44166.

STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 1
Much of this is based on Hans Marchand (1969) The Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word Formation, second edition. Mnchen: C. H. Beck, and on Mark AronoT (1976) Word Formation in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.. Some of the analysis is diTerent, however.

Some aUxes, in addition to being attached to words, can also be attached to non-words (either stems which do not occur by themselves; or stems which are allomorphs of words, but allomorphs which do not themselves occur as words; or stems augmented by a connector i or u). These are called Class I aUxes. Other aUxes are more limited: they can only be attached to stems which are words (free forms). These are Class II aUxes. Since Class II aUxes are restricted to attaching to words, they are said to attach with a word boundary (#) instead of a simple morpheme boundary (+). The vocabulary of English, both words and aUxes, is divided into forms that have their origin in Old English (called native) and those that came into the language later, most commonly from French (called foreign).

Affixes that form nouns from verbs

action nouns General comment: when an action noun is formed from a verb, most of its syntactic properties are preserved. The subject of the verb becomes the s-marked subject of the noun, the object of the verb becomes the object of the noun (objects of nouns are marked with the preposition of), and so on. For example: [S Bill reorganized the oUce] [NP Bills reorganization of the oUce] -ing
native

very productive Class II drink#ing, bett#ing, jump#ing, kiss#ing, laugh#ing, print#ing, hous#ing, build#ing derived from noun: bedd#ing, sheet#ing, carpet#ing

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 2
-ion/ation/ition [-ation might be +ate+ion]
foreign

productive with foreign stems Class I rebell+ion, commun+ion The verb stem usually undergoes a phonological change: attract+ion, express+ion, adopt+ion, act+ion, execut+ion Verbs that end with -ate keep the -ate: creat+ion, nominat+ion, negat+ion, decorat+ion, moderat+ion, educat+ion, authenticat+ion, automat+ion verbs in -ize take -ation: organ+iz+ation, formal+iz+ation, civil+iz+ation, central+iz+ation, neutral+iz+ation Verbs in -ify become -ication: glor(y)+ific+ation, pur+ific+ation, beaut(y)+ific+ation, sanct+ific+ation, cert+ific+ation, mod+ific+ation Other examples with -ation: represent+ation, administr+ation, affirm+ation, caus+ation, accus+ation, conserv+ation, inform+ation, damn+ation, tax+ation, deforest+ation, vari+ation, continu+ation, flirt+ation (native stem), starv+ation (native stem) Sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: resumpt+ion, recept+ion, destruct+ion, prescript+ion, decis+ion, product+ion, persuas+ion, extens+ion, convent+ion, solut+ion, resolut+ion, revolut+ion, invers+ion Sometimes the stem is not an independent word: aggress+ion, cognit+ion, nat+ion, sanitat+ion, illus+ion, compuct+ion, salv+ation Examples with -ition: repet+ition, add+ition, defin+ition, compos+ition -ment
foreign

primarily on foreign stems Class II agree#ment, advance#ment, abandon#ment, place#ment, state#ment, advertise#ment, employ#ment native roots: acknowledge#ment, amaze#ment, fulfil#ment There also appear to be words with this suUx with stems that are not words: orna+ment, regi+ment, environ+ment, or non-free allomorphs of words: excre+ment. But these are diTerent from the -ment words above because the adjectival suUx -al goes on these words (ornamental, environmental) but not on the ones above (*statemental, *employmental). So this is a Class I -ment, which is a distinct suUx from Class II -ment. If we use the -al test, there are three verbs which take +ment instead of #ment: govern+ment, develop+ment, judg+ment -al
foreign

on foreign stems with nal stress (except bury); not productive Class II arriv#al, acquitt#al, refus#al, deni#al, approv#al, betray#al, tri#al, buri#al

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 3
-ance/ence
foreign

on foreign stems; not productive Class I accept+ance, disturb+ance, resist+ance, clear+ance, assist+ance, depend+ence, differ+ence The verb stem sometimes undergoes a phonological change: prefer+ence Native stem: utter+ance Can go on non-words: expon+ence, emin+ence agent (subject) nouns -er/-ar/-or
both native (-er) and foreign (-or, -ar)

very productive appears to be both Class I and Class II, since there are doublets like receptor and receiver. Historically, this is related to the fact that the aUx is both native and foreign, but the historical distinction does not necessarily correspond to the contemporary analysis. We will assume that whenever the stem is a free form, the suUx is Class II. bak#er, driv#er, writ#er, hunt#er, sing#er, boil#er, wait#er, toast#er, remind#er, stick#er, command#er, juggl#er, farm#er, act#or, conquer#or, visit#or, creat#or, li#ar, begg#ar sometimes has other meaning: din#er, sweat#er sometimes goes on nouns or adjectives: pott#er, New York#er, lif#er [slang term for a prisoner serving a life sentence]; foreign#er, northern#er sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: astronom+er, geograph+er sometimes the stem is not an independent word: butch+er, aggress+or, incis+or. For some words that used to belong to this type, a verb has been created by back-formation (peddl+er, burgl+ar) if the stem is a verb in -ate, sometimes the ate drops and sometimes it stays: don+or, nominat#or sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word, but when that happens the free allomorph may also combine with the aUx with a diTerent meaning: recept+orreceiv#er, divis+ordivid#er -ant/ent
foreign

Only productive in technical jargon Class I inhabit+ant, defend+ant, serv+ant, inform+ant, consult+ant, pollut+ant, cool+ant sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: presid+ent sometimes the stem is not an independent word: merch+ant, ten+ant sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: oppon+ent if the stem is a verb in -ate, the -ate drops: particip+ant, stimul+ant, lubric+ant, irrit+ant patient (object) nouns -ee
foreign

productive Class I appoint+ee, examin+ee, licens+ee, pay+ee, train+ee for verbs in -ate, the -ate drops: nomin+ee, evacu+ee, amput+ee for a few cases, it is the subject of the verb: escap+ee, retir+ee

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 4
from adjectives
-ness
native

very productive Class II bright#ness, bitter#ness, good#ness, fair#ness, big#ness, fit#ness, righteous#ness, careless#ness, drunken#ness, fierce#ness, kindhearted#ness, one#ness -ity
foreign

productive on foreign stems Class I divers+ity, odd+ity [native stem] the stem usually undergoes some phonological change: singular+ity, agil+ity, captiv+ity, sincer+ity, san+ity, chast+ity, electric+ity, historic+ity, superficial+ity, technical+ity sometimes the stem is the non-free allomorph of a word: simplic+ity sometimes the stem is not a word: duplic+ity, felic+ity, fidel+ity, hilar+ity very productive with -able adjectives,-able+ity becomes -ability: abil+ity, poss+ibil+ity, cap+abil+ity, believe+abil+ity, vis+ibil+ity, not productive with -ous adjectives, but when they do exist the -ous drops in some words but not in others: vari+ety, simultane+ity; curi+os+ity, lumin+os+ity sometimes the suUx is just -ty: certain+ty, safe+ty, sovereign+ty (note British special+ity and American special+ty) -th native not productive Class I The stem undergoes a phonological change: dep+th, wid+th sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word or not a word at all: leng+th, bread+th

from other nouns

abstract nouns (usually from concrete nouns) -hood
native

productive, almost exclusively on native stems Class II child#hood, neighbor#hood, baby#hood, parent#hood, brother#hood, nation#hood, state#hood, priest#hood sometimes the stem is an adjective: false#hood, likeli#hood

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 5
-dom
native

productive Class II king#dom, martyr#dom, duke#dom, whore#dom, saint#dom, sheikh#dom sometimes the stem is an adjective: free#dom -ship
native

productive Class II friend#ship, lord#ship, fellow#ship, dictator#ship, companion#ship, comrade#ship, kin#ship, workman#ship, statesman#ship sometimes the stem is an adjective: hard#ship -y
foreign

only on foreign stems; not productive Class I monarch+y the stem almost always undergoes a phonological change: pira(tc)+y, confedera(tc)+y, democra(tc)+y, advoca(tc)+y, presiden(tc)+y, constituen(tc)+y, dependen(tc)+y, analog+y stem is sometimes an adjective: excellen(tc)+y, efficien(tc)+y, vacan(tc)+y, lenien(tc)+y, bankrup(tc)+y sometimes goes on stems which are not words, or are non-free allomorphs of words: luna(tc)+y, conspira(tc)+y; papac+y Sometimes the suUx is -cy: captain+cy, normal+cy

Affixes that form verbs from nouns

zero derivation or conversion the most productive way to form verbs from nouns bridge, hammer, ship, nail, skate, spear, cement, butter, -ize see below, under from adjectives -ify
foreign

not productive Class I pur+ify, speech+ify sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: glor+ify, terr+ify, liqu+efy, beaut+ify [native root] sometimes the stem is not a word: sanct+ify, quant+ify, cert+ify, mod+ify

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 6
-ate [eyt]
foreign

not productive Class I hyphen+ate, assassin+ate Sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: chlorin+ate Sometimes the stem is not a word, or is a non-free allomorph of a word: dehydr+ate, pagin+ate, orchestr+ate Mostly, though, this is used in verbs derived from Latin (and some others); the stem without -ate is an allomorph of the stem with -ate. It is debatable whether ate is actually a suUx in these cases. educ+ate, nomin+ate, contamin+ate, dedic+ate, navig+ate, don+ate, en- (em-)
foreign

not productive Class I en+danger, en+list, en+slave, en+trust, en+circle, em+power Sometimes goes on adjectives: en+large, en+rich, em+bitter, en+able Sometimes the stem it goes on is not an independent word: em+bark, en+dorse

from adjectives
-ize
foreign

relatively productive Class I equal+ize, popular+ize, tranquil+ize, liberal+ize, central+ize, minatur+ize, western+ize, national+ize, legal+ize Also goes on nouns: organ+ize, cannibal+ize, critic+ize, burglar+ize, item+ize Sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: militar(y)+ize, public+ize, romantic+ize; harmon(y)+ize, agon(y)+ize, apolog(y)+ize, theor(y)+ize, colon(y)+ize, satir+ize Sometimes the stem is not a word: anglic+ize, hypnot+ize -en
native

semiproductive Class II dark#en, hard#en, thick#en, light#en, wid#en, tough#en, moist#en, soft#en sometimes the stem is a noun: length#en, fright#en, threat#en, strength#en

from other verbs

reversative unnative

very productive Class II un#lock, un#pack, un#tie, un#do, un#button, un#saddle, un#delete

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 7
deforeign

only on foreign words; productive primarily in technical vocabulary Class II de#militarize, de#frost, de#compose, de#segregate negative disforeign

only on foreign words; not productive Class II dis#allow, dis#obey, dis#trust, dis#agree, dis#like, dis#believe sometimes has reversative meaning: dis#arm, dis#honor, dis#appear, dis#connect goes on verbs with the prex en-: dis#en+tangle sometimes the stem is a noun or adjective: dis#honest, dis#comfort other reforeign

very productive; with few exceptions, only goes on transitive verbs Class II means again re#form, re#assemble, re#educate, re#organize, re#produce, re#count, *re#go misnative

means badly; relatively productive Class II mis#lead, mis#understand, mis#manage, mis#print

Affixes that form adjectives from nouns

-y
native

very productive Class II cloud#y, guilt#y, blood#y, thirst#y, craz#y, storm#y, milk#y, dirt#y, mess#y, risk#y,

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 8
-ous
foreign

relatively productive, especially with foreign stems Class I poison+ous, adventur+ous, danger+ous, fam+ous, treason+ous, hazard+ous, wondr+ous, glori+ous, vari+ous. sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: courage+ous, harmoni+ous sometimes connected to stem with i or u: rebell+i+ous, tempest+u+ous, uproar+i+ous [compound stem] sometimes the stem is not a word: ambit+ious, superstit+ious, scrumpt+ious, simultane+ous, curi+ous, lumin+ous -ish
native

productive, especially with the meaning approximately Class II fool#ish, fever#ish, Dan#ish, Jew#ish, clown#ish, styl#ish, self#ish, four#ish sometimes the stem is a verb or an adjective: tickl#ish; green#ish, dark#ish -al (-ar)
foreign

relatively productive with foreign stems; the form is sometimes -ar when there is an [l] in the stem Class I architectur+al, conjectur+al, elector+al, hormon+al, procedur+al, season+al, post+al, pivot+al, coast+al, trib+al, music+al, logic+al; pol+ar sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: accident+al, environment+al; circul+ar, triangul+ar, singul+ar, titul+ar; spectacul+ar Sometimes the stem is not an independent word: eventu+al, feder+al, later+al, horizont+al, vertic+al, tempor+al, matern+al; perpendicul+ar, lun+ar Sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: crimin+al, societ+al, congression+al; popul+ar Sometimes the stem (either a word or not) is separated from the suUx by i or u: dictator+i+al, professor+i+al, senator+i+al, editor+i+al, president+i+al, artific+i+al, manager+i+al, habit+u+al, sens+u+al, spirit+u+al, intellect+u+al, pictor+i+al, vis+u+al; lin+e+ar -ic
foreign

on foreign stems, productive mostly in technical terms Class I Arab+ic The stem almost always undergoes a phonological change: poet+ic, German+ic, econom(y)+ic, histor(y)+ic, demon+ic, parasit+ic, democrat+ic, alcohol+ic, ton+ic Sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: operat+ic, genet+ic, dramat+ic, problemat+ic Sometimes the stem is not a word: lunat+ic, heret+ic, agnost+ic, anem+ic (anaem+ic), electr+ic

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 9
-ic-al A combination of the two preceding suUxes grammat+ic+al, geograph(y)+ic+al, theoret+ic+al, econom(y)+ic+al, histor(y)+ic+al, theatr+ic+al, morpholog(y)+ic+al (and other ology words), farc+ic+al, bibl+ic+al Where -ic and -ic-al adjectives both exist, they usually have diTerent meanings (note econom+ic vs. econom+ic+al; histor+ic vs. histor+ic+al). -ly
native

not particularly productive Class II king#ly, man#ly, scholar#ly, love#ly, priest#ly, friend#ly, coward#ly sometimes goes on adjectival stem: good#ly, lone#ly, sick#ly -ful
native

means full of ; opposite is -less not productive Class II care#ful, shame#ful, wonder#ful, cheer#ful, skill#ful, success#ful, waste#ful, hope#ful, joy#ful, help#ful, law#ful Sometimes the stem is a verb: forget#ful, mourn#ful

from verbs
-ive/ative/itive
foreign

Relatively productive. Class I Usually (but not always), if a stem forms an -ive adjective it also forms an ion noun attract+ive, express+ive, abus+ive, adopt+ive, act+ive Sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: execut+ive Verbs that end with -ate keep the -ate: creat+ive, nominat+ive, negat+ive, decorat+ive Sometimes the suUx is -ative: represent+ative, administr+ative, affirm+ative, caus+ative, conserv+ative, inform+ative, talk+ative [native stem] sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: resumpt+ive, recept+ive, destruct+ive, prescript+ive, decis+ive, product+ive, persuas+ive, extens+ive, punit+ive sometimes the stem is not a word: agress+ive, cognit+ive, nat+ive, pass+ive, pens+ive, capt+ive, incis+ive examples with itive (formed from the same verbs that take ition): repet+ition, add+ition, defin+ition

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 10
-able (also spelled -ible)
foreign

very productive, produces a passive adjective with an able meaning As noted below, there are many doublets. This suggests that -able is both Class I and Class II. Often, there is a diTerence of meaning between the adjective with +able and the adjective with #able; typically, the adjective with #able has a more strictly able meaning: notice the contrast between cmpar+able and compr#able. Note also that usually the two pairs of the doublet take diTerent negative prexes; e.g. in+divis+ible but un#divid#able. accept#able, agree#able, commend#able, understand#able, corrupt#ible, discern#ible With -ate verbs, the -ate usually drops: communic+able, demostr+able, negoti+able With some -ate verbs, both forms exist: cultiv+able (but also cultivat#able), educ+able (but also educat#able), navig+able (but also navigat#able), toler+able (but also tolerat#able) Sometimes the stem can be the non-free allomorph of a word, but it is also possible with the free allomorph: divis+ibledivid#able, percept+ibleperceiv#able, defens+ibledefend#able Sometimes the stem is not a word: conscion+able, aud+ible, cred+ible, poss+ible, prob+able, horr+ible In a few words, the stem is a noun: service#able, marriage#able, charit+able, objection#able In addition to the cases mentioned above, there are sometimes two diTerent -able adjectives formed from the same root with di T erent stress patterns: cmpar+ablecompr#able, rpar+ablerepir#able, prfer+able prefr#able.

from other adjectives

negative unnative

very productive Class II un#fair, un#ripe, un#able, un#certain, un#precedented, un#happy, un#reliable Occasionally on nouns: un#truth, un#ease in- (im-, il-, ir-)
foreign

productive on foreign stems Class I in+comprehensible, in+animate, im+possible, il+legal, ir+religious Sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: in+finite Sometimes the stem is a noun: in+fidelity Sometimes the stem is not a word: in+ept, in+ert, in+sipid, in+vincible, in+grate Occasionally on nouns which are derived from adjectives: in+ability, in+justice

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 11
Affixes that form nouns/adjectives of belonging
-an
foreign

Relatively productive Class I Rom+an, Chomsky+an, Tibet+an sometimes the stem undergoes a phonological change: Elizabeth+an, librari+an sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: Afric+an, Persi+an, Americ+an very often, the stem is connected to the suUx with i: Boston+i+an, reptil+i+an, mammal+i+an, Christ+i+an, Canad+i+an, electric+i+an, grammar+i+an, magic+i+an, phonetic+i+an sometimes the stem is not a word: urb+an, barbar+ian Sometimes -arian: disciplin+arian, veget+arian, fruit+arian, Parliament+arian, authorit+arian, totalit+arian -ese
foreign

not productive Class I legal+ese Usually the stem undergoes a phonological change: Japan+ese, Vietnam+ese, Chin(a)+ese, Vienn(a)+ese Sometimes the stem is a non-free allomorph of a word: Portugu+ese

44166. STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH II: THE WORD

Prof. Yehuda N. Falk

Derivational Affixes, p. 12
Latin prex + stem forms These words are all made up of two morphemes, a prex and a stem. E.g. pre+cede ad cede ceive crete duce duct fect fer x ect ict fuse gest ject mit mote plode pound rive sert side sign sist sume test vene accede adduce aTect aUix aVict admit arrive assert assign con concede de ex excrete eTect emit emote in induce infect infer inx inect inict infuse ingest inject per perceive perfect permit persist pre precede prefer prex preside presume pro proceed produce profuse promote protest re recede receive reduce refer reect refuse reject remit reside resign resist sub succeed suUx suTuse suggest subject submit subside subsist trans transceive transfer transx transmit

conceive deceive conduct confer conict confuse congest commit compound consign consist deduce deduct defect defer deect deject demote derive desert design desist detest

explode implode expond impound exist insert insist

assume consume attest contest convene

resume subsume

This is far from a complete list.