NOUNS

 What is a Noun? Give examples

 A Noun is any word, other than a pronoun, that can serve as the subject of a sentence.
Many nouns denote persons, places and things.
 A noun is a word, other than a pronoun, that refers to a thing, a person, an animal, a
place, or an idea.
 Noun: A word (except a pronoun) that identifies a person, place or thing, or names one of
them (proper nouns)

 Which are the main types of nouns? Give examples

Nouns can be grouped into a small number of classes which differ in meaning and grammatical
behavior. There is first a distinction between common and proper nouns

 Proper nouns: have no contrast for number or definiteness. They are singular and definite.
For example: the proper noun Sue has no options a Sue, the Sue, or Sues. Proper nouns
need no article or plural form because they only name an individual (e.g. a specific person
or place, (like Sue or Chicago) Proper nouns can also be used like common nouns. They can
sometimes have modifiers like common nouns( little Sue) and sometimes have a
possessive determiner ( our Sue)

 Common nouns: are words used to name general items rather than specifics ones. Is a
general way of classifying something. Common nouns denote a class (like girl, city)
For example: The word dog is a common noun, but if your dog was called Firulais is a
proper noun.

 Countable common nouns: refer to entities which can be counted: they have both a
singular and a plural form (a cow, two cows, etc.). Both in the singular and in the plural
there is a contrast between indefinite and definite, signaled by articles: a cow v. the cow,
Cows v. the cows.

 Uncountable common nouns: refer to something which cannot be counted; they do not
vary for number. They cannot occur with the indefinite article a(n), but they allow a
contrast between definite and indefinite: the milk v. milk. For example, furniture and
traffic are uncountable nouns in English.
 a Common Proper

Definite
Singular
Countable Uncountable

Have both forme No contrast for number or definiteness

Singular Plural Singular

Definite and indefinite

Articles

 Talk about Concrete V. Abstract nouns. Give examples

 Concrete nouns: refer to physical entities or substances.

 Abstract nouns: refer to abstractions such as events, states, times, and qualities.
 Countable concrete nouns: refer to persons, objects, places (e.g. student, chair, and
town)
 Uncountable concrete nouns: refer to substances, materials, liquids, gases (e.g. steel,
water, air).
 However, this is just a useful guide--as the exceptional cases of furniture and traffic have
already shown.

The distinction between concrete and abstract nouns is purely semantic: it has no real
grammatical role, since abstract nouns, like concrete nouns, can be countable, uncountable,
common, or proper.

Concrete Abstract
Physical Abstractions
entities or such as events,
substances states, times,
and qualities

Uncountable Common

In fact, some nouns, like thing, cross the boundary between concrete and abstract very easily.
Thing commonly refers to a physical object (as in 1), but it is also widely used for abstract
meanings like 'event' or 'process' (as in 2):

1 This thing is way too small to stick between your toes. (CON)

2 I have just got it confirmed, but these things take time. (CONV)

 Can a same noun be Countable and Uncountable? Give examples

Many nouns can be both countable and uncountable, but with a difference of meaning:

 I think these are eggs from our new chickens. (CONV) <countable>
 Would you like some chicken for dinner? (CONV) <uncountable>

Also, many basically uncountable nouns have countable uses:

 I think I would like some wine though. (CONV) <uncountable>

 A lot of non-alcoholic wines are expensive. (CONVT) <countable, = types of wine>

In a similar way, abstract nouns can have countable and uncountable uses:
  What's your highest level of education? (CON) <uncountable>
 Although she was a girl she wanted an education, (NEWST) <countable>

Here the indefinite article a/an signals the countable use of education. The uncountable noun
refers to the general abstraction, while the countable noun refers to particular instances or types
of it.

 Talk about Plural Uncountable nouns and give examples

Although it may seem to be a contradiction, there are a few plural uncountable nouns

 Princes and Princess

 These are plural in that they have a plural ending -s and go with plural determiners, but
they are uncountable because there is no singular form *a clothe, a thank. (Notice that
clothes, referring to the things people wear, is not the plural of cloth, which has its own
plural cloths.)
For example: groceries, arms, remains, goods, customs, clothes, thanks, regards, police etc.
E.g. the police are searching for a white man in his twenties.

 Talk about Proper nouns V. Common nouns. Give examples

Important types of proper noun are:

 personal names (e.g. Anna, Tom, Williams, Singh)

 place names (e.g. Australia, Karachi, Africa)
 organization names (e.g. Congress, Mitsubishi)
 time names (e.g. Saturday, July, Christmas)

The most typical proper noun (e.g. Anna) are arbitrary inform. Grammatically, these nouns have
no determiner and do not have a contrast of number between singular and plural (Annas, the
Anna, an Anna do not normally occur). In spelling, proper nouns are marked by an initial capital
letter.

Yet these features of proper nouns have exceptions. Many names are actually multi-word
expressions, and contain ordinary lexical words: e.g. the Horn of Africa, the White House. As these
examples show, a name may also be preceded by the-something which can also occur with a single
proper name as in the Sahara (Desert), the Pacific (Ocean), the Vatican, the Kremlin. Some proper
names with the are plural (e.g. the Himalayas)

Not all words spelled with initial capitals are proper nouns: the last group above consists of
adjectives and common nouns. They can be put in a series like this:
  Adjectives and common nouns derived from proper nouns (e.g. Marxist, Marxism,
Victorian, the Victorian(s), New Yorker(s), Greek(s))

proper noun adjective singular common noun plural common noun

Buddha, Buddhism Buddhist a Buddhist Buddhists
Finland Finnish a Finn Finns
Paris Parisian a Parisian Parisians

In fact, there is a lot of interplay between proper nouns and common nouns. Many names are
combinations of common nouns and other words with a definite article (as in the British Library).
On the other hand, many common nouns are based on proper nouns and keep the capital letter:
the Japanese (from Japan).

Sometimes proper nouns can function like common nouns.

 A person or family called X:

I haven't been in touch with the Joneses for ages. ( CONV) <the Jones family>

 A product of X:

I got a Bentley, two Cadillacs, a Chrysler station wagon, and an MG my boy. (FICT) <makes
of car>

 Which are the four classes of Package nouns? Explain them and give examples

Four special classes of countable common nouns are considered in this section: collective nouns,
unit nouns quantifying nouns, and species nouns. Overall, they have a functioning of ´packaging’
together a range of entities. Package nouns are often followed by of-phrases: e.g., a load of books
 COLLECTIVE SPECIES
UNIT QUANTIFYING

The type
countable nouns quiantities

number definiteness

Collective nouns refer to groups of people, animals, or things. Among collective nouns we
also find proper nouns naming official bodies or organizations: the BBC, Parliament.
Nouns like group, crowd, and flock are called of-collectives because they generally precede
of + plural noun, where the plural noun names a set of people, animals, objects, etc. Some
of-collectives, such as group, are quite general in meaning, whereas others have a more
specific application.

collective noun selected collocations

bunch of idiots, thieves, roses, grapes
crowd of demonstrators, fans, spectators, shoppers
flock of birds, doves, geese, sheep, children
gang of bandits, hecklers, thugs
group of adults, girls, animals, buildings, diseases, things
set of assumptions, characteristics, conditions

Other examples are: herd of cows, host of stars, pack of lies, series of accidents, shoal of fish,
swarm of bees, and troop of inspectors.

 Many of these collectives have a specific range (e.g. flock refers to a group of birds and
animals), they can be extended, for special effect, to other nouns (e.g. flock of children).
 Some of the collectives frequently have a negative effect: especially bunch, gang, and
pack.

Unit nouns: allow us to cut up a generalized mass or substance into individual units or
pieces. They are countable nouns, but they are usually followed by an of-phrase containing
an uncountable noun

Unit noun Selected Collocation

a bit of cake, wood, fun, luck
a chunk of chocolate, concrete, gold
a gain of corn, dust, sat sand
an item of clothing, equipment news
a lump of clay, coal, soil, butter, fat
a piece of cake, toast, chalk, land, wood, advice, evidence
a sheet of cardboard, iron, paper

Other unit nouns are illustrated by: Scrap of paper, slice of bread, speck of dirt, strip of cloth.

 Like quantifying collectives, unit nouns vary in their range: loaf of bread and rasher of
bacon favor only one colocation, but bit and piece can be used very generally.
 One uncountable noun can also combine with a variety of unit nouns. For example, paper
can follow ball of, bit of, fragment of, heap of, length of, mound of, piece of, pile of, roll of,
scrap of, sheet of, wad of, etc. depending on the meaning required.

Quantifying nouns: are used to refer to quantities, which are usually specified in a
following of-phrase containing either a plural noun or an uncountable noun: a pile of bricks,
a pile of rubbish, a kilo of potatoes, and a kilo of flour.

A) Nouns for a type of container:

Noun Selected Collocation
basket of eggs, flowers, bread, fruit
box of books, candy, matches, soap
cup of coffee, soup, tea

Other examples are bay, barrel, bottle, can, carton, crate, keg, pack, packet, sack.

B) Nouns for shape

noun selected collocations

heap of ashes, blankets, bones, leaves, rubble
pile of bills, bodies, bricks, rocks, rubbish, wood

Heap and pile can be used more generally, to express a very large amount:

C) Measure nouns

nouns selected collocations

pint, gallon, quart, liter/liter of beer, blood, gas, milk, oil, wine
foot, inch, yard, meter/meter of doth, concrete, material, wire
ounce, pound, gram, kilo(gram) of butter, cheese, flour, gold,
ton, tonne of aluminum, bricks, ore, sewage
Some measurements nouns are used more generally. Ounce, for example, can be used for a very
small amount and ton for a very large amount

D) Plural numeral nouns

Hundred, thousand, million, dozens, and score are nouns for precise numbers. But they can be
used in the plural to express an indefinitely large number

E) Nouns for large quantities

The nouns load(s) and mass(es) can also be used emotively and vaguely to refer to large
quantities. Load(s) is found mostly in conversation, while mass (in the singular) is found more in
written language.

noun selected collocations

a load of fuel, garbage, junk, money, stuff
loads of friends, money, things, work
a mass of blood, detail, material, stuff
masses of homework, money, people

F) Nouns ending in –full (similar to measure noun)

The noun suffix –full (not to be confused with the adjective suffix –ful, as in careful) can be added
to almost any noun that can denote some kind of container. For example:

Bowlful, earful, fistful, handful, mouthful, pocketful, spoonful, teaspoonful

In their basic meaning, these nouns are similar to measure nouns (e.g., in a recipe: Add two
teaspoonfuls of olive oil), but they can be used more imaginatively. Handful is the most common of
this type, and it also stands out in being used in an extended sense, to refer to a small quantity (as
in a handful of people)

G) Pair and Couple

These are both nouns referring to two people, things, etc. But they are quite different in the way
they collocate with other nouns:

Noun selected collocations

pair of arms, eyes, glasses, gloves, hands, pants, pliers, scissors, shoes, socks
couple of days, babies, balloons, boys, examples, hours, kids

The main difference is that pair of applies to two things which occur together (thus it can go with
plural uncountable nouns, as in a pair of trousers); whereas couple of is used more vaguely, to
mean 'two or three, a very small number'. A couple (of) is similar to a few, and can be considered a
plural quantifier

Types of Nouns Kinds Examples

1. Nouns for a type of container o basket of (fruit)
o box of (matches, soup)
o cup of (tea)
2. Nouns for shape o heap of (blankets)
o pile of (bricks, wood)
3. Measure nouns o litre /gallon of (wine, oil, beer)
o foot / metre / kilo/ ton of ( cloth, wire,
flour, alumninium)
4. Plural numeral nouns o hundreds, thousands, millions of
QUANTIFYING
NOUNS
5. Nouns for large quantities o a load of ( fuel, garbage)
o loads of (friends, money, work)
o a mass of (blood, material)
o masses of homework, money, people)
6. Nouns ending in -ful o handful, spoonful, mouthful of

7. Pair and couple o pair of (arms, eyes, glasses, hands,

scissors)
o couple of days, babies, balloons, hours)
 Species noun: are often followed by an of-phrase, but they refer to the type rather than
the quantity of something. Species nouns can be followed by countable or uncountable
nouns. In the former case, there is a choice between singular and plural for both nouns.

Make of, sort of, types of, kinds of, class of

For example, certain types of car and certain types of cars have the same meaning.

Sort (of) + noun and kind (of) + noun are the most common species nouns. Sort of + noun is
particularly frequent in conversation, and kind of + noun in fiction. Other species nouns (type (of)
and species(of)) are frequent only in academic writing.

 Explain the uses of the articles: THE-A-AN and ZERO ARTICLE. Give examples

The most common determiners are the articles the and a/an, which signal definite and indefinite
meaning. When no determiner occurs before the noun, it is useful to say that there is a zero
article.

Indefinite meanings expressed by a/an : The indefinite article a/an is used only with
singular countable nouns. It narrows down the reference of the head noun to one
indefinite member of the class. The spelling an is used when the following word begins
with a vowel sound.

A) Specific use of a/an: The indefinite article is often used to introduce a new specific entity
into the discourse.
B) Unspecific use of a/an: The indefinite article is also used where the noun phrase does not
refer to any specific individual.
C) Classifying or generic use of a/an: The indefinite article can also serve to classify an entity
or to refer generically to what is typical of any member of the class.

Indefinite meaning with the zero article: Like a/an with singular countable nouns, the
zero article signals indefiniteness with uncountable nouns and plural countable nouns.
Zero article phrases commonly express non-specific or generic reference. But there are
also some special uses of the zero article with singular countable nouns, where otherwise
we expect the or a/an to occur.

A) Meals as institutions: Are they going out for dinner or something? (CONV)
B) Place as institutions: The ceremony took place in church (FICT)
 The definite article the: The goes with both countable and uncountable nouns. It marks
the noun as referring to something or someone assumed to be know to speaker and
addressee (or writer and reader).

A) Anaphoric use of the: After unknown entities have been introduced, they can be treated as
'known' and named by the in later references. This is called anaphora: the phrase with the
refers back to a previously mentioned item.

B) Indirect anaphoric use of the: In indirect anaphora, the earlier noun is not repeated, but
an associated noun is used with the:
2 The Mercedes took a hard bounce from a pothole. 'Christ,' said Sherman, 'I didn't even
see that.' He leaned forward over the steering wheel. The headlights shot across the
concrete columns in a delirium. (FICT)
We know that cars have a steering wheel and headlights, so after the Mercedes has been
mentioned, 'the steering wheel' and 'the headlights' can be treated as known.

C) Use of the with synonyms: Sometimes, indirect anaphora involves the use of a different
noun referring to the same thing or person. For example we know that the Ford Escort is a
vehicle, and so 'the vehicle' can be treated as known.

D) Cataphoric use of the: Cataphora can be thought of as the opposite of anaphora. Here
definite reference is established by something following later in the text, especially some
modifier of the noun (e.g., the centre [of Bucharest], the summer [of 1984])

E) Situational use of the: The often occurs because an entity is known from the situation:
either the immediate situation in which speech takes place, or the wider situation which
includes knowledge of the national situation, the world, or even the universe.
I think there's somebody at the door now. (CONV) <immediate situation>
Cos they get money off the government, don't they? (CONVT) <wider situation>

 Explain the use of Plural and Singular nouns. Give examples

Number is the term for the contrast between singular and plural: a contrast in English grammar
affecting not only nouns, but pronouns, determiners and verbs. However, our concern now is with
nouns: the singular form of nouns is the unmarked and most common form, and plural nouns are
formed from the singular by inflectional change, normally the addition of a suffix.

Regular Plurals: The overwhelming majority of nouns form their plural by adding the
ending –(e)s.
  Spelling:
The normal spelling is -s, but if the word ends in s, z, x, sh, or ch, the spelling is –es (e.g.
bus-buses).
If the singular ends in a consonant letter + -y, the spelling is –ies (copy-copies).
If the singular ends in a vowel letter + -y, however, the spelling is –s (boy-boys).
If the singular ends in -o, the spelling of the plural is sometimes -os and sometimes –oes
(pianos v. volcanoes).

Native irregular plurals: Irregular plurals can be divided into native English plurals and
plurals borrowed from other languages. A small number of native English words have
irregular plurals:

 changing the vowel: (E.g. man-men; foot-feet ; tooth-teeth)

 adding –(r)en: (E.g. child-children; ox-oxen)
 voicing the last consonant-/f/ changes to /v/: (E.g. knife-knives; leaf-leaves; life-lives)

Most nouns ending in -f, however, have a regular plural: beliefs, chefs, chiefs, proofs, reefs, roofs.

Latin and Greek plurals: Some words borrowed from Latin and Greek keep their original
plurals, although often the regular plural is an alternative (E.g. alumnus-alumni; syllabus-
syllabi)

Zero plurals: Zero plurals are plural forms which do not change from singular to plural:
 Some animal nouns: fish, sheep, deer, salmon.
 Some quantifying nouns: dozen, hundred, foot, mile when they are used as part of a
numerical quantity (e.g. two dozen people, two hundred kids)
 A few other zero plural nouns: aircraft, dice, series, species.

The sign of a zero plural is that the same form can be used with singular and plural concord:

Anglers are heading for court because fish are too easy to catch. (NEWS)

Plural-only nouns and singular nouns: These are nouns that can be confusing because:
 They look singular but are actually plural, like people, police, staff, and cattle.(plural)
 They look plural but are actually singular, like news, measles, mumps, and checkers.
(singular)

 Talk about the genitive and the “of phrase”, different uses. Give examples

The form of the genitive: The ‘s genitive ending varies in pronunciation in the
same way as the plural ending.
The choice between genitives and of-phrases: (excluding of-phrases with special
noun classes, like unit nouns and quantifying nouns)
 A) The semantic class of the noun: Personal nouns, especially proper nouns, are much more
likely to be used in the genitive. Inanimate and abstract nouns, on the other hand, are
much more likely to be used with the of-construction: e.g. the future of socialism, rather
than socialism's future.
B) The meaning relation between the two noun: There are many different meaning relations
that can exist between the genitive noun and the main noun (or between the
corresponding nouns in an of-construction). Some meanings favor the genitive, while
others favor of-construction.

Meaning relations favoring the genitive are:

 possessive genitive:

The family's car was found abandoned at Andersonistown Crescent. (the family
had/owned a car)

 attributive genitive:

On occasions, Martha's courage failed her. (Martha was courageous)

 subjective genitive:

Chiang's recognition of the priority of the spoken language explained why so few
characters were pictographs or ideographs. (Chiang recognized something)

 Talk about Gender and Noun Formation. Give examples

English has no masculine and feminine inflections for nouns or determiners. Four semantic gender
classes can be distinguished.

Semantic gender Meaning Example nouns Examples

classes pronouns

1. Masculine refer primarily to male people Tom, a boy, the man he, him, his

2. Feminine refer primarily to female people Sue, the girl, the she, her, hers
woman

3. Personal refer primarily to people regardless of a journalist, the doctor who, someone
whether they are female or male

4. Neuter refer primarily to inanimates (including a house, the fish It, what, which
abstractions)
 Masculine and feminine noun reference: There are four major ways of specifying
masculine and feminine contrast in nouns
 Using totally different nouns: (E.g. father-mother; son-daughter; uncle-aunt)
 Using, derived nouns with masculine and feminine suffixes -er/ or ess: (E.g. actor-actress;
waiter-waitress; master-mistress)
 Adding male or female at the beginning: (E.g. male nurse; female officer; woman doctor)
 Using nouns in -man, -woman: (E.g. hairman; Englishman; policewoman)

The derivational endings –er/or and -ess are not of equal status. While -ess always has female
reference, er/or can be used for both sexes with personal gender words like doctor and teacher.
Further, -ess can be added to a noun without -er/or form the female variant lion-lioness; priest-
priestess.

Feminine nouns in -ess are generally used less than their masculine counterparts, because we
usually use the masculine form when we do not know which sex the individual is and for plurals
when we may be referring to both males and females. The most common -ess nouns are princess,
actress, mistress, duchess, waitress, countess, goddess, hostess, and stewardess. However, all
these are used less than their masculine counterparts (prince, actor, master, duke, etc.).

 Talk about the Formation of Deriver Nouns. Give examples

Derived nouns are formed from other words by means of affixation (prefixes and suffixes),
conversion, and compounding.

Affixations:
 Derivational prefixes do not normally alter the word class of the base word; that is, a
prefix is added to a noun to form a new noun with a different meaning.

Base noun Suffixed noun

patient outpatient (a patient who is not resident in a hospital)
group subgroup (a group which is part of a larger group),
trial retrial (another trial of the same person for the same crime)

 Derivational suffixes, on the other hand, usually change both the meaning and the word
class; that is, a suffix is often added to a verb or adjective to form a new noun with a
different meaning.

Base word Suffixed noun

Adjective: Dark Darkness
Verb: Agree Agreement
Noun: Friend Friendship
 A) Nouns prefixes: The following list shows some of the more frequent prefixes, and indicates
the typical meaning signaled by each prefix:

Prefix Main meaning Examples

Anti- Against, opposite to Antibody, antibiotics
Arch- Supreme, most Arch-enemy, archbishop
Auto- Self Autobiography, autograph
Bi- Two Bicentenary, bilingualism
Bio- Of living things Biochemistry, biomass
Co- Joint Co-chairman, co-founder
Counter- Against Counteract, counterclaim
Dis- The opposite of Disbelief, discomfort
Ex- Former Ex-Marxist, ex-student
Fore- Ahead. Before Forefront, foreknowledge
Hyper- Extreme Hyperinflation
In- Inside or opposite of Impatient, intention
Inter- Between, among Interaction, intermarriage
Kilo- A thousand Kilobyte, kilowatt
Mal- Bad Malfunction, malnutrition
Mega- A million, supreme Megawatt, megastar
Mini- Small Minibus, mini-publication
Mis- Bad, wrong Miscount, mismatch
Mono- One Monopoly, monosyllable
Neo- New Neomarxist, neo-colonialism
Non- Not Nonpayment, non-specialist
Out Outside, separate Outpatient, outbuilding
Poly- Many Polysyllable, polytheism
Re- Again, back Re-election, re-organization
Semi- Half Semicircle, semi-darkness
Sub- Below Subgroup, subset
Super- More than, above, large Superhero, supermarket
Tele- Distant Telephone, teleshopping
Tri- Three Tricycle, tripartism
Ultra- Beyond Ultra filter, ultrasound
Under- Below, too little Underclass, underachievement
Vice- Deputy (second in command) Vice-chairman, vice-president
B) Noun suffixes: Suffixes tend to have less specific meanings than prefixes. Some suffixes are
ambiguous: e.g.-al and -ful can mark an adjective as noun (Note that the process of
derivation can bring a change in the pronunciation or spelling of the base word: for
example, when we add -cy to infant, the whole word is spelt infancy, not-*infancy.)
The symbols V, A, and N in the list below show whether the noun is derived from a verb,
an adjective, or another noun. Those that are derived from verbs and adjectives are said to
be nominalizations. Most derived nouns are abstract in meaning:
Suffix Main meaning(s) Examples
-age (various meanings) baggage, wastage, postage, orphanage
-al Action or instance of V-ing arrival, burial, denial
-an –ian Nationality language American, historian, Korean, Victorian
-ance –ence Action or state of V-ing Assistance, resemblance, experience
State of being A Dependence, difference, ignorance
-ant –ent A person who V-s, something Assistant, consultant, student
Used for V-ing Coolant, intoxicant, lubricant
-cy State of quality of being A/N Accuracy, adequacy, infancy, lunacy
-dom State of being A/N Boredom, freedom, stardom, wisdom
-ee A person (various meanings) Absentee, devotee, employee, trainee
-er –or A person/ a thing that V-s, Actor, driver, filler, teacher, visitor
A person connected with N Footballer, cottager, New Yorker
-ery –ry (Various non-personal meanings Bakery, robbery, refinery, bravery
-ese Nationality or language Chinese, Japanese, journalese
-ess A female N Actress, baroness, tigress, waitress
-ette A small N Cigarette, kitchenette, novelette
-ful Amount that fills a N Childhood, falsehood, likelihood
-ician Person concern with Clinician, mathematician, physician
-ie –y A pet name for N Auntie, daddy, doggy, Johnny
-ing Action of instance of being Feeling, meeting, reading, training
Place or material Building, crossing, landing, lining
-ism Ideology, movement, tendency Atheism, criticism, capitalism, Marxism
-ist Follower of A/N-ism, specialist Atheist, capitalist, racist, physict
-ite Citizen or follower of N Moabite, muscovite, thatcherite
-ity State or quality of being A Ability, activity, density, insanity
-let A small N Bomlet, booklet, leaflet, piglet
-ment Action or instance of V-ing Argument, movement, statement, treatment
-ness Action quality of being A Blindness, darkness, fairness, happiness
-ship State or skill of being N Friendship, membership, relationship
-tion Action or instance of V-ing Communication, education, production
-ure Action or instance of V-ing Closure, departure, exposure, pressure

Apart from -er, the most frequent noun suffixes are all abstract: -tion, -ity, -ness, -ism, -ment. In
general, these suffixes are far more frequent and productive in academic writing than in the other
registers.