Morphology-Affixes Essay

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INTRODUCTION The English language contains an enormous and ever-growing number of words. The words can consist of three parts: Root, Prefix, and Suffix. The Root is the part of the word which contains the basic meaning, or definition of the word. Prefixes and Suffixes are sets of letters which are added to the beginning or end of another word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence: if they are printed on their own they have a hyphen before or after them. In English, Process of word formation is called Affixation - addition of prefixes and suffixes; conversion- use of the word in another class without any changes; and compounding- joining 2 words to form another. This paper identifies not only the Affixation, Prefixes and Suffixes, but also gives some examples with its meaning and classification. If you know the common prefixes and suffixes of English, you will understand many more words. Mastering common prefixes and suffixes is like learning a code. Once you crack the code, you can recognize and even define unfamiliar words. (http://www.studymode.com/essays/English-Prefixes-And-Sufixes-245746.html) I. PREFIXES A Prefix is a word element placed in front of the root, which changes the word's meaning or makes a new word (http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/prefixes-suffixes.php). Here are some examples of Prefixes in forming new verbs, nouns, and adjectives: 1. Verbs E.g. prefix + verb verb Prefix Meaning Examples re- again or back restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild, refinance dis- reverses the meaning of the verb disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect, discontinue over- too much overbook, oversleep, overwork un- reverses the meaning of the verb unbend, uncouple, unfasten mis- badly or wrongly mislead, misinform, misidentify out- more or better than others outperform, outbid be- make or
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