Word Formation

WORD FORMATION
AFFIXING: Prefixing and Suffixing
1) PREFIXING
English forms new words by adding an element at the beginning of words. The element, which is
a prefix, is used to express a change in meaning of the base word.
Look at the following pairs of words.
(a) (b)
i) theist atheist
ii) obey disobey
iii) complete incomplete
iv) wise unwise
v) legal illegal
vi) relevant irrelevant
vii) mobile immobile
The prefixes added to the words in column (b) are a-, dis-, in-, un-, il-, ir-, im-. With the
addition of these prefixes the words in column (b) acquire the opposite meaning of the words in
column (a). They express negation, i.e., ‘not’.
Look at the change in meaning the following prefixes bring about.

(a) (b)
i) frost defrost
ii) connect disconnect
iii) do undo
These prefixes express reversal of direction. Thus we ‘defrost’ a refrigerator so that it is free of
frost. We ‘disconnect’ something that is connected, and we ‘undo’ what we did.
Notice that the prefix dis- can be used to negate and also to express reversal of action as in
disapprove where it expresses negation and disconnect in which it expresses reversal of action.
Following prefixes express number.
(a) (b)
i) cycle bicycle
ii) rail monorail
iii) racial bi or multi racial
iv) technic polytechnic
v) oxide dioxide
vi) circle semicircle
In these bi- means ‘two’, mono- means ‘one’, multi- means ‘many’, poly- means ‘several’, semi-
means ‘half’ or part.
PRACTICE EXERCISE:
1) Change each of the following words by adding a suitable prefix to express negation.
i) real ii) modest iii) logical iv) agree v) accurate vi) literate vii) reversible viii) reasonable
ix) honest x) relevant xi) possible xii) effective xiii) approve xiv) believe
2) Change each of the following words by adding a suitable prefix to express reversal of
direction.
i) fraud ii) infect iii) mask iv) fold v) dress vi) continue vii) engage viii) entangle ix) embark x)
centralize xi) hydrate
2) SUFFIXING
We can also build up words by adding elements to them at the end. Elements added to the ends
of words to bring about a change in them and at the same time enlarge the vocabulary are called
suffixes.
Look at the following sets of English words for example.
i) photograph – photography – photographic
ii) nation – national – nationality – nationalize
iii) create – creation – creativity
iv) false – falsify – falsification
v) beauty – beautify – beautification
Notice that the first word in each case expands with the addition of an element to the end of it.
Unlike prefixes, which bring about a change in the meaning of an English word, suffixes do
more than alter the meaning of the word to which they are attached. Many of them also
change the word’s grammatical status. For example, the –ify ending changes the adjective
‘false’ into the verb ‘falsify’, and the noun ‘beauty’ into the verb ‘beautify’. In this they differ
from prefixes which rarely bring about a change in the grammatical status of words.
Following are some of the commonly occurring suffixes in English:
–ion, -ian, -ial, -ness, -able, -ery, -ity, -ess, -ment, -ling, -ish, -al.
3) COMPOUNDING
Look at the following words for example:
Everything, everybody, hailstorm, earthquake, weekend, railway, windmill, snowfall,
rainfall, blackbird, motorcycle, videotape, photocopy, darkroom, sunrise, widespread
In each of these words we recognize two distinct words each of which has a distinct meaning of
its own. These two words are combined to form new words with a new and sometimes special
meaning. Though these parts appear to be two words on the surface, they in fact function as a
single item. The word blackbird for example, is a combination of black and bird, but it does not
mean any bird that is black. It is a special bird found in Europe and America. Similarly, the word
darkroom is a combination of dark and room but it does not mean any room that is dark. It
means a special room where photographic film is processed. Words that combine in this way in
any language to form new words (with a meaning that is different from that of the two as
separate words) are known as compound words.
4) CONVERSION
Look at the following sentences:
1a) A beggar stood outside the door.
1b) The scene of the sunset beggared description.
2a) I want to buy a carpet for my room.
2b) I want my room carpeted.
Notice that the words beggar and carpet are used as nouns. The same words are used as verbs in
1b and 2b respectively. The important thing to note is that the base form of the word does not
undergo any change, i.e. no suffix or prefix is added to convert the noun into a verb (or the verb
into a noun, depending on which way the conversion is).
PRACTICE EXERCISE:
Now look at the following pairs of words. Use your dictionary to find out the grammatical
function of each of the pairs of words in each set.
1) practice practise
2) to swim a swim
3) dirty to dirty
4) advice advise
5) to hit a hit
6) empty to empty
7) relief relieve
8) to cheat a cheat
9) dry to dry
10) food feed
11) to bore a bore
12) calm to calm down
13) shelf shelve
14) to show-off a show-off
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How do we know that the –er of younger, taller etc. is not the same as the –er of brother, sister
etc? We cannot consider –er as a structural part of a word simply because it is similar to a similar
portion of another word. For example, we cannot say that the portion –er of brother is a structural
element of brother simply because –er also occurs in other words like sweeter and taller. It is
important for us to make sure that when we divide a word into parts, the parts must be such that
they also occur elsewhere. For example, if we isolate the –er of sweeter, taller, longer, etc. we
are left with the elements sweet, tall, long which occur not only as independent words but also as
parts of other words like sweetest, tallest, longest. On the other hand, if we isolate the –er of
sister, master, filter, we are left with the portions sist, mast, filt, which do not occur anywhere
else. Therefore, the –er in younger is different than er in sister.

Word Formation

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WORD FORMATION

AFFIXING: Prefixing and Suffixing

Look at the change in meaning the following prefixes bring about.

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