes, 2) Infixes,
and 3) Suffixes. Prefixes precede a free morpheme (word stem) while suffixes
follow the word stem. Infixes, however, is inserted in between two free
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morphemes. Infixes are not utilized in English extensively. Examine the
examples.
Prefixes
Infixes
Suffixes
Un-clean
Speed-o-meter
Adjust-ment
Ir-responsible
Bar-o-meter
Clean-er
Anti-terror
Mother-in-law
Clean-ly
Multi-lingual
Now-a-days
Clean-li-ness
Pro-government
Bright-en
Prefixes and suffixes can be said to have meaning in the sense that
one can plausibly predict the meaning of the word they are attached to. For
instance, the prefix un- negates the meaning of the word it precedes, and thus
means “not”: un-friendly means not friendly. In the same way with suffixes, ness in firm-ness makes firm (an adjective) a noun. The meaning can perhaps
be said to be “the state of being”. So the meaning of firmness is “the state of
being firm.”
In short, affixes are lexical items that add flexibility to the static use of
free morphemes while keeping the central meaning that free morphemes have.
Now we will consider how vocabulary of English can be expanded using the all
sources it has.
4 Word Coinages – Making New Words
As pointed out in Chapter 1, language has a creative aspect. This
creative aspect is best seen in the new words speakers of a language produce.
When speakers think of a concept, relationship that was not thought up before,
they tend to give it a “name”. This naming process can be called “word
coinage.” English utilizes various techniques using the sources available in the
language. There three major ways of making new words: 1) Coining, 2)
Meaning Change, and 3) Compounding.
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4.1 Coining
In coining, the new word is derived from an existing one. Practically, it
is a shortening process of a longer word. The important point here is that the
meaning of the word(s) shortened remains the same. Consider the table for
coining.
1
2
3
4
5
Category
Abbreviations
Orthographic Abbreviations
Acronyms
Clippings
Blendings
Example
PC
Mr.
radar
photo
brunch
Derived from
Personal Computer
Mister
Radio detecting and ranging
photograph
breakfast - lunch
4.2 Meaning Change
As opposed to coining, there are slight changes of meaning in Meaning
Change. There are four types of meaning change: 1) Generification, 2)
Category Change, 3) Metaphorical Extension, and finally 4) Backformation.
In generification, the name of a new product is adopted for all other
similar products that are produced/used after it. For example, the brand name
“Kleenex” is the name of a soft cleaning paper (tissue), and this name, or rather
the word, has come to mean all other similar products that have come later. In
other words, the word has been used generically to refer to all others (examine
the table).
Category
1
Generification
2
Category Change
3
Metaphorical Extension
4
Examples
Kleenex
Xerox
Selpak
to people (v)
to house (v)
to man the moon
chew on ideas
space ship
Derived from
Brand name
Brand name
Brand name
People (n)
House (n)
Man (n)
chew a gum
sailing ship
beg
beggar
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Backformation
sculpt
donate
sculptor
donation
In category change, the syntactic function of an existing word is
changed: a noun becomes a verb, or a verb becomes a noun, or even an
adjective becomes a verb. In a sentence like
All the refugees have been housed in a temporary shelter at the outskirts of
the city.
the noun house is used as a verb with the meaning of “placing people in a
house”.
The other way of making new words is called “metaphorical extension”,
which is perhaps the most frequent strategy that speakers use in finding words
for new objects and concepts. As the name suggests, the meaning of a word is
“extended” metaphorically. On the basis of certain similarities (look, shape,
function, etc.), new concepts, objects get a name from other existing words. In
a sentence like
Give me some time to chew on these ideas so that I can understand them.
the meaning of chew on is obtained from “chew a gum”. When we chew gum,
we need exercise and time to appreciate the act of chewing.
The final way making new words in change of meaning is called
“backformation”. A new word is obtained from an existing word by omitting a
part of it. As shown in the table, the verb beg is obtained from the noun beggar
on false the assumption (based on pronunciation) that the last part of the word
–ar functions like those in teach-er, edit-or. So, by clipping the last part, a verb
is obtained: “ask for desperately”.
4.3 Compounding
The third and final major method of making new words is
“compounding”. Compounding is the process of combining two morphemes.
There two possibilities: a) open class words + open class words, b) open class
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words + closed class words. The following examples illustrate both ways,
respectively: hand-bag / drive-in. Examine the table for more examples.
No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Compound Types
Noun + Noun
Noun + Verb
Noun + Past Participle
Noun + Adjective
Verb + Noun
Verb + Preposition
Verb + Gerund
Adjective + Adjective
Adjective + Past Participle
Adjective + Noun
Adverb + Verb
Preposition + Noun
Preposition + Gerund
Past Participle + Preposition
Past Participle + Noun
Gerund + Noun
Example 1
landlord
proofread
handheld
sky-blue
swearword
turnover
drink-driving
icy-cold
Ill-advised
blackboard
hard-sell
overdose
on-going
grown-up
ground-beef
running water
Example 2
snailmail
skin-deep
scarecrow
sellout
slip-sliding
bitter-sweet
Ill-mannered
wildfire
crash-land
underdog
broken-down
swimming pool
5 Inflectional vs. Derivational Morphology
In this section, we introduce another method of examining the
vocabulary of English: Inflectional and Derivational Morphology. In Inflectional
Morphology, when a word is inflected, rather, when it is added an affix, its
syntactic category (i.e., noun, verb) does not change. This means that if the
word that is inflected is a noun, it is still a noun, or if it is a verb, it is still a verb.
Inflectional morphemes operate on three classes of words in English: nouns,
verbs, and adjectives.
Noun Inflectional Suffixes
a. Plural marker
(girls – girls)
b. possessive marker
(Mary – Mary’s)
Verb Inflectional Suffixes
a. Third person present tense marker
(go – goes)
b. Pat tense marker
(listen – listened)
c. Progressive marker
(read – reading)
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d. Past participle marker
(be – been)
(break – broken)
Adjective Inflectional Suffixes
a. Comparative marker
(clean – cleaner)
b. Superlative marker
(fast – fastest)
As is seen in the examples, when an affix is added to a stem, the new
word
a) is still in the same syntactic function and
b) has the same meaning as that in the old.
As opposed to this kind of forming new words, there is another method
of making words: Derivational Morphology. Morphemes, lexical items or
particles used in derivational process are known as “derivational morphemes”
and the process of making words these morphemes is called “derivational
morphology”. A word produced as a result of this process
a. changes the previous syntactic category,
b. changes the previous meaning, and
c. changes the previous pronunciation considerably.
While the application of inflectional morphology is limited, the
application of derivational morphology is pervasive throughout English.
Therefore, it deserves to be analyzed in a complete subsection.
6 Productive Rules in Word Coinage
Derivational processes are very common and form the most productive
aspect of word formations in English. In this process, a new word is derived
from an existing word by adding to it various affixes. In this section, the primary
purpose is to offer ways of discovering morphological rules through various
examples.
In using, understanding and making words, language users mainly rely
on their knowledge of the functions of derivational affixes. Speakers of English,
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for instance, know that the suffixes –er and –or make a noun out of a verb. The
suffixes in question simply produce the meaning “the doer of the action.”
Verb Stem
Stem + Suffix
Meaning
learn
learn - er
One who learns
possess
Possess - or
One who possesses
The rule of adding –er and –or to verb stems is very extensively used
therefore it is labeled as “productive”. There may of course be some
exceptions. The stem can sometimes be a noun, not a verb.
Noun Stem
Stem + Suffix
Meaning
football
footballer
One who plays football
tank
tanker
One that holds liquids
This kind of knowledge of rules increases the predictability of new
words that we read or hear which provides language users with the ability to
predict and be innovative when the need is felt. In this sense, this ability can be
described “morphological competence”.
Now we illustrate a process of forming productive rules using the –able
suffix in English. One way start is to formulate hypothesis and then narrow it
down to a refined rule Let us examine a list of words taking the –able suffix,
based on Akmajian (1984).
Existing Verb
To break
To drink
To excuse
To repair
To use
Derived Adjective
breakable
drinkable
excusable
repairable
usable
Meaning
“can be broken”
“can be drunk”
“can be excused”
“can be repaired”
“can be used”
Hypothesis 1. The suffix –able (-ible) can be added to any verb to produce
adjectives, with a meaning “one that can be X’ed”, or “one that is able to be
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X’ed”. (“X” representing the action in the verb stem) For instance, in the
sentence
“This glass is breakable.”
the meaning of “breakable” is “one that can be broken” or “one that has the
potential to be broken.” We also notice that all these words are transitive verbs.
A transitive verb is one that may take an object, which is some way affected by
the action. So, we can refine our previous hypothesis in a new one.
Hypothesis 2. The suffix –able can be added to transitive verbs to produce
adjectives, with a meaning “one that can be X’ed”.
When we enlarge our data base,
Existing Verb
To pay
To hand-wash
To read
To present
To credit
Derived Adjective
payable
hand-washable
readable
presentable
credible
Meaning
“should be paid”
“should be hand-washed”
“easy to read”
“nicely dressed”
“trustworthy”
we notice that the meaning formulated in Hypothesis 2 no longer holds. Though
very related, the meanings have changed. So we need to modify the previous
hypothesis.
Hypothesis 3. The suffix –able can be added to transitive verbs to produce
adjectives whose prototypical meaning is “one that can be X’ed” and whose
less prototypical meanings include “easy, possible, comfortable to be X’ed”, or
trustworthy.”
Examination of more words taking –able suffix, we notice that some,
though very few, intransitive verbs can take –able suffix. Consider the
classification and the examples below.
Intransitive Verb
To run
To walk
To live
Derived Adjective
runnable
walkable
livable
Meaning
“possible to run”
“docile”
“comfortable to live”
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Dacca marathon isn’t a runnable one. “It requires extreme effort to run.”
Not all dogs are walkable. “You can’t take them out for a walk without trouble.”
Melbourne is the most livable city in the world. “Most comfortable”
The usages above force us to re-formulate the previous hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4. The suffix –able can be added to transitive verbs to produce
adjectives whose prototypical meaning is “one that can be X’ed” and whose
less prototypical meanings include “easy, possible, comfortable to be X’ed”,
and some intransitive verbs that can occasionally take an object.
In summary, what is the meaning of –able suffix? –able means “able to
be X’ed, has potential to be X’ed, easy, possible, or comfortable to be X’ed, or
trustworthy.”
Meanings of –ABLE Suffix
Most Prototypical <======================>Least Prototypical
Able to be
Should to be
Possible to be
Easy,
X’ed
X’ed
X’ed
comfortable
Is worthy
to be X’ed
Writable,
Washable,
Walkable,
excusable
payable,
runnable
Livable
Credible,
edible
dryable
When we further increase our data base, we notice that –able are
added to nouns: marriageable, knowledgeable, and palatable.
He is very mean; he isn’t marriageable. (not someone suitable for marriage)
Some of the dialogue has been changed to make it more palatable to the
audience. (pleasant, acceptable)
A sizeable number of people turned up at the conference. (fairly large)
Because such noun + able combinations are rather rare, we call them
“exceptions” to the rule. We can still come across some words having the –able
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at the end such as hospitable. When the –able is taken away, no meaningful
stem remains: hospit. Therefore such forms are called false analysis.
Throughout the history Turks have been known to be hospitable people.
The foods at the expensive restaurant were not edible at all.
Having done a comprehensive analysis of the uses –able suffix, we
need to note the changes associated with the new, resulting word. There are
three changes:
i. phonological change
(pronunciation)
ii. syntactic / category change
(e.g. nouns becoming verbs)
iii. semantic change
(change of meaning)
We can extend similar types of analyses to other parts of English
vocabulary, for instance, to plurals. The formation of plurals in English is very
productive:
However, we also observe some nouns whose pronunciation cannot be
predicted by the above rule. Some examples are
IRREGULAR / FROZEN PLURALS
Singular
Plural
Source
goose
mouse
foot
sheep
ox
appendix
syllabus
datum
geese
mice
feet
sheep
oxen
appendices
syllabi
data
Old English
Old English
Old English
Old English
German heritage
Latin
Latin
Latin
These are known as “frozen plurals” as they can no longer be
productively used in the process of word making. The source of frozen plurals
is varied. As English developed through the ages, what used to be productive
ceased to be productive. Changes in the pronunciation also made some forms
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of plurals obsolete. –en plural form was used long ago in the Old English period
from about 6th century to 11th century. English has always borrowed freely from
Latin, which is no longer spoken, a language considered “kültürsprache”.
7 Teaching Morphology
Activity 1. Listing morphemes that create similar meanings.
We can list prefixes that carry the same function, e.g. negating prefixes,
and offer sentences that include these words having these prefixes.
Prefix
existing
new
Meaning
Un-
clear
unclear
Not clear
In-
comprehensible
incomprehensible
Not comprehensible
Il-
logical
illogical
Not logical
Ir-
regular
irregular
Not regular
Anti-
American
Anti-American
Against American
Prefix
existing
new
Meaning
Pro-
government
Pro-government
Supportive of government
Pan-
Turkism
Pan-Turkism
ideology unionizing all Turks
Activity 2 In-dept Analysis of an Affix
Take PRE for example.
Giving Meaning: PRE means BEFORE
Explanation: This is a common prefix that can be connected to fairly common
words as well as more challenging ones. Both are included in this list. Note that
'before' can have to do with time or space. To "predict" is say something will
happen before it does; but to "present" something to you is to place it before
you in space. "Pre" can have other meanings than "before," though (as in the
words prevail, pretend, prehensile, and prevaricate).
Exercise
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1. Write the word,
2. Write what it means, and
3. Answer the question about it.
WORD
predict
prevent
preview
precaution
prefer
previous
prenatal
pre-owned
prelude
preoccupied
predispose
preamble
preempt
MEANING and EXAMPLE
To tell what one thinks will happen
in the future
To keep something from happening
before it happens
a view or showing ahead of time
care or an action taken ahead of
time against danger or failure, such
as locking the door as a precaution
against theft.
To choose first or like better (such
as preferring vacation over school)
happening or coming before; such
as "on the previous page," meaning
the page before, or "in a previous
class," meaning some class before
this one
before birth, or during pregnancy
Owned by someone else before
now; "used."
a part that comes before something
else, such as a prelude to a piece
of music
having your attention already taken
up by something, so you are not
paying attention to what is
happening around you. For
example, if you are preoccupied
with a test that is coming, you
might not pay attention to what
people are saying to you.
to make something more likely to
happen, before it does. For
example, not getting enough sleep
predisposes people to catching
colds or being grumpy.
an introductory statement before an
important statement. The preamble
to the constitution explains why the
people of the U.S. thought they
needed one.
to take over something, (such as by
getting in front of anyone else who
ANSWER
What are two things you would
like to be able to predict?
What are three things you can
prevent?
What is something besides a
movie or TV show that you
could preview?
What are four examples of
precautions for four different
things?
What are three things you
prefer doing?
What are three things you
learned in previous classes?
What would "prenatal care"
mean?
What are three things people
often buy "pre-owned?"
What are three examples of
"preludes?"
What are three things someone
who is "preoccupied" might
say?
What are three things you could
do so that you were
predisposed to get good
grades?
How is a preamble like a
prelude?
What are two things you would
not like to be preempted?
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preface
would want it or being more
important). Examples: to take over
someone's land
Introductory remarks
Where in a book would you find
or put the preface?
1. I like to take a _____________walk to work up my appetite for dinner.
2. I don't like it when the networks _____________ my favorite TV shows
because of sports.
3. One of the jobs of the meteorologist on the news is to _________tomorrow's
weather.
4. Just as a _____________, I always lock the car doors when I am driving.
5. Which of these coats do you __________ to wear tonight?
6. I don't think Mike heard a word I said because he was so ___________about
his sick sister.
7. We got to the concert at the symphony hall just in time -- we barely sat down
before the conductor started the _________.
Activity 3 Awareness-raising Division of Words
One way to divide the complex word Antidisestablishmentarianistically
can be seen in the following.
Antidisestablishmentarianistically
Antidisestablishmentarianistical
Antidisestablishmentarianistic
Antidisestablishmentarianist
disestablishmentarian
establishmentarian
establishment
establish
61
Suggested Reading
Akmajian, A., Demers, R.A., and Harnish, R.M. 2001. Linguistics: An
introduction to language and communication. Cambridge: MIT
Press.
Finegan, E. and Besnier, N. 1989. Language: its structure and use. San Diago:
Harcourt Brace.
APPENDIX 1
List of Prefixes in English
Prefix
Meaning
Examples
a-
Not, without
amoral
a-
On, at
Aboard, ashore
Ab-
From
Absent, abstract
Ad-
To, towards
Adverb, adjoin
Ambi-
Double, two
Ambiguous,
Audio-
Of hearing
Audio-visual
Bi-
Two
Bicycle, bi lateral
Di-
Two
di-transitive
De-
From, undo
Depart, defrost
Dis-
Apart
Disagree
En-
Put into
Enclose
Ex-
Out of, former
Export, ex-wife
Homo-
The same
Homograph
Hyper-
To extreme degree
Hypercorrection
In-, im-, em-
Into, in
Inside, embed
Inter-
Between
Interact, interstate
Intra-
Inside
Intralingual, introspection
In-, im-, ir-, il-
Not
Indirect, imperfect, irrational, illegal
Macro-
Large
Macro-linguistics
Micro-
Small
Micro-teaching
Mis-
Wrong
Misspell
Ob-, op-
Against
Obstruct, oppress
62
Para-
At the side of
Paramedic, paralinguistics
Pre-
Before
Prepay, preface
Poly-
Many
Polygamy
Pro-
Supporting
Pro-government
Re-
Again
Relocate, reappear
Sub-
Under
Subordinate
Super-
Over, above
Supernatural
Tele-
Distant
Telegram
Trans-
Across
Transport
Tri-
Three
Triangle, tricycle
Ultra-
Beyond
Ultra-liberal
Un-
Back, not
Untie, unchanged
APPENDIX 2
List of Suffixes in English
Suffix
Meaning
Examples
-able, (-ible)
Capable of, worthy
Agreeable, credible
-age
Act of, or state of
Salvage, bondage
-acy, -isy
Quality
Hypocrisy, piracy
-al, -eal, -ial
Related to, action of
Judicial, official, arrival
-ance, -ence
Act or fact of doing, state of
Dependence, allowance
-ant
Quality of one who
Expectant, occupant
-er, -or
Agent, one who
Author, baker, winner
-ed
Past
Jumped, baked
-ery
A place to, practice of, condition
Bakery, bravery
-dom
State, condition of
Wisdom, martyrdom
-ee
Person affected
Employee, payee
-ent
Having the quality of
Different, innocent
-en
Made of, to make
Woolen, darken
-er, -or
One who does
Worker, dictator
-er
Degree of comparison
Older, newer
63
-est
Highest of comparison
Softest, cleanest
-ful, -full
Of, with
Graceful, faithful
-hood
State of being
Boyhood, womanhood
-ible, -ile, -il
Capable of being
Digestible, docile, civil
-ier, -ior
One who
Carrier, warrior
-ify
To make
Magnify, falsify
-ic
Like, made of
Metallic, toxic, poetic
-ics
Science
Phonetics, politics
-ing
Action of
Running, wishing
-ion
Act or state of
Confusion, correction
-ism
Fact of being
Communism
-ish
Like
Sheepish, childish
-ist
A person who does
Protagonist, artist
-ity, -ty
State of
Humanity
-ive
Having nature of
Attractive, active
-ize
To make
Galvanize
-less
Without, lack of
Hopeless
-let
Small
Starlet, eaglet
-ly
Like, in a manner happening
Suddenly, monthly
-ment
State or quality, act of doing
Excitement
-meter
Device for measuring
Thermometer
-ness
State of
Kindness, blindness
-ology
Study of
Biology, psychology
--ous, -ious
Full of
Furious, marvelous
-ship
Quality of, state of
Friendship, lordship
-some
Like
Tiresome, lonesome
-tion, -sion
Action, state of being
Condition, attention
-ty
Quality or state of
Liberty, majesty
-ward
Direction
Forward, backward
-wise
Direction
Clockwise, moneywise
-y
Like, full of, action of
Noisy, jealousy, inquiry,
64
-y
Diminutive, endearing
kitty, Billy