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Affixation

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Ліля Гендега
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29 views

Affixation

Uploaded by

Ліля Гендега
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Affixation

Affixation is the process of adding morphemes, which are units of meaning, to the
beginning (prefixation) or end (suffixation) of a word to create a new word or alter its
meaning.

From the etymological point of view affixes are classified according to their origin
into native (e.g. -er, -nese, -ing, un-, mis-, etc.) and borrowed (Romanic, e.g. -tion,
-ment, -ance, re-, sub-, etc.; Greek, e.g. -ist, -ism, anti-, etc.).

Affixes can also be classified into productive (e.g. -er, -ness, -able, -y, -ize, un-, re-,
die-, etc.) and non-productive (th, hood, en, -ous, etc.).

First of all, in modern English suffixation is characteristic of noun and adjective


formation. Prefixation is typical of verb formation.

Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of stems to which they are added.
e.g.: definite – indefinite; convenient – inconvenient.
In a suffixal derivative the suffix does not only modify the lexical meaning of
the stem, but the word itself is usually transferred to another part of speech.
e.g.: care(N) – careless (A), good (A) – goodness (N).

A suffix closely knit together with a stem forms a fusion retaining less of its
independence than a prefix which is, as a general rule, more independent
semantically.

e.g.: writing – the act of one who writes; the ability to write;
to rewrite – to write again.

In the English language there prevails either suffixation or prefixation, in the


Ukrainian language they can be used in the same word.
English suffixes usually transfer a word from one part of speech into another,
Ukrainian affixes never do it.

The Classification of Prefixes


Prefixes can be classified from the point of view of their meanings.
1. Among them we can single out prefixes of the negative meaning: un-,
in-, dis-, mis-.
e.g.: comfortable – uncomfortable, convenient – inconvenient, satisfied –
dissatisfied, understand – misunderstand.
2. Prefixes denoting reversal or repetition of an action: un-, dis-, re-, роз-,
пере-.
e.g.: lock – unlock, regard – disregard, consider – reconsider, єднати –
роз’єднати, писати – переписати.
3. Prefixes denoting space and time relations: fore-, pre-, post-, over-,
super-, до-, перед-, над-, під-, пере-, після-.
e.g.: tell – foretell, war – prewar, war – postwar, spread – overspread,
structure – superstructure, історичний – доісторичний, воєнний – післявоєнний,
водний – підводний.
4. Prefixes can be international:
- Anti-/анти- (antifascist, антифашист);
- Counter-/контр (countermarch, контрмарш);
- sub-/суб (submarine, субмарина).
5. Some prefixes can have a semantic identity only (but no linguistic
similarity):
- foresee – передбачити;
- extranatural – надприродний.
6.There can be semantically alien prefixes pertaining to one of the
contrasted languages:
- de- (decamp);
- mis- (misstate);
- по- (по-українському);
- що- (щонайкраще).
A specifically Ukrainian phenomenon is the usage of the prefix по-
(попоїсти).
In the Ukrainian language the most productive is the prefix не-, which is used to
form adjectives and nouns, but never verbs: нелегкий, невільний. A very
productive prefix is the prefix без-: безпомічний. In the English language this prefix
corresponds to the suffix –less: defenceless. The prefixes де-, дис-, а- are used as
parts of borrowed words and they are unproductive: децентралізація, дисбаланс,
асиметричний.

The Classification of Suffixes

1. Agent suffixes:
- -ist/ -іст/-ист (journalist, артист) ;
- ar/ -ар/-яр (scholar, школяр);
- ier-/-yer/ -ир (cashier, бригадир).
2. Suffixes denoting abstract notions:
- -ism/ -ізм (socialism, комунізм);
- -tion/ -ац (demonstration, демонстрація);
- -dom/ -ств/-цтв (kingdom, газетярство);
- -hood/ -ств (brotherhood, братство).
3. Evaluative suffixes:
- -ette (kitchenette);
- -y/-ie/-ey (sissy);
- -ling (duckling).
- -атк/ ятк (дівчатко, оленятко)
- -ик (ротик);
- -ечк (донечка);
- -ичк (сестричка);
- -ньк (дівчинонька).
All Ukrainian diminutive suffixes are productive. In English only –ie/ey, -ette
are productive.
4. Gender/sex expressing suffixes.
In the Ukrainian language they can express masculine gender:
- -ар/яр (лікар, школяр);
- -ист/іст (бандурист);
- -ій (водій);
- -ант/ент (студент).
Feminine gender can be expressed by means of the following suffixes:
- -к (артистка);
- -их (кравчиха).
Neuter gender is expressed by means of:
- -атк (курчатко);
- -к (вушко);
- -ц (винце).
English gender suffixes are only sex expressing: actor – actress.
5. International suffixes:
- -er/or ор(conductor, кондуктор);
- -ist/іст (socialist, соціаліст);
- -tion/ц (revolution, революція);
- -able/абельн(readable, читабельний).
In both languages there are semi-affixes. In English these are the
elements:
friendly, -something.
In Ukrainian the semi-suffixes are: повно-, ново-, само-, авто-, -вод, -воз
(повноправно, автопілот, водовоз, тепловоз).

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