Page 317 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 24: Word-Formation: Derivation, Inflection

category. One derivational affix can combine with words of different grammatical categories, for Notes
example, prefix dis-can be combined with noun (disorder), with verb (disobey), etc. Another
important fact is that, if a derivational affix is combined with the word of a particular gramatical
category, it does not mean that same affix can be combined with all the words of that grammatcial
category. For example, -er (a suffix) when attached with verbs creates actor noun such as player,
killer, etc. but -er cannot be combined with all theverbs in English to create an actor noun. It is
difficult for us to imagine words like dieer, understander, etc.
Meaning based classifications of derivational affixes i.e., dis- as a negative affix and -er as an actor
affix does not work well in case of derivational prefixes. Though, it seems to work fine with
derivational prefixes. But in case of suffixes is does not prove to be fruitful because, every
derivational suffix imposes a different effect on the stems and sometimes same suffix changes the
meaning of different stem in different manner. For example, as we have seen that -er derives actor
noun when attached to a verb like player -one who plays, but when -er is attached to a word like
teenage to become teenager, the above description fails.
Another way of classifying the derivational affixes is no the basis of the relating new words to
their ‘syntactic interpretation’. For example, words derived from the attachment of derivational
suffix ‘-able’, when relate to their syntactic interpretations tell us - “that which can be ...” For
example, ‘breakable - which can be broken’; ‘drinkable–which can be drunk’, etc. But this approach
too, cannot be generalized as it does not tell us anything about the meaning of the derived word,
like is case of readable, it tells something which can be read, but readable means something which
is worth reading, something which can be read with enjoyment.
In the dark shadows of confusion regarding the classification of derivational affixes, it would be
better if we keep following points in mind:
1. Try to use meaning in case of prefixes, as long as it proves to be helpful.
2. Classification of derivational suffixes involves two stages
(i) Classification on the basis of grammatical categories like noun suffixes, verb suffixes, etc.
(ii) Classification of these sub-categories again on the basis of stem.
Derivational Prefixes: Number of derivational prefixes is not much. Some common examples are
negative prefixes like dis-, un-, in-, etc. Apart from adding the negative effect, prefixes are also used for
several other purposes. Following are the ways in which prefixes can modify the meaning of the stem:
1. Negative: Common prefixes are un-, a-, in-, dis-, and non-.
2. Reversal and Deprivation: The well known example is de-, as in dethrone. Apart from de, dis-
and un- are also used for this purpose. Examples are, disown, disconnect, unpack, etc.
3. Disparagement: Common examples are mal- mis-, pseudo-, etc., these are also called pejorative
affixes because, when combined with stem they add meanings like sad, wrong, false, etc.
4. Expressing Number: bi-, mono-, semi-, etc.
5. Expressing Degree:arch-, co-, extra-, etc.
6. Expressing Size: micro-, mini-, macro-, etc.
7. Expressing Rank: super-, sub-, under-, etc.
8. Expressing Time and Order: ex-, fore, pre, etc.
9. Expressing Location: fore-, inter-, super-, sub- etc.
10. Expressing Attitude: pro-, anti-, counter-, etc.
11. Expressing Orientation: counter-, anti-, etc.
Let us first classify derivational suffixes on the basis of grammatical categories of the resulting or
the product words.
1. Noun Suffixes: Those suffixes which create nouns, for example, -hood, -dome, -ism, -ship, etc.
2. Adjective Suffixes: These suffixes when combine with stem create adjectives. For example, -
ful, -ish, -less, etc.

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