Exploring Affixation in English

Abstract:
One of the keys to mastering English spellings is mastering the
processes of word formation. The mode of word formation can
influence the spelling. The study of the meaningful parts of a word is
known as morphology. Linguists have identified many ways in which
English form its words which include borrowing from Latin and
Greeks, clipping, suppletion, affixation, conversion, acronym,
blends, compounding and so on. The scope of this study is to look
into affixation as a process of word formation; see the meanings of
some of those few letters added at the beginning or end of words,
look into the changes words undergo when affixes are added to
them. Apart from mastering of spellings, readers of this paper will
learn to identify grammatical categories of words by mere looking at
the words and identifying the affixes added to them.

Introduction:
Most English words are made up of the base word known as
root which contains the heart of the meaning of the word. To
expand such words, appendages (affixes) are added at either the
beginning or at the end of the word. It is the process of attaching
these affixes that is referred to as affixation. The affix added at the
beginning of the root is known as prefix while that at the end of a
word is suffix. The root is central to the building of new words. For
instance, advantage, help, forgive, measure are the core words
(roots) in disadvantageous, unhelpful, unforgivable and
immeasurable respectively. They can be analysed as:

Prefix Root Word Suffix New Word

Dis- advantage ous disadvantageous Un-
help ful unhelpful
Un- forgive able unforgivable
Im- measure able immeasurable
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 Despite the fact that prefixes and suffixes are just a
combination of two, three or four letters, they have meaning in
English. They are therefore morphemes. A morpheme is the
smallest meaningful unit of a word. They change the meaning of
the root word. In the above examples, dis-, un-, and im- depict
negative. The different approaches to identifying morphemes and
the relationships between morphemes and words are reflections of
the different trends in linguistics during the twentieth century, but
most linguists are in agreement on the type of phenomena
morphology is concerned with.
Prefixes and suffixes added to words change the meanings of
such words. This study will start with the examination of the
meanings of some English prefixes and suffixes.
Meanings of Some Commonly Used Prefixes:

Prefix Meaning Word Examples

Bi- Two; twice; Biannual, bilingual

Co- double Together Co-author, coexist,
de- with away from, coeducation deport
ex- down undoing extend, ex-
out in president immobile,
im-
or into impossible absent
ab-
away
from

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ad- to, adverb
ambi- toward ambivalent
ante- both antenatal
anti- before; in front of antisocial
auto- against, opposite; autobiography,
contra opposed to automatic
- inter- self; of or by contradict, contra-
yourself flow interface,
intra- opposite; against interaction,
hyper among; between international
pre- intravenous, intra-
semi- inside; departmental
sub- within more hypertension,
trans- than normal hypercritical
un- before half, prevent,
super- partly under; precondition,
below, less preheat semicircle,
com than over, semi-final subtopic,
dis- across not subway,
il- above, over, substandard trans-
in- extremely Sahara, transport
in- unclean
ir- with superhuman,
mis- not; the superimpose,
multi- opposite of super
non- not in, on structure
ob- not wrong combine
out- not disadvantage,
more than one; disappoint,
pro-
many dishonest
post
against illogical
re- for, input, inhuman
sub- forward irrefutable
trans- greater, better, misprint

3
self- further, longer multinational,
back, multi-coloured
again nonsense, non-
after Christian obtuse
under outnumber,
across outgrow, outlive
across proceed
of, to or by yourself postgraduate,
postwar
repeat, regain
subcommittee
transcribe
self-control, self-
taught

Note that un-, il-, in-, ir-, non-, mis-, dis- de-mean “not” or “opposite
of” in English. The choice of one is governed by phonological
conditions:
Im- is placed before bilabial sounds /p, b, m/ as in: balance
imbalance possible impossible patient impatient
pure impure mortal immortal movable
immovable modest immodest potent impotent
practical impractical mature immature perfect
imperfect

In- is used before alveolar and velar sounds /d, k, s/ and the labio-
dental fricative /v/
visible invisible definite indefinite sincere
insincere competent incompetent direct indirect
convenience inconvenience decision indecision credible
incredible dependent independent curable incurable
defensible indefensible describable indescribable
consistent inconsistent conspicuous inconspicuous
coherent incoherent credulous incredulous

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Ir- is used before r
regular irregular relevant irrelevant resistible
irresistible responsible irresponsible resolute
irresolute reparable irreparable

Il- is used before l

logical illogical legitimate illegitimate legal
illegal literate illiterate
Un- de-
necessary unnecessary compose decompose fair
unfair increase decrease fortunate unfortunate
formation deformation just unjust hydration
dehydration interesting uninteresting merit demerit
happy unhappy tidy untidy

Dis- non-
band disband commissioned non-commissioned courage
discourage returnable non-returnable honour dishonour
static non-static illusion disillusion stick
non-stick
please displease ferrous non-ferrous
Meanings of Some Commonly Used Suffixes
Suffixes Meaning Words
-able Capable of being; taxable,
that can or must changeable,
-age be comfortable
-al State, act, or
-ance process of, result postage,
-ary of bondage,
-cy Belonging to, mileage
-er process or state magical, verbal,
of Act of, state of betrayal
-ful
Place for; dominance,
-ist connected with ignorance

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-less State of being budgetary,
-ly One who is; a planetary
-ment person or thing democracy,
-ness that conspiracy
-ous Having the teacher, singer,
-tion qualities of; full lover
-dom of
One whose sorrowful,
profession is forgetful,
Lacking, handful dentist,
without In chemist,
the manner specialist
of the sleeveless,
action or
selfless, tireless
result of
happily, stupidly
State of; the
quality of development,
the nature of or bombardment
having quality of blindness,
Act of goodness,
the condition or dryness
state of poisonous,
glorious
education,
cooperation
freedom,
kingdom,
martyrdom

Suffixes are important in determining the meanings of words

in English. They are either inflections added at the end of a word or
they change the grammatical class of words they are attached to.
Inflectional Suffix/Morpheme:

6
 Inflection is a major category of morphology. When suffixes are
added to words to realize morphemes such as present, past,
present participle, plural, they are said to be inflectional. They do
not change the nature of the verb to which they are added. For
instance:

Play plays playing played Locate

locates locating located
Sing sings singing sang

The suffixes –s, -ing, -ed did not change the word class of the verbs.
Bloomfield (1933) referred to inflection as the outer layer of the
morphology of word forms. This is because inflections are added
when all derivational and compositional processes are already
complete. This means that one can add inflection on a root and a
stem. Let us take for example the word “disinfectants”, the plural
inflection –s is added to the stem “disinfectant”. The root of the
word is “infect”. The prefix dis- shows negation or opposite of while
the newly derived word is “disinfectant”. Inflections such as tense,
number, person, etc. will be added to ready-made stems. By stem
we mean the forms to which inflections may be added, but which
may already have derivational affixes. Other examples are:

Root Derived Word Inflections

/stem
paint repaint repaints, repainted, repainting
computer computerize computerized, computerizing
industry industrial, industrialization
industrialize industrializations
Inflectional categories such as tense, voice and number play
important role in syntax and are called morphosyntactic categories,
since they affect both the words around them and the words within
which they occur. They are very productive and are semantically
more regular than the derivational ones; meaning will remain
constant across a wide distributional range.
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Derivational Suffixes:
Derivation is the opposite of inflection. It consists of adding an
affix or affixes to the root or stem of the word. When this is done,
new words are derived. Within derivation, the distinction is
often made between class-maintaining and class-changing
processes. Class-changing produces a new word in different word
class. (E.g. gentle (adj)) gentleness (noun) gently
(adverb)); while class – maintaining produces a new word but does
not change the class.

Class-Maintaining Derivational Suffixes:

Examples of class-maintaining suffixes are –age, -ful, ry, -cy, -
hood, -ship, -ate, -ure, -ic, -ster, -dom, -ism, -ee, eer. They are used
to convert noun to another noun that
mean something different. Examples are:
acre acreage spoon spoonful broker
brokerage hand handful front frontage
cup cupful use usage mouth
mouthful
assembly assemblage house houseful

weapon weaponry lunatic lunacy burglar

burglary magistrate magistracy citizen citizenry
president presidency knave knavery tenant
tenancy machine machinery truant truancy
chaplain chaplaincy

boy boyhood friend friendship child

childhood head headship girl girlhood
judge judgeship man manhood owner
ownership priest priesthood scholar
scholarship woman womanhood trustee
trusteeship

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forfeit forfeiture young youngster portrait
portraiture song songster candidate
candidature trick trickster nuncio nunciature
prank prankster impostor imposture rhyme
rhymester nomen nomenclature pun punster
electors electorate

triumvirs triumvirate duke dukedom emir emirate

earl earldom opium opiate king kingdom
official officialdom grant grantee cannibal
cannibalism legacy legatee journal journalism
mortgage mortgagee pauper pauperism devotion
devotee critic criticism
chariot charioteer musket
musketeer pamphlet pamphleteer
Class-Changing Derivational Suffixes:
Under the suffixes that can change word from one
grammatical class to another, we have basically four groups. The
presence of the suffixes signal the grammatical class of the words in
which they appear. They are:
• Noun Suffixes
• Verb suffixes
• Adjective Suffixes
• Adverb Suffixes

Noun Suffixes:

Suffix Meaning Example

-dom state of being freedom
-hood state of being manhood
-ness state of being dimness
-ice act of being cowardice
-ation act of being flirtation
-ion act of being intercession
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-sion act of scansion
-tion state of being corruption -ment
act of argument
-ship state of being friendship
-ance act of continuance
-ence act of precedence
-ancy state of being currency
-ism act of baptism
-ery quality of bravery
-eer one who auctioneer
-ist one who believes in fascist
-or one who debtor
-er one who worker
Verb Suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Example
-ate to make perpetuate
-en to make soften
-fy to make dignify
-ize, ise to make sterilize

Adjective Suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Example
-ful ful of hateful
-ish resembling foolish
-ate to make affectionate
-ic, ical resembling angelic
-ive having

10
11
 prospective
-ous full of zealous
-ulent full of fraudulent -less
without fatherless
-able, ible capable of peaceable
-ed having spirited
-ly resembling womanly -like
resembling childlike
Adverb Suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Example
-ly to make more quickly
-ward in the direction of afterward
Derivation of Words from One Grammatical Class to
Another
Now let us look at how the addition of these suffixes mentioned
above can change words from one grammatical category to another:
1. Conversion of Verb to Noun
To derive nouns from verbs, the noun forming suffixes are
added to the verb and new words are formed. Some examples are:
i. -ment
amend amendment defile defilement detach
detachment incite incitement

embellish embellishment argue argument resent

resentment abridge abridgement acknowledge
acknowledgement ii. –ion/-tion
collect collection resolve resolution obstruct
obstruction adopt adoption repress repression
adapt adaptation accumulate accumulation absorb
absorption devote devotion contend contention
destroy destruction pretend pretension
recognize recognition intend intention

12
 Verbs that end in –ate drop e and replace with –ion illustrate
illustration meditate meditation demonstrate
demonstration pollinate pollination enumerate
enumeration stagnate stagnation iii. -ation
The suffix –ation is added to some verbs ending in –ise.
The final e is dropped before the addition of –ation.
Examples are:
authorize authorization improvise improvisation civilize
civilization polarize polarization
Others are:
afforest afforestation derive derivation crown
coronation divine divination deprive deprivation
fix fixation inhale inhalation
Still on –ation, if the verb ends in ke, the ke is replaced by c
before the suffix convoke convocation evoke evocation
invoke invocation provoke provocation revoke
revocation
Verbs that end in –ain or –aim will drop the i to take –ation
declaim declamation exclaim exclamation explain
explanation proclaim proclamation abstain
abstention entertain entertainment
maintain maintenance with different suffixes
sustain sustenance iv -ication
Some verbs ending in -ify drop the y and replace it with
-ication beatify beatification gasify gasification
sanctify sanctification solidify solidification
Exceptions:
liquefy liquefaction (not *liquidification)
putrefy (not *putrify) putrefaction crucify
crucifixion v. -ition
-ition is attached to verbs ending in –ish. The sh is dropped
and replaced by –ition

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 abolish abolition admonish admonition demolish
demolition
Other –ish ending words take different suffixes. Examples are:
banish banishment embellish embellishment
furnish furniture/furnishing -ition can also be
attached to verbs ending in –it exhibit exhibition
fruit fruition
inhibit inhibition prohibit prohibition
Some –it ending words take –ssion (to be discussed later)

vi -ution
Verbs ending in –olve have the ve replaced by –ution
absolve absolution devolve devolution evolve
evolution resolve resolution revolve revolution vii.
-sion
-sion is applied to some words ending in -ise with the e dropped
excise excision revise revision
supervise supervision
Some words ending in –de drop this ending to take –sion to form
noun. Examples are:
collide collision conclude conclusion decide
decision divide division evade evasion
extrude extrusion invade invasion persuade
persuasion provide provision

-sion is also added to verbs ending in it. The t is dropped and

replaced by –sion to form noun.
avert aversion convert conversion divert
diversion invert inversion revert reversion

viii. Double s suffix -ssion

This occurs with verbs ending in –ee or –ede accede
accession concede concession proceed procession
intercede intercession secede secession supersede
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supersession -ssion is also attracted by some verbs ending in –it
emit emission omit omission
transmit transmission remit remission/remittance

ix -ant, -ent
-ant -ent celebrate celebrant
adhere adherent coagulate coagulant antecede
antecedent confide confidant correspond
correspondent depend dependant deter
deterrent lubricate lubricant precede precedent
migrate migrant preside president occupy
occupant receive recipient
serve servant study student

x. –ance -ence
These two suffixes are confusing at times. Spellers sometimes
find difficulty in remembering which to use of the two.
Verbs with final e drop the e to add –ance. Other verbs without
final e also take –ance.

-ance nouns -ance nouns

Verbs with final e Verbs without final e tolerate
tolerance react reactance ignore ignorance
attend attendance dominate dominance abbey
abeyance grieve grievance clear clearance
reassure reassurance maintain maintenance
remonstrate remonstrance perform performance -ence
nouns -ence nouns Verbs with final e
Verbs without final e adhere adherence abhor
abhorrence coincide coincidence absent absence
condole condolence offend offence confide
confidence infer inference precede precedence
prominent prominence subserve subservience obey
obedience

15
The suffixes –ance and –ence can also be used to convert adjectives
to nouns.

xi. –ism, -ysis

These suffixes are usually applied to adjectives and nouns.
Sometimes, they are applied to some verbs in their conversion to
nouns:
criticise criticism dogmatise
dogmatism plagiarise plagiarism
The suffix –ysis is usually found in scientific vocabulary:
analyse analysis electrolyse
electrolysis
xii. -al
Examples of –al nouns formed from verbs are: acquit
acquittal
avow
arouse arousal Note that where the verb ends
avowal
with e, the e is dropped. Where betray betrayal
it
ends with t, the t is doubled. rebut rebuttal rehearse
rehearsal
withdraw withdrawal

xiii.-age
-age is generally attached to nouns but in some cases, it
is attached to verbs to form nouns: cleave
cleavage
use usage Note that the e ending in the waste
wastage verb is dropped.
post postage

xiv. –ry, -ery

A few verbs are converted to nouns by the suffix – ry. The
two suffixes are usually attached to nouns. Examples of their
attachment to verbs to form nouns are: bake bakery

16
husband husbandry mimic mimicry revel
revelry brew brewery hatch hatchery
water watery launder laundry

xv. -ure
The suffix –ure converts a few verbs to nouns. Verbs that end in
consonants will just take –ure, but those that end in e drop the e
before –ure:
fail failure erase erasure forfeit
forfeiture legislate legislature proceed procedure
pose posture invest investiture seize seizure
-ure is also applied to few adjectives but usually to nouns.
This shall be discussed later.

xvi.-acy
Some verbs are converted to nouns by the use of –acy:
conspire conspiracy advocate
advocacy The suffix is also attached to nouns
and adjectives. (to be discussed later)

xvii. Action Suffixes:

These are suffixes which describe the actions or occupations of
people or the uses of things. They include –er, -or, -ant and –ist (or –
yst). We also have –ar which is a rare usage. Some examples are:
-er -or betray betrayer act
actor teach teacher vend vendor write
writer convey conveyor carry carrier
sail sailor send sender decorate
decorator inform informer mediate mediator
magnify magnifier cool cooler
spell speller
defend defender

-ant -ist, -yst -ar

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Depend dependant apologise apologist beg beggar Aspire
aspirant catalyse catalyst lie liar
Celebrate celebrant dramatise dramatist
Inform informant dogmatise dogmatist
Enter entrant anaesthetise anesthetist
Inhabit inhabitant pacify pacifist
Pollute pollutant plagiarise plagiarist

xviii. -ing, -ee, -and

The last batch of verb to noun suffixes are –ing, -ee, -and.
-ing
The present participle of a verb is sometimes used as a noun ending
in –ing.
His singing and dancing was well appreciated.
As a leader, he has a tremendous following.
The launching of the project was successful.
I do not understand his comings and goings.
-ee
Employ employee Pay payee
Vend vendee Address addressee
-and
This is of limited application. An undergraduate about to receive his
degree is a graduand. Somebody about to be ordained a priest is an
ordinand.

2. Conversion of Verbs to Adjectives:

The following suffixes are added to verbs to form adjectives: -
able, -ible, -ous, -ive, -ory, -al, -ant, -ent, -some,
-f
i. -able
Some verbs ending in consonants take able without any
alteration but if the basic verb end in –ate, this end is dropped and
replaced with able:
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accept acceptable abominate abominable book
bookable appreciate appreciable comfort comfortable
calculate calculable favour favourable demonstrate
demonstrable honour honourable educate educable
If the basic verb ends in ce the e is retained but if it ends in y after a
consonant, the y is replaced by i. Examples are: enforce
enforceable descry descriable pronounce
pronounceable pity pitiable trace traceable
rely reliable
The rule however is not robber-stamped as apply is applicable not
*‘appliable’.
If the basic verb ends in e after a consonant or after s, the e is
usually dropped:
admire admirable debate debatable
prove provable use usable move
movable/moveable
The adjective for despise is however despicable.

Finally, if the basic verb ends in y after a vowel, the y is

retained:
essay essay-able convey
conveyable pay payable
play playable
ii. -ible
The number of verbs taking –ible as suffix is limited. It is often
more attracted to nouns. When added to verbs that end in e, the e
is dropped, but when the verb ends in t or d, the last letter is
dropped replaced with –sible or –ssible.
Examples are:
collapse collapsible comprehend comprehensible force
forcible defend defensible reverse reversible
reprehend reprehensible admit admissible omit
omissible double s permit permissible

19
Some exceptions include: controvert
controvertible
No alteration resist
resistible iii. -ous
The suffix –ous can be added to a few verbs to form adjective:
Pretend pretentious Ponder ponderous Disaster
disastrous Pity piteous
Cumber cumbrous/cumbersome

iv. -ory
This suffix can be added to only few verbs to form adjectives:
Declaim declamatory
Exclaim exclamatory note that the i in ai in these words
is dropped
Explain explanatory
Retaliate retaliatory
Inhibit inhibitory

v. -ive
The suffix –ive can be attached to many verbs to derive
adjective. Words that end in e drop the e before the suffix but
those that end in consonants will simply take the suffix: cumulate
cumulative construct constructive cure curative
express expressive decorate decorative instruct
instructive indicate indicative possess possessive
restore restorative prevent preventive speculate
speculative
In some words d is replaced by s and some others take the
suffix –ative: conclude conclusive represent
representative decide decisive affirm affirmative
divide divisive confirm confirmative exclude
exclusive preserve preservative include inclusive
conserve conservative Other examples are:
apprehend apprehensive comprehend comprehensive
d is dropped and -sive
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defend defensive added offend offensive
permit permissive t is dropped and –ssive is submit
submissive added admit admissive vi. -al
The adjectives formed with –al derived from verbs are:
criticize critical equivocate equivocal pontificate
pontifical
This suffix is commonly used in the conversion of nouns to
adjectives.
vii. –ant, -ent
As in the formation of nouns from verbs, these suffixes can also
be used to form adjectives:
defy defiant decay decadent please
pleasant deliquesce deliquescent
repent repentant effervesce effervescent

viii –some, -ful

Some adjectives ending in some derived from verbs are:
cumber cumbersome fear fearsome grue
gruesome quarrel quarrelsome tire tiresome
The suffix –ful is attached to few verbs. It is more attached to
many nouns to form adjectives. Examples of places where it is
added to verbs are:
mourn mournful
revenge vengeful

3. Conversion of Adjectives to Nouns:

Adjectives are converted to nouns by use of the following
suffixes: -ness, -ity, -ion, -acy, -ery, ry, -ment, ism, -ance, -ancy, -
ence, -ency, -escence. i. -ness
beastly beastliness
happy happiness y in these words is replaced
saintly saintliness by i
busy business sprightly
sprightliness
21
ii. -ity
The suffix –ity is added to some words without any alteration.
In some cases, the e that ends the base adjective is dropped:
fluid fluidity agile agility humid
humidity diverse diversity infirm infirmity
ductile ductility morbid morbidity infinite
infinity senior seniority profane profanity
normal normality pure purity plural
plurality nude nudity iii. -ion
A few adjectives attract the suffix –ion to form nouns: abject
abjection contrite contrition discreet discretion
resolve resolution dissolve dissolution iv. –acy, -ery, -
ry, -ment
Only few adjectives attract these suffixes to form nouns. They
are:
-acy -ery, -ry -ment Accurate accuracy
brave bravery merry merriment
Delicate delicacy green greenery better betterment
Obstinate obstinacy
Profligate profligacy Supreme
supremacy v. -ism
-ism is mostly used for converting nouns to nouns. It, however,
can be added to few adjectives to form nouns: Altruistic
altruism American Americanism
Archaic archaism Colloquial colloquialism
Monetary monetarism Mystic mysticism True
truism Witty witticism

vi. –ance, -ancy, -ence, -ency

These four suffixes are common in converting adjectives to
nouns. Some examples are:
-ant to –ance -ant to –ancy abundant
abundance constant constancy attendant attendance
22
expectant expectancy dominant dominance hesitant
hesitancy elegant elegance infant infancy
relevant relevance vacant vacancy
-ent to ence -ent to –ency corpulent
corpulence absorbent absorbency prominent
prominence clement clemency reticent reticence
consistent consistency
subsistent subsistence fluent fluency

vii. -escence
Adjectives ending in escent form nouns ending in escence.
Examples are:
Acquiescent acquiescence Coalescent coalescence
Convalescent convalescence Fluorescent fluorescence
Effervescent effervescence Deliquescent deliquescence viii. -
iety
anxious anxiety dubious dubiety pious
piety proper propriety sober sobriety
various variety

4. Conversion of Nouns to Adjectives:

The suffixes for converting nouns to adjectives are: -y,
-ly, -ish, -ous, -ic, -ics, -ical, -ary, -ar, -ful, -less, -al, -ial, -eal, -ate, -
ine, -ian, -ean, -ese, -en, -esque, -able, -ible, -ose, -iac. i. –y, -ly
haze hazy beast beastly lace
lacy friend friendly sauce saucy
king kingly day daily mother
motherly hour hourly week weekly ii. -
ish
book bookish boy boyish fever
feverish fiend fiendish iii. -ous
Apart from using –ous to convert verbs to adjectives and
adjectives to nouns, it can also be used to convert nouns to
adjectives. Examples are:
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peril perilous clamour clamorous poison
poisonous dolour dolorous portent portentous
glamour glamorous anomaly anomalous humour
humorous calamity calamitous number numerous
glory glorious mischief mischievous pity
piteous disaster disastrous Avarice avaricious
adventure adventurous
Caprice capricious fibre fibrous
Malice malicious pore porous
Space spacious luster lustrous

iv. –ic, -ics, -ical

aesthete aesthetic drama dramatic athlete
athletic hero heroic
tone tonic giant gigantic economy
economic geography geographic harmony harmonic
melody melodic

When applied to special studies the suffix –ic is pluralized. Adjectives

formed from such nouns drop the s and extend the suffix to –ical.
Examples are:
Acoustic acoustical Economics economical
Ethics ethical Mathematics mathematical
Physics physical Politics political

v. –ary, -ar
-ary -ar
Budget budgetary molecule molecular
Diet dietary vehicle vehicular
Element elementary nucleus nuclear
Inflation inflationary line linear
Unit unitary spatula spatular

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vi. –ful, -less care careful
art artless doubt doubtful care
careless event eventful doubt doubtless
fear fearful fear fearless joy joyful
sin sinless wonder wonderful taste
tasteless
beauty beautiful fancy fanciful

Other adjectives formed from nouns are:

Incident incidental adamant adamantine Verb
verbal alkali alkaline
Exception exceptional crystal crystalline
Race racial Christ Christian
Substance substantial earth earthen Remedy
remedial gold golden
Fashion fashionable honour honourable

5. Conversion of Nouns to Verbs:

Some nouns can be converted to verbs by the addition of the
following suffixes:
-en (or –n), -ify (or fy), -ise (or ize) and –ate
i. –en (or –n) -ify (or –fy) length
lengthen beauty beautify strength strengthen
example examplify height heighten stupor
stupefy ii. –ise, -ate carbon
carbonize carbon carbonate idol idolize
hyphen hyphenate liquid liquidize liquid
liquidate vapour vapourise action activate
motion motivate

6. Conversion of Adjectives to Verbs:

A common suffix for this purpose is –en or the prefix
en- as in: black blacken dear endear
bright brighten large enlarge deep
25
deepen rich enrich loose loosen
noble ennoble tight tighten white
whiten Conclusion:
This study has shown the important role of affixation in
word formation process in the English language. The list is
inexhaustible. Some prefixes and suffixes are only inflections added
to words to pluralise, change tense or mark comparative and
superlative forms of adjectives. Some others, as we have seen, are
class- changing suffixes. The mastery of these affixes will lead to a
good mastery of English spellings.

References

Bright, W.(ed.)(1992). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics.

New York: Oxford University Press.
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