UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA
FACULTAD DE INGENIERÍA
CICLO BÁSICO
Inglés Instrumental para Ingeniería
Mecánica/Química
Profa. Diana Ochoa
Semestre 2019-1
AFFIXATION
AFFIXATION (noun)
AFFIX (verb)
A meaningful group of letters added to the
beginning or end of a word to make a new
word, which can be a different part of speech
from the original word, e.g. interview,
interviewer.
Affixation is the process of adding a prefix or
suffix to a word.
IS AN AFFIX A SINGLE SYLLABLE?
No, a prefix or suffix can be one or more
syllables, depending on the root word from
Latin or Greek or from any one of a host of
other English lingual influences.
AFFIXATION
PREFIX
A prefix is a letter or group of letters
added to the beginning of a word to make
a new word, e.g. clear – unclear.
PREFIX- TYPES
Counting prefixes: quantify the root
Involvement Prefixes
Judgment Prefixes
Locative Prefixes
Measurement Prefixes
Negative Prefixes
Temporal prefixes
COUNTING PREFIXES
a-an: “lacking” asymmetry, amoral;
ambi: “both, around”: ambians,
ambiguous, amphitheatre;
arch: “chief, principal, high”
archbishop, archduke;
bi: “twice, double” bilingual, bicycle,
bipolar, biennial;
di: “two” dichloride, dioxide;
mono: “one” monograph, monosyllabic.
multi: “many” multilingual,
multifaceted;
oligo: “few” oligarchy, oligotrophic;
omni: “all” omnipotent, omniscient;
pan: “ all, comprising or affecting all”
panorama, pandemic;
poly: “many” polygamy, polyangular;
tri: “three” triangle, tridimensional;
uni: “one” unisex, univocal.
INVOLVEMENT PREFIXES
They say something about the kind of involvement
of the participants in the action.
Anti- “opposed, instead, against” antidote,
antacid;
Auto- “self” automation, autobiography;
Co-con- “together, jointly” cooperate,
coexistance;
Contra- “against, opposite” contradiction,
contrary;
Vice- “in place of, instead” vice-president,
vice-consul.
JUDGMENT PREFIXES
judgment about the root.
Dis- disturb, disgruntle;
Dys- “bad, badly” dyslogistic;
Eu- “good, well” euphoria, evangelical;
Extra- “outside the scope of”
extraordinary, extraterrestrial;
Mal- “ill, evil, wrong” malnutrition.
Meta- “changed, transcending”
metaphysics, metalanguage;
Mis- “badly, wrongly” misuse,
miscalculate;
Pro- “on behalf of” pro-education;
Proto- “first, chief” protolanguage;
Pseudo- “false, deceptive,
resemblance” pseudonym.
LOCATIVE PREFIXES
Place or direction.
Ab-, a-, abs- “ from, away” abnormal;
Ad- “toward” admit, advance;
Ana- “back” anatomy, analogy;
Apo- “away, from” apology;
Cata- “down, away, back, opposite”
catastrophe.
Circum- “around” circumcise;
Counter- “against, opposite”
counterfeit, counterargument;
De- “away from, down” deny, depend;
Dia- “across, through” diachronic;
Ecto-, exo- “external” ectoderm,
exocentric.
En- “in, into” enclose;
Endo- “internal” endoscopy;
Epi- “on, over” epidermis;
Ex-, ec- “out from, away” eccentric;
In- “in, into, within” intransitive;
Infra- “below, beneath, within”
infrastructure;
Inter- “between, among” internet;
Intra-, intro- “inside” introduction;
Ob- “toward, against” obfuscate;
Para- “beside, along with”
paramedic.
Per- “through, thoroughly” performance;
Peri- “around, nearby” perimeter;
Pro- “in front of” proverb;
Pros- “concerning, toward” prosody;
Retro- “backwards, back” retrospective;
Sub- “under, below” subway;
Super- “over, above” superlative;
Sur- “over, beyond, above” surrealist;
Syn- “with, together” syntax;
Trans-, tres-, tra- “across, surpassing”
transgression.
MEASUREMENT PREFIXES
Crypto- “secret, hidden” cryptography;
Hyper- “over, to excess” hypermedia;
Hypo- “under, slightly” hypoglossal;
Is-, iso- “equal” isotope;
Macro- “large, broad scale”
macroeconomics;
Micro- “tiny, small scale” microscope;
Mid- “middle” midnight;
Semi- “half, partly” semifinal;
Ultra- “beyond, extreme” ultraviolet.
NEGATIVE PREFIXES
Dis- “apart, reversal, lacking”
displace;
In- “negative” incredible, illegible;
Non- “not” nonsense;
Ob- “ inverse, in the opposite
directions” object;
Se-, sed- “apart” seduce, separate;
Un- “not, opposite” uneven.
TEMPORAL PREFIXES
Time and duration.
Ante- “preceding” ante-Norman;
Fore- “before” foreword;
Neo- “new, recent” Neolithic;
Post- “after, behind” postpone;
Pre-, pro- “before, in front of” preface;
Re-, red- “anew, again, back”
rehearse, regenerate.
SUFFIX
A suffix is a letter or group of letters added at
the end of a word to make a new word, e.g.
good – goodness.
There are two (2) types of suffixes:
inflectional and derivational.
SUFFIX- INFLECTIONAL
Endings that create different forms
of the same word are called
"inflectional suffixes." There are very
few inflectional suffixes but they occur
rather frequently.
-s, -es, -ies plural
3rd person singular
-s
present
-ed past tense
-en past participle
-en plural (irregular)
-ing progressive/continuous
-er comparative
-est superlative
-n't negative (contraction)
SUFFIX- DERIVATIONAL
Endings that change
the meaning of the word are called
"derivational suffixes."
-ism forms a noun
-ist noun
-ful noun
-able adjective
-ation noun
-ness noun
-ment noun
-ify verb
-fy adjective
-ity noun
-ly adverb
-ise, -ize verb
DERIVING ADJECTIVES FROM NOUNS AND
VERBS
-able “fit for doing, fit for being done”
comfortable;
-al (-ial, -ical, -ual) “having the property of”
facial;
-an, -ian “belonging to, resembling”
reptilian;
-ary “having a tendency or purpose”
secondary;
-ate “full of” passionate.
-ese “belonging to a place”
Portuguese;
-esque “having the style of X”
picturesque;
-esc “become” coalesce;
-ful “full of X” skillful;
-iac “pertaining to the property
of” maniac.
DERIVING ADJECTIVES FROM
NOUNS AND VERBS
-ic “having the property of” medic;
-ish “to become like X” girlish;
-ive “characterized by” passive;
-less “without, free from” fearless;
-ly “appropriate to, befitting” timely.
-oid “having the shape of, resembling”
humanoid;
-ory “connected with, serving for”
obligatory;
-ose “full of, abounding in” verbose;
-ous “of the nature of X” religious;
-some “like, characterized by, apt to”
awesome;
-y “full of, characterized by” mighty.
FORMING ABSTRACT NOUNS
-asy, -acy “state or quality” ecstasy;
-age “condition, state, rank, office of”
coinage, postage;
-ance, -ence “state, act, fact of”
emergence;
-ade “general noun” salad, parade,
lemonade;
-al “act of” local;
-ation “state of being X-ed” information.
-ia “condition of” inertia;
-icity “abstract noun from – ic” felicity;
-ism “doctrinal system of principles”
constructivism;
-ity “state, quality, condition of” unity;
-ment “condition of being X” garment;
-ness “state, quality, condition of”
innateness;
-ship “state, condition of” friendship;
-ery, -ry “collectivity” slavery;
-hood “statehood, condition of”
fatherhood.
FORMING AGENTIVE NOUNS
-ant, -ent “one who” agent;
-arian “member of sect, holding to a
doctrine” authoritarian;
-ast “one associated with X”
enthusiast;
-er “agent” worker, baker, teacher;
-ist “one connected with, often agent”
artist;
-ician “one skilled in some art or
science” politician.
FORMING VERBS FROM ROOTS
AND STEMS
-ate “cause X to happen” terminate;
-en “to become” liken, darken;
-ify “to cause to (be) X” rectify;
-ize “to cause to be X” realize.
MISCELLANEOUS SUFFIXES
-arium “locative, a place for of
connected with” aquarium;
-ess “feminine of X” tigress;
-let “diminutive” booklet.
REFERENCES
file:///E:/english-affixation.htm
file:///E:/affixes.php.htm
TKT Glossary Of English Language Teaching
(Elt)Terminology\\filestorage\ESOL\AOG\Assess
ment\Exams\TKT\Glossary\Glossary March 2011
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