Prefixation in the English language and its role in enriching the English vocabulary

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THE MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY SPECIAL EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

THE UZBEK STATE WORLD LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY

II ENGLISH PHILOLOGY FACULTY

ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY DEPARTMENT

QUALIFICATION PAPER

on

Prefixation in the English language and its role in enriching the English vocabulary

Written by the student of

the 4th course group 414 В

Rahmonova S.B.

Scientific supervisor:

Azizova F. S.

Reviewer:

Umarova M.V.

TASHKENT 2011

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter I. Word-formation and its basic peculiarities

1.1 Affixation in the English language

1.2 Degree of derivation

1.3 Homonymic derivational affixes

Chapter II. Prefixation in the English language

2.1 Prefixation. Some debatable problems

2.2 Classification of prefixes

2.4 Productive and non-productive word building prefixes

2.5 Some prefixes in the English language in comparison with the Uzbek language

Conclusion

The list of used literature

INTRODUCTION

This Qualification Paper is devoted to the theme «Prefixation in the English language and its role in enriching the English vocabulary».

The subject matter of the Qualification paper is «Prefixation in English and Uzbek languages.

The object of the research work is Prefixation and its classification, its productivity and non-productivity.

The main aim of the research work is the following tasks:

to give basic peculiarities of word formation;

affixation in the English language;

to study prefixations in English and Uzbek languages;

to give some examples of prefixes in the English language in comparison with the Uzbek language.

The actuality of the Qualification paper is the investigation of Prefixation in English and Uzbek languages.

The theoretical value of our qualification paper is to do through research in the field of prefixation. Besides that, it can be used in delivering lectures on English lexicology.

The practical value of the work is to study thoroughly prefixation in English and Uzbek languages.

The structure of the Qualification paper is as follows: introduction, 2 chapters, conclusion and summary and the last is used literature.

Introduction deals with the description of the structure of the Qualification paper.

Chapter I deals with the general notion of Word formation, affixation in the English language, degree of derivation and homonymic derivational affixes.

Chapter II deals with prefixation, some debatable problems, productive and non-productive word-building prefixes in the English language, and some examples in English and Uzbek languages.

Conclusion deals with the theoretical and practical results of the Qualification paper.

The list of used literature deals with the list of literature used in this research work.

If we describe a word as an autonomous suit of language in which a particular meaning is associated with a particular sound complex and which is capable of a particular grammatical employment and able to form a sentence by itself, we have the possibility to distinguish it from the other fundamental language unit, namely, the morpheme. According to the role the play in constructing words, morphemes are subdivided into roots and affixes. The latter are subdivided, according to their, position, into prefixes and infixes, and according to their function and meaning, into derivational and functional affixes, the latter also called endings or enter formatives.

Affixation is the formation of words with the help of derivational affixes. It is subdivided into prefixation and suffixation.

Ex: if a prefix dis is added to the stem like = (dislike) or suffix ful to law = (lawful) we say a word is built by an affixation.

Derivation morphemes added after the stem of the word are called suffixes (hand + ful).

Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the stem meaning i.e. the prefixed derivative mostly belongs to the same part of speech.

Ex: like (v) - dislike (v)

kind (adj) - unkind (adj)

but suffixes transfer words to a different part of speech: Ex: teach (v) - teacher (n) and so on.

Chapter I. Word-formation and its basic peculiarities

Word-building is one of the main ways of enriching vocabulary. There are four main ways of word-building in modern English: affixation, composition, conversion, abbreviation. There are also secondary ways of word-building: sound interchange, stress interchange, sound imitation, blends, back formation.

Affixation is one of the most productive ways of word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation. In our research we analyzed the problems of prefixation in English and Uzbek languages.

Word-formation is the process of creating new words from the material available in the language after certain structure and semantic formulas and patterns. For instance, the noun driver is formed after the pattern v + -er, i.e. a verb-stem + the noun-forming suffix -er. The meaning of the noun driver is related to the meanings of the stem drive and the suffix -er: "a driver is one who drives (a carriage, motorcar, railway engine, etc.)". Likewise compounds resulting from two or more stems joined together to form a new word are also built on quite definite structural and semantic patterns and formulas, for instance, adjectives of the snow- white type built according to the formula n + adj, i.e. a noun stem + an adjective stem: coal-black, age-long, care-free, etc.

It can easily be observed that the meaning of the whole compound is also related to the meanings of the component part.

It should be noted that the understanding the word-formation as expounded here excludes semantic word-building. By semantic word-building some linguists understand any change in word-meaning, e.g. stock - "the lower part of the trench of the tree"; "something lifeless or stupid"; "the part of an instrument that serves as a base", etc.; bench - "a long seat of wood or stone"; "a carpenter's table", etc. The majority linguists, however, understand this process only as a change in the meaning of a word that may result in the appearance of homonyms, as is the case with flower - "a blossom" and flour - "the fine meal", "powder, made from wheat and used for making bread"; magazine - "a publication" and magazine - "the chamber for cartridges in a gun or rifle", etc.

The application of the term word-forming to the process of semantic changes and to the appearance of homonyms due to the development of polysemy seems to be debatable for the following reasons: as semantic change does not, as a rule, lead to the introduction of a new word into the vocabulary, it can scarcely be regarded as a word-building means. Neither can we consider the process a word- building means even when an actual enlargement of the vocabulary does come about through the appearance of a pair of homonyms. Actually, the appearance of homonyms is not a means of creating new words, it is the final result of a long and laborious of sense development. Furthermore, there are no patterns after which homonyms can be made in the language. Finally, diverging sense-development results in a semantic isolation of two or more meanings of a word, whereas the process of word-formation proper is characterized by a certain semantic connection between the new word and its component parts. For these reasons diverging sense- development leading to the appearance of two or more homonyms should be regarded as a specific channel through which the vocabulary of a language is replenished with new words and should not be treated on a par with the process of word-formation, such as affixation, conversion and composition. H. Marchand - «The Categories and Types of Present English Word-Formation» 1960.

1.1 Affixation in the English language

Lexicology is primarily concerned with derivational affixes, the other group being the domain of grammarians. The derivational affixes in fact, as well as the whole problem of word-formation, form a boundary area between lexicology and grammar and are therefore studied in both.

Language being a system in which the elements of vocabulary and grammar are closely interrelated, our study of affixes cannot be complete without some discussion of the similarity and difference between derivational and functional morphemes.

The similarity is obvious as they are so often homonymous. Otherwise the two groups are essentially different because they render different types of meaning.

Functional affixes serve to convey grammatical meaning. They build different forms of one and the same word. A word-form, or the form of a word, is defined as one of the different aspects a word may take as a result of inflection. Complete sets of all the various forms of a word when considered as inflectional patterns, such as declensions or conjugations, are termed paradigms. A paradigm is therefore defined as the system of grammatical forms characteristic of a word, e.g. near, nearer, nearest; son, son's, sons, sons'.

Derivational affixes serve to supply the stem with components of lexical and lexico-grammatical meaning, and thus form different words. One and the same lexico-grammatical meaning of the affix is sometimes accompanied by different combinations of various lexical meanings. Thus, the lexico-grammatical meaning supplied by the suffix - y consists in the ability to express the, qualitative idea peculiar to adjectives and creates adjectives from noun stems. The lexical meanings of the same suffix are somewhat variegated: 'full of, as in bushy or cloudy, 'composed of, as in stony, 'having the quality of, as in slangy, 'resembling', as in baggy and some more. This suffix sometimes conveys emotional components of meaning. E.g. My school reports used to say: «Not amenable to discipline; too fond of organizing» which was only a kind way of saying: «Bossy?» (M. DICKENS) Bossy not only means 'having the quality of a boss' or 'behaving like a boss'; it is also an unkind derogatory word.

This fundamental difference in meaning and function of the two groups of affixes results in an interesting relationship: the presence of a derivational affix does not prevent a word from being equivalent to another word, in which this suffix is absent, so that they can be substituted for one another in context. The presence of a functional affix changes the distributional properties of a word so much that it can never be substituted for a simple word without violating grammatical standard. To see this point consider the following familiar quotation from Shakespeare:

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Here no one-morpheme word can be substituted for the words cowards, times or deaths because the absence of a plural mark will make the sentence ungrammatical. The words containing derivational affixes can be substituted by morphologically different words, so that the derivative valiant can be substituted by a root word like brave.

Semi-Affixes and Boundary cases between derivation and inflection

There are cases, however, where it is very difficult to drawer hard and fast line between roots and affixes on the one hand, and derivational affixes and in flexional formatives on the other. The distinction between these has caused much discussion and is no easy matter altogether.

There are a few roots in English which have developed great combining ability in the position of the second element of a word and a very general meaning similar to that of an affix. They receive this name because semantically, functionally, structurally and statistically they behave more like affixes than like roots. Their meaning is as general. They determine the lexicon-grammatical class the word belongs to. Cf sailor: seaman, where - man is a semi-affix.

Another specific group is farmed by the adverb-forming suffix - ly, following adjective stems, and the noun-forming suffixes: - ing, - ness, - er and by - ed added to a combination of two stems: fainthearted, long legged. By their almost unlimited combining possibilities (high valiancy) and the almost complete fusion of lexical and lexicon-grammatical meaning they resemble inflectional formatives. The derivation with these suffixes is so regular and the meaning and function of the derivatives so obvious that such derivatives are very often considered not worth an entry in the dictionary and therefore omitted as self-evident. Almost every adjective stem can produce an adverb with the help of - ly and an abstract noun by taking up the suffix - ness. Every verbal stem can produce the name of the doer by adding - er and the name of the process or its result by adding - ing. A suffix approaching those in productivity is - ish denoting a moderate degree of the quality named in the stem. Therefore these words are explained in dictionaries by referring the reader to the underlying stem. For example, in Concise Oxford dictionary we read: «womanliness-the quality of being womanly; womanized in senses of the verb; womanishly-in a womanish manner; womanly adv-in a womanly manner, womanishness-the quality or state of being womanish.» prefixation english uzbek

These affixes are remarkable for their high valence also in the formation of compound derivatives corresponding to free phrases. Examples are: every day: everydayness.

Allomorphs

The combining from allo-from Greek allo «other» is used in linguistic terminology to denote elements of a group whose members together constitute a structural unit of the language (allophones, allomorphs). Thus, for example, - ion / - tion / - sion / - ation are the positional variants of the same suffix. To show this they are taken together and separated by the sign/. They do not differ in meaning or function but shav a slight difference in sound from depending on the final phoneme of the preceding stem. They are considered as variants of one and the same morpheme and called its allomorphs. Descriptive linguistics deals with the regularities in the distributional relations among the features and elements of speech, i. e. their occurrence restively to each other within utterances. The approach to the problem is consequently based on the principles of distributional analysis.

An allomorph is defined as a positional variant of a morpheme occurring in a specific environment and so characterized by complementary distribution. Complementary distribution is said to take place hen two linguistic variants cannot appear in the same environment. Thus, stems ending in consonants take as a rule - ation (liberation); stems ending in pt, however, take - tion (corruption) and the final t becomes fused with the suffix.

Different morphemes are characterized by, contrastive distribution, i.e. if they occur in the same environment they signal different meanings. The suffixes - able and - ed, for instance are different morphemes, not allomorphs, because adjectives in - able mean «capable of being»: measurable «capable of being measured», whereas - ed as a suffix of adjectives has a resultant force: measured «marked by due proportion», as the measured beauty of classical Greek art; hence also «rhythmical» and «regular in movement», as in the measured from of verse, the measured tread.

In same cases the difference is not very clear-cut - ic and - ical, for example, are two different affixes, the first a simple one, the second a group affix; they are characterized by contrastive, distribution. That is, many adjectives have both the - ic and - ical form, often without a distinction in meaning COD points out, that the suffix - ical shows a vaguer connection with what is indicated by the stem: comic paper but comical story. However, the distinction between them is not very sharp.

Allomorphs will also occur among prefixes. Their form then depends on the initials of the stem with which the will assimilate. A prefix such as im-occurs before bilabials (impossible), its allomorph ir-before r (irregular), il-before l (illegal). It is in - before all other consonants and vowels (indirect, inability).

Two or more sound forms of a stem existing under conditions of complementary distribution may also be regarded as allomorphs, as, for instance, in long a: length n, excite y: excitation, n.

In American descriptive linguistics allomorphs are treated on a purely semantic basis, so that not only [iz] in dishes, [z] in dreams and [s] in dreams and [s] in books, which are allomorphs in the sense given above, but also formally unrelated [in] in oxen, the vowed modification in tooth: teeth and zero suffix in many sheep, are considered to be allomorphs of the same morpheme on the strength of the sameness of their grammatical meaning. This surely needs some serious re-thinking, as within that kind of approach morphemes cease to be linguistic units combining the two fundamental aspects of form and meaning and become pure abstractions. The very term morpheme (from the 6 reek morphe «form») turns in to a misnomer because all connection with form is lost. Allomorphs there sore are phonetically conditioned positional variants of the same derivational or functional morpheme (suffix, root or suffix) identical in meaning and function and differing in sound only insomuch, as their complementary distribution produces various phonetic assimilation effects.

1.2 Degree of Derivation

Affixation is generally defined as the formation of words by adding derivational affixes to stems. On the morphemic level every word firmed by means of affixation has only one root morpheme, which is its semantic center and one are more derivational affixes. For instance, the words displace and realism have each only one root-morpheme and one derivational affix the prefix dis- and the suffix - ism, whereas the noun reappearance consists of the prefix re-, the root-morpheme appear - and the suffix - ance. On the derivational level derived words comprise a primary stem (the stem being in itself either a simple, a derived or a compound stem) and a derivational affix. For instance, violinist = n + - ist (a simple stem), friendliness = (n + - ly) + - ness (a derived stem), chairmanship = (n + n) + - ship (a compound stem).

The stems of words making up a word - cluster enter into derivational relation is ascribed to simple words, i.e. words whose stem is homonymous with a root-morpheme, e.g. atom, haste, devote, etc. atomic, hasty, devotion, etc. derived words formed by two consecutive stages of coining possess the second degree of derivation, etc, e.g. atomic, hasty, devotion, etc. the following diagram graphically represents the hierarchy of derivational relation within a word-cluster, the indexes 0, 1,2, etc. indicating the corresponding degree of derivation.

In conformity with the division of derivational affixes into suffixes and prefixes affixation is subdivided into suffixation and prefixation. Distinction is naturally made between prefixal and suffixal derivation, e.g. unjust, rearrange, justly, arrangement. Word like reappearance, unreasonable, denationalize are generally qualified as prefixal - suffixal derivatives. The reader should clearly realize that this qualification paper is relevant only in terms of the constituent morphemes such words are made up of, i.e. from the angle of morphemic analysis from the point of view of derivational analyses such words are mostly suffixal or prefixal derivates e.g. reappearance = (re + appear) + - ance, unreasonable = un+ (reason + - able), denationalize = de + (national- + ize).

A careful study of a great many suffixal and prefixal derivatives has revealed an essential difference between them. In Modern English suffixation is characteristic of noun and adjective formation, while prefixation is typical of verb formation. As a general rule, prefixes modify the lexical meaning of stems to which they are added. A prefixal derivative usually joins the part of speech the unprefixed word belongs to, e.g. unusual - cf. usual, indefinite - cf. definite, discomfort-cf. comfort, etc. In a suffixal derivative the suffix does not only modify the lexical meaning of the stem it is affixed to, but the word itself is usually transferred to another part of speech, e.g. care-less a - cf. care n; suit-able a - cf. suit v; good- ness n - cf. good adj., etc. Furthermore, it is necessary to point out that 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, cf. reading - «the act of one who reads»; ability to read; and to re-read - «to read again».

Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefix. Although the terms «prefix» and «prefixation» are now firmly rooted in linguistic terminology, they are treated differently in linguistic literature. They are linguists, for instance, who treat prefixation as part of word - composition (or compounding); they believe that a prefix has the same function as the first component of a compound word. The majority of linguists, however, treat prefixation as an integral part of word - derivation regarding prefixes as derivational affixes which differ essentially from root-morphemes and stems.

Some linguists' think it necessary to distinguish between two types of prefixes: (1) those not correlated with any independent word (either notional or functional), e.g. un-, dis-, re-, etc; and (2) those correlated with functional words (prepositions or preposition - like adverbs), e.g. out-, over-, up-, etc. Prefixes of the second type are qualified as semi bound morphemes, which implies that they, occur in the language both or independent words and as derivational affixes, e.g. over one's head, over the river (cf. over head, overbalance); to run put, to take out (cf. to outgrow, to outline); to look up, hands up! (cf. upstairs, to upset), etc. it seems correct to distinguish between the two tops of prefixes here mentioned and the distinction should be observed in linguistic literature on the subject. However, the qualification of type II prefixes as semi - bound morphemes is open to criticism, for English prefixes of this type essentially differ from the functional words they are correlated with:

these prefixes are characterized by a high frequency pages in a comprehensive dictionary will prove beyond doubt;

like any other derivational affixes they have a more concrete meanings of the correlated words (see the examples given above).

They are deprived of all grammatical features peculiar to the independent words they are correlated with. R.S. Ginzburg «A course in Modem English lexicology» M. 1979

Therefore it seems to be more adequate to qualify such prefixes, at least in the English language, as bound morphemes and regard them as homonyms of the corresponding independent words, e.g. the prefix out, the prefix over - with the preposition and the adverb over, etc.

Of late some new investigations into the problem of prefixation in English have yielded interesting results. It appears that the traditional opinion, current among linguists, that prefixes modify only the lexical meaning of words without changing the part of speech is not quite correct with regard to the English language.

In English there are about 25 prefixes which can transfer words to a different part of speech in comparison with their original stems. Such prefixes should perhaps be could convective prefixes, e.g. to be gulf (cf. gulf n.), to debus (q. bus n.), to embronze (cf. frozen), prewar a (cf. war n.), etc. If further investigation of English prefixation gives more proofs of the convertive ability of prefixes, it will then be possible to draw the conclusion that in this respect there is no functional difference between suffixes and prefixes, for suffixes in English are also both convertive (cf. hand-handless) and non-convertive (cf. father-fatherhood, horseman - horsemanship, etc).

According to the available word-counts of prefixal derivatives in the greatest number are verbs 42,4 %, adjectives comprise 33,5 % and nouns make up 22,4 %.

For example:

Prefixal verbs: to enrich, to co-exist, to disagree, to undo.

Prefixal adjectives: anti-war, biannual, uneasy, super human.

Prefixal nouns: ex-champion, co-author, disharmony, subcommittee.

It is of interest to mention that the number of prefixal derivatives with a certain part of speech is inverse proportion to the actual number of prefixes: 22 form verbs

prefixes make adjectives

nouns.

Proceeding from the three types of morphemes that the structural classification involves two types of prefixes are to be distinguished.

those not correlated with any independent word (either notional or functional)

those correlated with functional words (prepositions or preposition-like adverbs) ex: but -, over -, up -, under -.

Prefixes of the second type are qualified as semi bound morphemes, which implies that they occur in speech in various utterances both as independent words and as derivational affixes.

Ex: over one's head, to overpass, to look up, upstairs

It should be mentioned that English prefixes of the second type essentially differ from the functional words, they are correlated with:

like any derivational affixes they have a more generalized meaning in comparison with the more concrete meanings of the correlated words they are characterized by a unity of different derivational component of meaning - a generalized component common to a set of prefixes and individual semantic component distinguishing the given prefix within the set.

They are deprived of all grammatical features peculiar to the independent words they are correlated words.

They tend to develop meaning not bound in the correlated words.

They form regular sets of words of the semantic type.

In English there are about 25 prefixes which can transfer words to a different part of speech in comparison with their original stems. Such prefixes should perhaps be called convertive prefixes.

Ex: to begulf - gulf (n) to debus - bus (n) to embronze - bronze (n) etc.

If further investigations of English prefixation gives more proofs of the convertive ability of prefixes, it will then be possible to draw the conclusion that in this respect there is no functional difference between suffixes and prefixes, for suffixes in English are also both convertive:

Ex: convertive hand (n) - handless

And non convertive father - fatherhood

Some recent investigations in the field of English affixation have revealed a close in dependence between the meaning of a polisemantic affix and lexico- semantic group to which belongs the base it is affixed to, which results in the difference between structural and structural-semantic derivational patterns the prefix forms. An illustration is in the prefix en, when within the same structural patterns en + n - v, the prefix is combined with noun bases denoting articles of closing, things of luxury, etc. it forms derived verbs expressing an action of putting or placing on.

x: enrobe - robe enjewel - jewel enlace - lace

When adding to noun bases referring to various land forms, means of transportation, containers and notions of geometry it builds derived verbs denoting an action of putting or placing, in or into.

Ex: embed - bed

entrap - trap etc.

In combination with noun bases denoting an agent or an abstract notion the prefix en-produces causative verbs.

Ex: enslave - slave

endanger - danger.

A careful study of a great many suffixal and prefixal derivatives has revealed an essential difference between them. In Modern English suffixation is characteristic of noun and adjective formation, while prefixation is typical of verb formation. As a general rule, prefixes modify the lexical meaning of stems to which they are added.

Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefix. Although the terms «prefix» and «prefixation» are now firmly rooted in linguistic terminology, they are treated differently in linguistic literature. They are linguists, for instance, who treat prefixation as part of word - composition (or compounding); they believe that a prefix has the same function as the first component of a compound word. The majority of linguists, however, treat prefixation as an integral part of word - derivation regarding prefixes as derivational affixes which differ essentially from root-morphemes and stems.

If further investigations of English prefixation gives more proofs of the convertive ability of prefixes, it will then be possible to draw the conclusion that in this respect there is no functional difference between suffixes and prefixes, for suffixes in English are also both convertive.

In English there are about 25 prefixes which can transfer words to a different part of speech in comparison with their original stems. Such prefixes should perhaps be could convective prefixes.

Some linguists think it necessary to distinguish between two types of prefixes: (1) those not correlated with any independent word (either notional or functional), e.g. un-, dis-, re-, etc; and (2) those correlated with functional words (prepositions or preposition-like adverbs), e.g. out-, over-, up-, etc. Prefixes of the second type are qualified as semi bound morphemes, which implies that they, occur in the language both or independent words and as derivational affixes.

1.3 Homonymic Derivational affixes

The various changes that the English language has undergone in the course of time led to chance coincidence in form of two or more derivational affixes. As a consequence and this is characteristic of Modern English, many homonymic derivational affixes can be found among those forming both different parts of speech and different semantic groupings within the same part of speech. For instance, the adverb-suffix -ly added to adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -ly affixed to noun-bases, cf. quickly, slowly and lovely, friendly; the verb-suffix -en attached to noun and adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -en tacked on to noun-bases, cf. to strengthen, to soften and wooden, golden; the verb-prefix -un₂ added to noun and verb-bases is homonymous to the adjective prefix -un₂ affixed to adjectival bases, cf. to unbind, to unshoe and unfair, untrue, etc.

On the other hand, there are two homonymous adjective-suffixes -ish and - ish₂ occurring in words like bluish, greenish, and girlish, boyish. In some books on English Lexicology the suffix -ish in these two groups of words is regarded as one suffix having two different meanings. If we probe deeper into the matter, however, we shall inevitably arrive at the conclusion that we are dealing with two different homonymous suffixes: one in bluish, the other in girlish. The reasons are as follows: the suffix -ish in bluish, reddish, etc. only modifies the lexical meaning of the adjective-base it is affixed to without changing the part of speech. The suffix -ish₂ in bookish, girlish, womanish, etc. is added to noun-base to form an adjective. Besides, the suffix -ish and -ish₂ differ considerable in the denotation meaning so that no semantic connection may be traced between them: the suffix - ish means «somewhat like» corresponding to the Russian suffix оват- in such adjectives as голубоватый, красноватый etc.; the suffix -ish means «of the nature of, resembling», often derogatory in force, e.g. childish - ребяческий, несерьезный (cf. childlike - детский, простой, невинный, hoggish - свинский, жадный. etc.).

In the course of its long history the English language has adopted a great many words from foreign languages all over the world. One of the consequences of extensive borrowing was appearance of numerous derivational affixes in the English language. Under certain circumstances some of them came to overlap semantically to a certain extent both with one another and with the native affixes. For instance, the suffix -er of native origin denoting the agent is synonymous to the suffix -ist of Greek origin which came into the English language through Latin in the 16^Ih century. Both suffixes occur in nouns denoting the agent, e.g. teacher, driller; journalist, botanist, economist, etc. Being, synonymous these suffixes naturally differ from each other in some respects. Unlike the suffix -er, the suffix - ist is: mostly combined with noun-base, e.g. violinist, receptionist, etc.;

as a rule, added to bases of non-Germanic origin and very seldom to bases of Germanic origin, e.g. walkist, rightist;

used to form nouns denoting those who adhere to a doctrine or system, a political party, an ideology or the like, e.g. communist, Leninist, Marxist, chartist, Darwinist, etc. Words in -ist denoting «the upholder of a principle)) are usually matched by an abstract noun in -ism denoting «the respective theory» (e.g. Communism, Socialism, etc.).

Sometimes synonymous suffixes differ in emotive charge. For instance, the suffix -eer also denoting the agent is characterized, in peculiar, by its derogative force, e.g. sonneteer - стихоплет, profiteer - спекулянт, etc.

There is also a considerable number of synonymous prefixes in the English language. Recent research has revealed certain rules concerning correlation between words with synonymous prefixes of native and foreign origin. It appears, for instance, that in prefixal - suffixal derivatives the general tendency is to use a prefix of Romanic origin if the suffix is also of Romanic origin and a native prefix in the case of a native suffix, cf. unrecognized - irrecognizable; unlimited - illimited; unformed - informal; undecided - indecisive, etc. though adequately reflecting the general tendency observed in similar cases this rule has many exceptions. The basic exception is the suffix -able which may often occur together with the native prefix un-, e.g. unbearable, unfavorable, unreasonable, etc. In fact, the pattern un- + (v + able) - A wide-spread and productive in Modern English.

Distinction is usually made between dead and living affixes. Dead affixes are described as those which are no longer felt in Modern English as component parts of words; they have so fused with the base of the word as to lose their independence completely. It is only by special etymological analysis that they may be singled out, e.g. -d in dead, seed; -le, -I, -el in bundle, sail, hovel; -ock in hillock; -lock in wedlock; -t in flight, gift, height. It is quite clear that dead suffixes are irrelevant to present day English word-formation, they belong in its diachronic study.

Living affixes may be easily singled out from a word, e.g. the noun forming suffixes -ness, -dom, -hood, -age, -ance, as in darkness, freedom, childhood, marriage, assistance, etc.

The term hybrid word is, needless, to say, of diachronic relevance only. Here distinction should be made between two basic groups:

1) Cases when a foreign stem is combined with a native affix, as in colourless, uncertain. After complete adoption the foreign stem is subject to the same treatment as native stems and new words are derived from it at a very early stage. For instance, such suffixes as -ful, -less, -ness were used with French words as early as 1300;

2) Cases when native stems are combined with foreign affixes, such as drinkable, joyous, shepherdess. Here the assimilation of a structural pattern is involved, therefore some time must pass before a foreign affix comes to be recognized by speakers as a derivational morpheme that can be tacked on to native words. Therefore such formations are found much later than those of the first type and are less numerous. The early assimilation of -able is an exception. Some foreign affixes, as -ance, -al, -ity, have never become productive with native stems.

Reinterpretation of borrowed words gave rise to affixes which may not have been regarded as such in the source language. For instance, -scape occurring in such words as seascape, cloudscape, mountainscape, moonscape, etc. resulted from landscape of Dutch origin. The suffix -ade developed from lemonade of French origin, giving rise to fruitade, orangeade, gingerade, pineappleade, etc.; the noun electron of Greek origin contributed the suffix -tron very widely used in coining scientific and technical terms, e.g. cyclotron, magnetron, synchrophasotron, thyratron, etc.

Affixation (prefixation and suffixation) is the formation of the words by adding derivational affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to bases. One distinguished between derived words of different degrees of derivation.

There are quite a number of polysemantic, homonymous and synonymous derivational affixes in Modern English.

Classification of derivational affixes are based on different principles such as:

the part of speech formed;

the lexico-grammatical character of the stem the affix is added to;

its meaning;

its stylistic reference;

the degree of productivity;

the origin of the affix (native or borrowed), etc.;

The productivity of derivational affixes is relative and conditioned by various factors.

Many of the Modern English derivational affixes were at one time independent words. Others have always been known as suffixes or prefixes within the history of the English vocabulary. Some of them are of international currency.

In the course of its long history the English language has adopted a great many words from foreign languages all over the world. One of the consequences of extensive borrowing was appearance of numerous derivational affixes in the English language. Under certain circumstances some of them came to overlap semantically to a certain extent both with one another and with the native affixes. There is also a considerable number of synonymous prefixes in the English language. Recent research has revealed certain rules concerning correlation between words with synonymous prefixes of native and foreign origin.

Distinction is usually made between dead and living affixes. Dead affixes are described as those which are no longer felt in Modern English as component parts of words; they have so fused with the base of the word as to lose their independence completely.

Reinterpretation of borrowed words gave rise to affixes which may not have been regarded as such in the source language. For instance, -scape occurring in such words as seascape, cloudscape, mountainscape, moonscape, etc. resulted from landscape of Dutch origin. The suffix -ade developed from lemonade of French origin, giving rise to fruitade, orangeade, gingerade, pineappleade, etc.; the noun electron of Greek origin contributed the suffix -tron very widely used in coining scientific and technical terms.

Before beginning to analyzing the prefixation we decided to give little more information about suffixation of the English language.

Classification of suffixes

Depending on purpose of research, various classifications of suffixes have been used and suggested. Suffixes have been classified according to their origin, parts of speech they served to form, their frequency, productivity and other characteristics.

Within the parts of speech suffixes have been classified semantically according to lexico-grammatical groups, and last but not least, according to the types of stems they are added to.

In conformity with our primarily synchronic approach it seems convenient to begin with the classification according to the part of speech in which the most frequent suffixes of present-day English occur. They will be listed accordingly together with words illustrating their possible semantic force.

It shall be, noted that diachronic approach would view the problem of morphological analysis differently, for example, in the word complete they would look for the traces of the Latin complet-us.

Noun-forming suffixes:

- age (bondage, breakage, mileage, vicarage); - ance/ - ence (assistance, reference); - ant/ - ent (disinfectant, student); - dom (kingdom, freedom, officialdom); - ee (employee); - eer (profiteer); - er (writer, type-writer); - ess (actress, lioness); - hood (manhood); - ing (building, meaning, washing); - ion, - sion, - tion, ation (rebellion, creation, tension, explanation); - ism/ - icism (heroism, criticism); - ist (novelist, communist); - ment (government, nourishment); - nees (tenderness); - ship (friendship); - (i) ty (sonority).

Adjective-forming suffixes:

- able/ - ible/ - uble (unbearable, audible, soluble); - al (formal); - ic (poetic); - ical (ethical); - ant/ - ent (repentant, dependent); - ary (revolutionary); - ate/ - ete (accurate, complete); - ed/ - d (wooded); - ful (delightful); - ian (African, Australian); - ish (Irish, reddish, childish); - ive (active); - less (useless); - like (lifelike); - ly (manly); - ous/ ious (tremendous, curious); - some (tiresome); - y (cloudy, dressy).

Numeral-forming suffixes:

- fold (twofold); - teen (fourteen); - th (seventh); - ty (sixty)

Verb-forming suffixes:

- ate (facilitate); - er (glimmer); - en (shorten); - fy/ - ify (terrify, speechify, solidify); - ize (equalize); - ish (establish).

Adverb-forming suffixes:

- ly (coldly); - ward/ - wards (upward, northwards); - wise (likewise).

If we change our approach and become interested in the lexico-grammatical meaning the suffixes serve to signalize, we obtain within each part of speech more detailed lexico-grammatical classes or subclasses.

A lexico-grammatical class may be defined as a class of lexical elements possessing the same lexico-grammatical meaning and a common system of forms in which the grammatical categories inherent in these units are expressed. The elements of one class are substituted by the same prop-words the term prop-word is a term of syntax. It denotes a word whose main function is to provide the structural completeness of a word-group. A prop-word or an an aphonic word stands for another word already said or written. Personal pronouns he or she substituting nouns class them as personal nouns for either male or female beings.

The words one, do and to are the most specifically English examples of prop-words. Compare the various functions of do and to in the Following: «Even if I did go, couldn't do any good» Charles paused and said: «I m afraid that I want you to». «Why do you? (SAAU)» and characterized by identical morphological patterns and a common set of derivational affixes. Taking up nouns we can subdivide them into proper and common nouns. Among common nouns we shall distinguish personal names, names of other animate beings, collective nouns, falling into several minor groups, material nouns, abstract nouns and names of things.

Abstract nouns are signaled by the following suffixes:

- age, - ance/ - ence, - ancy/ - ensy, - dom, - hood, - ing, - ion/ - tion/ - ation, - ism, - ment, - ness, - ship, - th, - ty.

See examples above.

Personal nouns that are emotionally neutral occur with the following suffixes: - an (grammarian), - ant/ - ent (servant, student), - arian (vegetarian), - ee (examinee), - er (porter), - ician (musician), - ist (linguist), - ite (sybarite), - or (inspector), and a few others.

Feminine suffixes may be classed as a subgroup of personal noun suffixes. These are few and not frequent: - ess (actress), - ine (heroine), - rix (testatrix), - ette (suffragette).

The above classification should be accepted with caution. It is true that in a polysemantic word at least one of the variants witl show the class meaning signaled by the affix. There may be other variants, however, whose different meaning will be signaled by a difference in distribution, and these will belong to some other lexico-grammatical class. C.f. settlement, translation denoting a process and its result, or beauty which, when denoting qualities that give pleasure to the eye or to the mind, is an abstract noun, but occurs also as a personal noun denoting a beautiful woman. The word witness is more often used in its several personal meanings that (in accordance with its suffix) as an abstract noun meaning evidence or «testimony». The coincidence of two classes in the semantic structure of some words may be almost regular. Collectivity, for instance may be signaled by such suffixes as - dom, - ery, - hood, - ship. It must be borne in mind, however, that words with these suffixes are poly semantic and show a regular correlation of the abstract noun denoting state and a collective noun denoting a group of persons of whom this state is characteristic. CF. knighthood.

Alongside with adding some lexico-grammatical meaning to the stem, certain suffixes charge it with emotional force. They may be derogatory: - ard (drunkard); - ling (underling); - ster (gangster); - ton (simpleton). These seem to be more numerous in English that the suffixes of endearment.

Emotionally coloured diminutive suffixes rendering also endearment differ from the derogatory suffixes in that they are used to name not only persons but things as well. This point may be illustrated by the suffix - y/ - ie/ - ey: auntie, cabbie (cabman), daddie, but also: hanky (handkerchief), nightie (nightgown). Other suffixes that express smallness are - en (chicken): - kin/ kins (mannikin); - let (booklet); - ock (hillcack); et (cornet).

The connotation of same diminutive suffixes is not one or endearment but of some outlandish elegance and novelty, particularly in the case of the borrowed suffix - ette (kitchenette, launderette, lecturette, maisonette, etc). The diminutive suffixes being not very productive, there is a tendency to express the same meaning by the semiaffix mini- : mini-bus, mini-car, mini-crisis, mini-skirt, etc. Which may be added to words denoting both objects situations.

A suffix is a derivative final element which as or formely was productive in forming words. A suffix has semantic value, but it does not occur as an independent speech unit.

Suffixes and endings

It is necessary to point out the similarity and difference between derivative and functional morphemes. Morphologically, two words such as citizen and citizenry are formed after the same principle of root plus affix. At first sight, the conceptual structure also looks very much alike: the-s of citizens and the - ry of citizenry both express the idea of plurality, collectivity. But the difference in valued is one between grammatical function and lexical meaning. The - s of citizens is the inflectional formative of the grammatical category «plural» where - ry forms a class of words with the semantic basis «group», collectivity of…».

A suffixal derivative is primarily a lexical form. It is a two-morpheme word which behaves like a one-morpheme word in that it is «grammatically equivalent to any simple word in all the constructions where it occurs» (Bloch-Trager, OLA 54). An inflected word is primarily a grammatical form which does not meet the requirements just stated. While in a sentence such as this citizenry feels insulted we could substitute the simple, one-morpheme words crowd, multitude, nation for bi-morphemic citizenry without any change in the behavior of the other members of the sentence, replacement by the two-morpheme word citizens would involve a change of this to these and of feels to feel. The formatives - er, - est as expressing degree of comparison are endings, not suffixes. In a sentence such as Paul is older than Peter we could not substitute any one-morpheme word for bi-morphemic old-er whereas in he is rather o l dish the adj old can take the place of old-ish. It will also be interesting to note the different phonetic make-up of comparatives and super lateness compared with derived adjectives. Youngish, longish betray the morpheme boundary before - ish in that the final consonant does not change before the initial vowel of the derivative suffix whereas in younger, longer the consonants are treated as standing in medial position in unit words, just like finger or clangor, [jg] being the ante vocalic (and ante sonantic) allophone of [j].

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