The document discusses word formation processes in English including derivation, affixation, back-formation, and common prefixes and suffixes. It provides examples of prefixes and suffixes and their meanings. It also gives examples of how words can be formed by changing parts of speech through adding affixes.
The document discusses word formation processes in English including derivation, affixation, back-formation, and common prefixes and suffixes. It provides examples of prefixes and suffixes and their meanings. It also gives examples of how words can be formed by changing parts of speech through adding affixes.
The document discusses word formation processes in English including derivation, affixation, back-formation, and common prefixes and suffixes. It provides examples of prefixes and suffixes and their meanings. It also gives examples of how words can be formed by changing parts of speech through adding affixes.
The document discusses word formation processes in English including derivation, affixation, back-formation, and common prefixes and suffixes. It provides examples of prefixes and suffixes and their meanings. It also gives examples of how words can be formed by changing parts of speech through adding affixes.
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TOPIC 3
DERIVATION (WORD FORMATION) When you are reading, you will come across unfamiliar words. It is often possible to guess the meanings of these words if you understand the way words in English are generally formed.
prefix stem suffixes
An English word can be divided into three parts: a prefix, a stem, and a suffix.
Derivation is the word formation process in which a derivational affix attaches to the base form of a word to create a new word. Affixes, which include prefixes and suffixes, are bound morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest linguistic unit of a language with semantic meaning. Bound morphemes, unlike free morphemes, cannot stand alone but must attach to another morpheme such as a word. For example, the following two lists provide examples of some common prefixes and suffixes with definitions in English:
A. Prefixes (= are what comes before the stem, usually change the meaning of the word)
1. Negative and positive prefixes:
Prefix Meaning Example
Negative a- without, not atheism, anonymous un- Not unmagnetized in- Not incomplete im- Not impossible il- Not illegal ir- Not irregular, irrelevant a- Not amoral non- not connected with/ absence non-programmable mis- bad, wrong misdirect dis- opposite feeling/opposite disagree, disconnect action anti- against antiglare de- reduce, reverse demagnetize, decode under- too little underestimate Positive re- do again, repeatedly reorganize over- too much overload 2. Prefixes of size:
Prefix Meaning Example
semi- half, partly semiconductor equi- equal equidistant mini- small minicomputer micro- very small microcomputer macro- large, great macroeconomics mega- large, great megabyte
3. Prefixes of location:
Prefix Meaning Example
inter- between, among interface, interactive super- over supersonic trans- across transmit, transfer ex- out exclude, extrinsic extra- beyond extraordinary sub- under subschema, subscript infra- below infra-red, infrastructure peri- around peripheral
4. Prefixes of time and order:
Prefix Meaning Example
ante- before antecedent pre- before prefix prime- first primary, primitive post- after postdated retro- backward retroactive
5. Prefixes of numbers:
Prefix Meaning Example
semi- half semiconductor mono- one monochrome bi- two binary, bilingual tri- three triangle, quad- four quadriple, quadrant penta- five pentagon hex- six hexadecimal sept(em)- seven September oct- eight octal dec- ten decimal multi- many multiplexor, multitask,
6. Other prefixes: Prefix Meaning Example pro- before, in advance, forward program, progress auto- self Automatic, autopilot co- together, with co-ordinate con- together, with connect en- cause, to be endanger, enlighten ex- former, previous, from ex-wife, exclude
Practice 1
Fill in the gaps with the correct prefix from the following list.
auto de dec inter maxi mega micro mini mono multi semi sub
1. Most people prefer a colour screen to a ………. chrome screen.
2. ………script is a character or symbol written below and to the right of a number or letter, often used in science. 3. A ………byte equals approximately one million bytes. 4. Once you finish your program, you will have to test it and ………. bug it to remove all the mistakes. 5. The introduction of ……….conductor technology revolutionized the computer industry. 6. If a computer system has two or more central processors which are under common control, it is called a ……….processor system. 7. The ……….imal system is a number system with a base of 10. 8. When the user and the computer are in active communication on a graphics system, we refer to this as ……….active graphics.
B. Suffixes = ( what are attached to the end of the stem, change the word from one part of speech to another)
Grammatical Form Retaining Derivation
verb to verb: appear → disappear (prefix dis-)
noun to noun: friend → friendship adjective to adjective: practical → impractical (prefix im-)
Grammatical Form Changing Derivation
verb to noun: preserve → preservation
verb to adjective: bore → boring noun to verb: code → codify noun to adjective: nature → natural adjective to noun: ugly → ugliness adjective to verb: sweet → sweeten adjective to adverb: quick → quickly
Note that, although both processes involve the affixation of suffixes, derivation differs from inflection in that inflection results in the creation of a new form of the same word rather than a new word. For example, the addition of the third person singular -s inflectional suffix to verbs creates the third person singular form of verbs, e.g., eat and eats, and the addition of the plural -s inflectional suffix to nouns creates the plural form of nouns, e.g., dog and dogs. Both eats and dogs are new forms of the same word, eat and dog, rather than new words.
Back-Formation
Back-formation is the word formation process in which an actual or supposed derivational
affix detaches from the base form of a word to create a new word. For example, the following list provides examples of some common back-formations in English:
Back-formation is often the result of an overgeneralization of derivation suffixes. For
example, the noun back-formation entered the English lexicon first, but the assumption that the -(at)ion on the end of the word is the -ion derivational suffix results in the creation of the verb back-form. Back-formation, therefore, is the opposite of derivation
1. Noun-forming suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-ance state performance -ence quality of independence -er, -or a person who, agent programmer, operator a thing which complier, accumulator -ist, -yst a person who analyst, typist -ian pertaining to electrician -tion, -ation the act of compilation -ness condition of readiness -ion action/state conversion -ing activity multiplexing -ment state, action measurement -ity state, quality electricity -ion condition/state/action/practice conversion -dom domain/condition freedom -ship condition/state/character relationship/ partnership -ology study, science psychology -y characterized by, inclination, healthy condition
2. Verb-forming suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-ize/-ise computerize -ate automate, activate, calculate -ify to make / become/ cause to simplify, clarify be -en harden, widen, shorten, broaden, lengthen
3. Adverb-forming suffix
Suffix Meaning Examples
electronically, logically, -ly in the manner of/ like comparably, helpfully
wise clockwise, anti-clockwise
ward forward, backward, upward,
downward
4. Adjectives-forming suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-al computational, logical
-ar circular -ic magnetic, automatic having the quality of -ical electrical -able comparable capable of being, sense of -ible being divisible -ous like, full of dangerous, religious, spontaneous -ful characterized by helpful -less without careless -ish like yellowish, brownish, boyish -ed computed having the quality of
-ive interactive
Adjectives describe or modify—that is, they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns
She is a beautiful girl
Adj noun
She is beautiful Pronoun adj
Adverbs describe/modify verb, adjective and other adverbs.
1. She runs quickly
verb adv
they write a letter quickly
verb adverb
2. It is a quickly written letter
Adverb Adjective Noun
3. It is an extremely quickly written letter
adverb adverb
She is very beautiful
adverb adjective No smoking adjective noun
he is not smoking adverb verb
Practice 2 Look at these sentences. Write ‘noun,’ ‘verb,’ or ‘adjective’ in the space. 1. The scientist forms a hypothesis. _____________ 2. Computers can solve mathematical problems. ______________ 3. Scientists use a scientific method in their work. _____________ 4. Our calculations are always accurate. __________ 5. What is the correct form of this word? ________________ 6. A hypothesis is a special kind of guess. _____________ 7. A person who works in the field of physics is called a physicist. _____________ 8. Scientists make observations and perform experiments. _____________ 9. For the engineering student recent studies are the most relevant. _____________ 10. Transatlantic travelers who want time to relax and read book passage on one of the few luxury liners.
Practice 3 Read the following sentences and circle the suffixes. Underline the stem if it can be used on its own.
1. A programmer designs, writes, and tests programs for performing various tasks on computer. 2. A system analyst studies organizational systems and decides what action needs to be taken to maximize efficiency. 3. Laser printers are preferable to other types of printing devices because of their speed and quietness. 4. The microcomputer we have purchased does not have a FORTRAN compiler. It is programmable in BASIC only. 5. We have found that operators who have the freedom to take short breaks during the day greatly improve their performance. 6. The number of shipments will increase over the coming months. 7. We decided to computerize the entire plant to give each division more independence. 8. Spooling is a way of storing data temporarily on disk or tape until it can be processed by another part of system. 9. Turning your office into a paperless environment may be expensive at the beginning but can produce big savings in the long run. 10. Software developers are producing increasingly sophisticated applications for a growing global market. Practice 4 Choose the correct word to complete each sentence. You may have to change some words slightly. 1. consider, considered, consideration, considerable, considerably a. We’ll have to ………. using another company if they can’t provide the software we need. b. The software has invested a ………. sum of money in ergonomic workstations. c. The CEO has submitted this proposal for your ………. d. This computer is ………. faster than the old one.
a. We have interviewed five ………. for the new position. b. The last part of the form is not ………. to foreign students. c. My student is thinking of ………. for a government grant to continue his research. d. The new book uses business ………. to teach computer studies.
a. The package includes an ………. booklet. b. The instructions are very clear and do not require any further ………. c. It will only take a couple of minutes to ………. how the program works. d. If you are a new to this system, almost everything will have to be ……….
a. The company has supplied us ………. for over ten years. b. We have to reduce our ………. on imported goods. c. This is very ………. equipment. We have never had a serious breakdown. d. Today many companies ………. more on FAXes than on email.
a. The computer is the greatest ……… invention of the twentieth century. b. There are two ………. involved in a clipboard PC. c. Today’s computer are ……… far superior to those used a few years ago.
7. identify, identifying, identifiable, identity
a. The clipboard’s pattern recognition software immediately ………. the letters and numbers written by the stylus. b. Most computer companies will not allow people without an ………. card to enter their premises. c. A password is a mechanism for ………. the computer-user and allowing access.
a. The ………. of the manufacturing division will be expensive in the short term, but cost-effective in the long term. b. We should be able to ………. our profit for next year fairly accurately with the new program. c. I could tell from all the ………. on the board that a math lesson was in progress.
