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10 LENGUA EXTRANJERA
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Lexicon. Characteristics of Word-
formation in English. Prefixation,
Suffixation and Compounding
27-14155-13

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1. Lexicon
1.1. Lexicography

1.2. The Evolution of the Modern Dictionary

1.3. Dictionaries in America

2. Characteristics of Word-formation in English

2.1. Word-formation

2.2. Plural Formation in English

2.3. Formation of Nouns

2.4. Formation of Verbal Forms

2.5. Formation of Adverbs

2.6. Formation of Adjectives

3. Prefixation, Suffixation and Compounding

3.1. Prefixation

3.2. Suffixation

3.3. Compounding

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INTRODUCTION

Languages are complex systems of linguistic signs, efficiently construed in

order to maximize human communication. As Noam Chomsky would say, they
are composed of a limited set of rules which, in combination with the lexical
categories, allow speakers and hearers to express a universe of meaning by means
of a handful of resources.
It is precisely the lexical categories mentioned that are of interest to us in this
unit. Since Saussure established the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign, it is widely
acknowledged that there is no particular reason for a sound to refer to any object
or idea, not even onomatopoeic sounds. However, lexicon is probably what is
most particular to a language and, at the same time, the word stock of a language
is in constant change thanks to vocabulary gains and losses, to borrowings and
calques, and to the formation of new words thanks to the language’s own internal
resources. In other words, the processes of word-formation are a synonym of
language renewal and evolution.
In this unit a survey on the different procedures for word-formation in English
is proposed. The first section will deal with lexicon and, more precisely, with
lexicography, the evolution of the modern dictionary and dictionaries in America.
In order to contextualize the matter within the area of linguistics, the second
section will review a series of basic concepts in morphology and word-formation
so as to analyze the word-formation processes implied in the creation of plurals,
verbs, adverbs and adjectives. Then, the following three sections will be devoted
to prefixation, suffixation and compounding.

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1 Lexicon

1.1. Lexicography

Lexicography is the procedure which deals with arranging and describing items of vocabulary in
such works as dictionaries, glossaries, thesauri, synonym guides and usage guides. Traditionally,
lexicography has been divided into two types: alphabetic lexicography, whose best-known product
is the dictionary, and thematic lexicography, which arranges words by topic, usually accompanied by
an index, Roget’s Thesaurus being a leading example.
The products of lexicography are varied. In terms of dictionaries proper, they range from the
20-volume Oxford English Dictionary and such large one-volume US works as the Webster’s Third
New international Dictionary and the Random House, through collegiate dictionaries (such as the
Chambers English Dictionary), to the concise or compact dictionary (the Concise Oxford Dictionary),
the pocket dictionary (the Pocket Oxford Dictionary), and even smaller works (the Collins Gem
series).
Lexicographic work may be monolingual (dealing with one language only), bilingual (with sections
that define a language A in terms of another language B and vice versa), or multilingual (covering
three or more languages), and may be used for general purposes or for school students, children
or a range of other special interest groups. Lexicographers amass and shift evidence about words
and expressions, and they add editorial guidelines as to what should be included, how it should
be organized, and what special features (such as phonetics, etymologies, pictures, etc.) should be
added.

1.2. The Evolution of the Modern Dictionary

It is hard to ascertain what the first dictionary in history was, because we find lists of words as
far back as the Middle Ages. But these lists of words were two-language dictionaries: Latin words
with English translations. The first English-English word list was published in 1603, and it is usually
regarded as the first English dictionary. Its title was A table Alphabetical, and it was compiled by
Robert Cawdrey. It contained 2,500 words. They were all difficult words, words that readers might be
expected to stumble over.
Cawdrey did not pick up his 2,500 words from nowhere. For the most part, he copied an earlier
Latin word list. From the very beginning, as we can see, plagiarism in dictionary-making is almost
inevitable. Cawdrey copied from his predecessors, and his successors copied from him. But each
lexicographer produced more words that he had compiled himself, and as the seventeenth century
progressed, dictionaries grew larger and larger.
In the second half of the century, an important addition to the dictionary was made: etymologies.
The dictionaries of the seventeenth century were all difficult word dictionaries. Shortly after 1700,
John Kersey took the step of including frequent words, too.

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But the great figure of lexicography in the eighteenth century was Dr. Samuel Johnson. His dictionary
was originally intended to regulate the English language. Although it did not achieve its goal, it
contributed much to the growth of lexicography. His definitions, on the whole, are strong and
clear. He also made a couple of lexicographical innovations: one was the practice of separating and
numbering word meanings; another was citing contexts to demonstrate the meaning of a word or
particular usages of a word.
In the late eighteenth century, synonyms were added to entries in dictionaries, and some dictionaries
even included lists of pronunciation.
However, the greatest lexicographical effort in England in the nineteenth century – perhaps the
greatest of any century, anywhere – was the Oxford English Dictionary. The idea was that the
dictionary would draw its data from English writing and would not only give word meanings, but
would systematically cite contextual evidence to verify the meanings that had been given. It would
include all words in use between the year 1100 and the date of publication. They intended to cite
the first occurrence of each word in English writing and the last occurrence if the word had dropped
out of use, together with other citations across the centuries to show developments in meaning. The
idea for the Oxford English Dictionary was born and nurtured in the Philological Society in England.

1.3. Dictionaries in America

In America, the great pioneer in lexicography was Noah Webster, whose name came to be as closely
linked to lexicography in that country as Johnson’s was in England. Webster brought out his last and
greatest effort in lexicography in 1828 under the title An American Dictionary of the English Language.
This work is, in a sense, the American counterpart of Johnson’s dictionary.
Webster’s book was revised once in his lifetime. In 1843 the rights were purchased by Charles and
G. Merriam, and the Merrian firm continued – and continues nowadays – to bring out editions of all
sizes, all bearing the Webster name.

1. What is Lexicography? What are its main characteristics?

2. What have been the major steps and works in English lexicography?

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2 Characteristics of Word-formation
in English

2.1. Word-formation

Morphology is the domain of linguistics which studies the internal construction of words. In order
to carry out that goal, on of the major areas of morphology is word-formation. Plag (2002) defines
it as «the study of the ways in which new complex words are built on the basis of other words or
morphemes». Brinton (2005) describes it as the means by which «morphs combine or are altered to
form new words». The rules by which words are construed are important for two reasons: firstly, in
order to recognize the grammatical class of a word by its structure; secondly, because they reveal
a flexibility in the application of grammatical rules, which allows for the creation of new words in
the language by using the resources it offers within its system (Quirk and Greenbaum, 1973). A
rule of word-formation usually differs from a syntactic rule in one important respect: it is of limited
productivity, in the sense that not all words which result from the application of the rule are
acceptable; they are freely acceptable only when they have gained an institutional currency in the
language. The rules themselves (like grammatical rules) change: affixes and compounding processes
can become productive or lose their productivity; can increase or decrease their range of meaning
or grammatical applicability.

XX Basic concepts in morphology

1) Word, Word-form and Lexeme
Without entering into the complex definition of the concept of word, in which orthographic,
semantic, phonological, morphological and syntactic factors are involved, we may say that a word
is, according to McCarthy (1990), a «freestanding item of language that has meaning by itself».
That means that a word is the smallest unit of syntax that has distinctive meaning and can occur
by itself at the phrase level.
Brinton (2005) indicates, that the term word may be used to refer to the word form, in the sense
of the physical unit or concrete realization, either orthographical or phonological (i.e., in writing
or in speech). This distinction between an abstract notion (word) versus a concrete realization
(word form) is similar to that made in phonology, between phone and sound. The distinction is
made at many levels of the language. In this sense, word form may also be used to refer to the
lexeme (also called lexical unit or lexical item), which is, according to Schmitt (2000), an «item that
functions as a single meaningful unit regardless of the number of words it contains». A lexeme
includes all inflected forms of a word. It is, therefore, a kind of abstraction or class of forms: WALK
– walk, walks, walked, walking. In fact, the same word form may represent different lexemes, as in
the case of homonyms, or the same lexeme may also have distinct word forms, as in the definite
and indefinite articles.
2) Morpheme and morph
The morpheme is, according to Crystal (1985), the «smallest bit of language which has a meaning».
Brinton (2005) and Plag (2000) also define it as the «smallest meaningful unit in language». The
morpheme may be equivalent to a word, but may be a smaller unit. It refers to either a class of
forms or an abstraction from the concrete forms of language. In this sense, Bauer (1983) argued
that they are abstract elements of analysis with their own form, meaning and distribution, but
that what actually happens is a phonetic or orthographic realization of the morpheme (a morph).
The main features of a morpheme are:

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−− It is internally indivisible.
−− It has internal stability.
−− It is transportable, i.e., it has positional mobility or free distribution, occurring in various
contexts.
As in other levels of language, the morph is the concrete realization of a morpheme, or the actual
segment of a word (Brinton, 2005), that is to say, the phonetic realization of a morpheme. They
are further classified into portmanteau morphs, which are single morphs which represent two
underlying morphemes; zero morphs, with no phonetic form, often related to irregular plural
forms with no plurality marker; and allomorphs, which are predictable variants, because they are
phonologically, grammatically and contextually conditioned.
3) Types of morphemes
According to the meaning, we may establish a distinction between lexical morphemes and
grammatical morphemes. Lexical morphemes: (a) express, lexical meaning and can be categorized
into major lexical categories: noun, verb, adjective or adverb; (b) constitute open categories to
which new members can be added; (c) are generally independent words (free roots) or parts of
words (derivational affixes and bound roots).
On the other hand, grammatical morphemes (a) express a limited number of very common
meanings or express relations within the sentence; (b) do not constitute open categories; (c)
their occurrence is predictable by the grammar of the sentence because certain grammatical
meanings are associated with certain lexical categories – for example, tense and voice with the
verb, and number and gender with the noun –; (d) may be parts of words (inflectional affixes) or
small but independent function words belonging to the minor word classes: preposition, article,
demonstrative, conjunction, auxiliary, etc.
Focusing on form, we may classify them into free morphemes, which occur on their own, and
bound morphemes, which are attached to others. Some bound morphemes like, for example,
un- must always be attached before the central meaningful element of the word (prefixes), the
so-called root, stem or base, whereas other bound morphemes, such as -ity, -ness, or -less, must
follow the root (suffix). There are also rare cases of affixes that cannot be considered prefixes or
suffixes, because they are inserted not at the boundary of another morpheme, but right into
another morpheme. To designate all of them we speak of affixes, a term that covers all bound
morphemes that attach to roots. Note that there are also bound roots, i.e. roots that only occur
in combination with some other bound morphemes. Examples of bound roots are often of Latin
origin, e.g. circul- (as in circulate, circulation, circulatory, circular), simul- (as in simulant, simulate,
simulation), but occasional native bound roots can also be found (e.g. hap-, as in hapless).
We must briefly clarify the distinction between root, stem and base. The part of a word which
an affix is attached to is called base. Root refers to bases that cannot be analyzed further into
morphemes. The term stem is generally used for bases of inflections, and occasionally for bases of
derivational affixes.
4) Derivation and inflection
A distinction has traditionally been made between inflection (i.e., conjugation and declension in
traditional grammar) as part of the grammar on the one hand, and derivation as part of word-
formation (or rather lexeme formation). The most crucial difference is that inflectional morphemes
encode grammatical categories such as plural (workers), person (works), tense (picked), or case
(John’s). These categories are relevant for the building of sentences and are referred to by the
grammar. On the other hand, the addition of a derivational affix (a prefix, a suffix, and, in some
languages, an infix) is called derivation. The addition of a derivational affix to a root produces a

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new word which may have one or more of the following changes: (a) a phonological change
(including stress change): reduce > reduction; clear > clarity; electric > electricity; (b) an orthographic
change to the root: pity > pitiful; (c) a semantic change, which may be fairly complex: husband >
husbandry, event > eventual; (d) in some cases (especially suffixes), a change in word class.
Plag (2000) summarises the distinction between inflection and derivation in this way: «Derivation
encodes lexical meaning; is not syntactically relevant; can occur inside derivation; often changes
the part of speech; is often semantically opaque; is often restricted in its productivity, and is
not restricted to suffixation. On the other hand, inflection encodes grammatical categories; is
syntactically relevant; occurs outside derivation; is semantically transparent; is fully productive
and is always suffixational».

XX Word-formation resources in English

English, then, has several procedures for word-formation. Affixation and compounding (the
combination of two bases) are the most frequent. However, there are other minor processes, which
vary in their relevance: conversion, by which there is word class change; truncation or clipping, in
which names are shortened. We also find the so-called blends, which are amalgamations of parts
of different words, such as modem (modulator/ demodulator). Blends based on orthography are
called acronyms, which are coined by combining the initial letters of compounds or phrases into a
pronounceable new word (NATO, UNESCO, etc.). Simple abbreviations like UK, or USA are also quite
common. There also processes of backformation, which is the reverse of affixation, being the
analogical creation of a new word from an existing word falsely assumed to be its derivative
(edit < editor), as well as reduplicatives, eponyms and onomatopoeic coinages. Sometimes,
if not many, none of these procedures is applied, and a new word is taken up from a foreign
language. Then, we speak of borrowing and loanwords.

1. What is morphology? Can you define ‘word-formation?

2. What is the major difference between a syntactic rule and a word-formation rule?
3. Provide the definition of the following terms:
a. Word
b. Word-form
c. Lexeme
d. Morpheme
e. Morph
4. What kinds of morphemes can be distinguished?
5. What is the difference between root, stem and base?
6. What is the difference between derivation and inflection?
7. What changes does derivation produce in the affected word?
8. What are the word-formation resources in English?

The definition of ‘word’ is also dealt with in unit 11.

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2.2. Plural Formation in English

There are two numbers in English: singular, which denotes one, and plural, which denotes more than
one (the dual case only remains in both, either and neither). The singular category includes common
mass nouns and proper nouns. Count nouns are variable nouns and can occur with either singular or
plural number. For the vast majority of variable nouns, the plural is fully predictable from the singular,
i.e., they form the regular plural. When it is not, we consider those forms to be irregular.

XX Regular plurals
In speech, the regular plural has three different pronunciations, depending on the final sound of the
base.
„„ /z/ after bases ending in sibilants: horse > horses; size > sizes.
„„ /z/ after bases ending in vowels and voiced sounds other than /z/: bed > beds.
„„ /s/ after bases ending in voiceless sounds other than /s/: bet > bets, month > months.
In spelling, the «-s» suffix is written after most nouns including nouns ending in silent «e» (college
– colleges), but there are some exceptions:
−− Addition of e. The ending is spelled «-es» after nouns ending in sibilants, unless the noun is
written with a silent «e»: -s, -z, -x, -ch, -sh, -ze.
−− Treatment of «-y»:. It is always «-ys» after vowels (days, the Kennedys), except nouns ending
in «quy» /kw/, and «-ies» after consonants: spy > spies.
−− Doubling of consonants in a few words: quiz > quizzes, bus > busses (AmE). Doubling also
occurs in some abbreviations: p – pp (pages), Ms – mss (manuscripts).
The regular plural suffix of nouns in «-o» has two spellings: «-os» (after a vowel, in proper names, and
in abbreviations: bamboos, Filipinos, kilos), and «-oes». In some cases, there is vacillation: buffalo –
buffaloes; tornados – tornado; volcanos – volcanoes.
In compounds, the plural is formed in three different ways: it may be in the first element: attorney
general > attorneys general, passer-by > passers-by; plural in both first and last element: manservant >
menservants, woman doctor > women doctors; and plural in the last element (i.e., normal): boyfriend >
boyfriends, close-up>close-ups, take-off>take-offs.

XX Irregular plurals
„„ Zero plural: In some animals: fish, sheep, deer.
In some nationality nouns: Chinese.
In series and species.
„„ Vowel alternation: mouse > mice, louse > lice, goose > geese,
woman > women,
foot > feet, man> men
„„ -en plural: children, brethren (only religious), oxen.
„„ Foreign plurals: though most of these words have only the foreign plural, some have both
a regular plural and a foreign one. In this case, foreign plurals tend to be commoner in technical
usage, whereas the «-s» plural is more natural in everyday language; thus formulas (general) but
formulae (in Mathematics); antennas (general and in electronics) but antennae (in Biology):

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Nouns in -um (Latin) > -a phenomena, data

Nouns in -us (Latin) > -i, -ora, -era stimuli, corpora, genera

Nouns in -a (Latin) > -ae alumnae, formulae

Nouns in-ex, -ix (Latin) > -ices indices, appendices

Nouns in -is (Greek) > -es bases, axes

Nouns in -on (Greek) > -a criteria

Nouns in -eau (French) > - eaux tableaux

Zero corps
Hebrew nouns > -im kibbutzim, cherubim
Nouns in -o (Italian) > -i tempi

„„ Voicings:
−− /T / > // + /z/ bath > baths
−− /f/ > /v/ + /z/ calf > calves
−− /s/ > /z/ + // house > houses

The formation of English plurals is extensively covered in unit 13.

2.3. Formation of Nouns

Nouns in English are formed by means of affixation, derivation and compounding, as well as from
other methods. In this sense, they are the word class which possesses more resources for the creation
of new words.

XX Prefixation
Bauer (1983) classified prefixes according to the class-form to which they are added. In this sense,
exclusive DENOMINAL prefixes are only: arch-, mini-/ maxi-, step-, mal-, and pro- (archbishop,
mini-skirt, stepfather, malfunction, proconsul). They are analyzed in terms of use and meaning in the
prefixation section.

XX Suffixation
Nominal suffixes are often employed to derive abstract nouns from verbs (deverbal) adjectives
(deadjectival) and nouns (denominal).

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XX Denominal suffixes
1) Occupation, subject matter
-er (-or): Used to form personal and inanimate nouns, with varied meanings «something having
X», «inhabitant of X», «maker of X»: glover, teenager, Londoner, eighteen-wheeler. It also forms
the meaning of instrument nouns: steamer, toaster; and nouns denoting entities associated with
an activity: diner, lounger, trainer. The variant «-or» occurs mainly with Latinate bases ending in
/s/ or /t/, such as conductor, oscillator, compressor.
-ster, -eer: Added to form personal nouns, with the meaning of «person engaged in an occupation
or activity»: gangster, profiteer. With the exception of engineer, they frequently have pejorative
meaning.
-ism: It means «state», «condition», «attitude», «system of beliefs» or «theory», as in blondism,
Parkinsonism, conservatism, revisionism, Marxism, respectively.
2) Diminutive and feminine
-let: It forms countable nouns, with the meaning of «small, unimportant»: booklet, piglet.
-ette: It has several meanings: «small» (cigarette); «imitation» (leatherette); «female» (usherette).
-ess: It refers exclusively to female humans and animals (princess, stewardess, lioness, tigress,
waitress). It is used with decreasing frequency.
-y (-ie): Restricted to familiar contexts, it appears in diminutives: daddy, auntie.
3) Status and domain
-hood: Its derivatives express concepts such as «state» (as in adulthood, childhood, farmerhood),
and «collectivity» (as in beggarhood, Christianhood, companionhood). It is mildly productive.
Sometimes it can be added to adjective bases: falsehood.
-ship: It means «state» or «condition». Base words are mostly person nouns, as in apprenticeship,
friendship, and some adjectives: hardship.
-dom: It expresses «domain», «realm», «condition»: kingdom, officialdom, stardom.
-age: It expresses an activity (or its result) as in coverage, leakage, spillage, and nouns denoting
a collective entity or quantity, as in acreage, voltage, yardage.
-(e)ry: It creates abstract, concrete count nouns and mass nouns. It has a variety of meanings:
«location», meaning «place where a specific activity is carried out» (bakery, fishery); «collectivity»
(as in confectionery, machinery, pottery), or behaviour (slavery).
4) Other meanings
-ful: It derives measure partitive nouns (similar to expressions such as a lot of, a bunch of) from
nominal base words that can be seen as containers: «the amount which N contains» (bootful,
cupful, handful, tumblerful, stickful).
-ing: As a denominal suffix, it means «the substance of which N is composed»: panelling.

XX Deverbal suffixes
-ing: It denotes processes (begging, running, sleeping), being the verbal noun, or results (building,
wrapping, stuffing). The suffix is somewhat peculiar among derivational suffixes in that it is primarily
used as a verbal inflectional suffix forming present participles.

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-ant: It forms count nouns referring to persons (often in technical or legal discourse, cf. applicant,
defendant, disclaimant) or to biological, chemical, or physical substances (attractant, dispersant,
suppressant). Most bases are verbs of Latinate origin.
-er (-or): As a deverbal suffix, it is added to mainly dynamic verbs to form mainly personal nouns. It
is the agential suffix: worker (animate), receiver (inanimate). It is extremely productive. The spelling is
«-or» in borrowed and neo-classical words: inspector, actor.
-ion /-ation: It means «state» or «action», in exploration, and «institution», in foundation.
-al: A number of verbs take «-al» to form abstract nouns denoting an action or the result of an action,
such as arrival, overthrowal, recital, referral, renewal.
-ance (-ence/ -ancy/ -ency): It creates action nouns such as absorbance, riddance, retardance. The
suffix is closely related to «-cy/-ce», which attaches productively to adjectives ending in the suffix
«-ant/-ent».
-cy/ -ce: They denote states, properties, qualities or facts (convergence), or, by way of metaphorical
extension, can refer to an office or institution (e.g. presidency). The distribution of the two variants is
not entirely clear.
-ee: It forms personal nouns, as a passive recipient of the action: employee denotes someone who is
employed, a biographee is someone who is the subject of a biography. Sometimes it does not have
a passive meaning: absentee.
-ment: It forms mainly abstract nouns, meaning «state» or «action»: assessment, endorsement,
involvement. It is used in borrowed and neo-classical words, and sometimes to form concrete nouns:
equipment, sediment.
-ion: It denotes events or results of processes. As such, verbal bases are by far the most frequent:
explosion, depiction.

XX Deadjectival suffixes
-ity: They denote qualities, states or properties, and are usually derived from Latinate adjectives (e.g.
curiosity, productivity, profundity, solidity).
-ness: Much more restricted than «-ity», it can be attached to practically any adjective, with the
meaning of «state», «quality»: cleverness, usefulness, selfishness. It is very productive.

XX Denominal/ deadjectival suffixes

A number of suffixes may form nouns or adjectives:
-ite: Usually added to names, it forms personal and non-gradable adjectives, meaning «member of
a tribe or community»: Israelite; and «member of faction»: Labourite, Luddite.
-an (-ian/ -ean): They denote the meaning of «person having to do with X» (as in technician,
historian, utopian). In other cases, it can be interpreted as «being from X» or «being of X origin» (e.g.
Bostonian, Mongolian, Scandinavian), or «being the follower or supporter of X»: Anglican, Chomskyan,
Smithsonian. Many «-(i)an» derivatives are also used as adjectives.
-ese: Mainly added to proper nouns, to form personal nouns and non-gradable adjectives, meaning
«belonging to» or «pertaining to»: Portuguese, Chinese.
-ist: This suffix derives nouns denoting persons, mostly from nominal and adjectival bases. Its
meaning refers to attitudes, beliefs or theories, «member of»: socialist, Buddhist, violinist.

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XX Compounding
There are many possible combinations of word classes in order to form new nouns. They do not
follow any definite rule, but these are the most frequent:
N + N > N: airplane, lipstick
V + N > N: cut-throat, spoil-sport
A + N > N: madman, fast-food, software
Prt + N > N: background, afternoon
Prt + V > N: outcast, downpour
V + Prt > N: put-down, drop-out
N + -‘s + N > N: bachelor’s degree
V + -ing + N > N: spending money, closing time
N + V + -ing > N: handwriting, foxhunting
N + V > N: bloodshed, but-stand, sunrise
N + V + -er > N: hairdresser, nutcracker

1. How are nouns formed in English?

2. What do the terms ‘denominal’, ‘deverbal’ and ‘deadjectival’ mean?
3. How many combinations of word classes can be done to form new nouns in
English? What are they?

2.4. Formation of Verbal Forms

In order to analyze the formation of verbal forms in English, the distinction between inflection and
derivation must be taken into account, as the base form of the verb adopts several suffixes in order
to show tense:

XX Inflection
English verbs present a series of productive inflectional forms:
Present tense, 3rd p sg -s
Past tense -ed
Past participle -ed
Present participle -ing
Negation -not (n’t)
With regards to derivational forms, English has some available procedures in order to the formation
of new verbal forms:

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XX Prefixation
There are only two Old English, scarcely productive prefixes which may also be called conversion
prefixes (Quirk and Greenbaum, 1973), since a major part of their function, in contrast to that of other
prefixes, is to convert the base into a different grammatical class:
Be-: added to nouns and participial adjectives has the meaning of «equipped with» or «covered
with». When added to verbs, adjectives or nouns, it has a pejorative meaning: becalm.
En-: added to nouns and verbs, with various meanings: «to make into», «to put into»: empower,
endanger.

XX Suffixation
There are four suffixes which derive verbs from other categories (mostly adjectives and nouns):
-ate: with chemical substances it can be paraphrased as «provide with X» or «make into X» (resultative),
as in methanate. In most cases, it is just an indicator of verbal status.
-en: most bases are adjectives (blacken, broaden, quicken, ripen) but a few nouns can also be found
(strengthen, lengthen). Its meaning is «make [more] X» or «become [more] X».
-ify: added mainly to nouns an adjectives, it forms transitive verbs. It has causative meaning: «to
make X»: diversify, codify, amplify. It is usually present in borrowed and neo-classical formations:
certify, identify. It is in (almost) complementary distribution with the suffix -ize.
-ize(-ise): it is very similar to -ify. Tt can be translated as «to convert»: symbolize, publicize, legalize,
popularize. It is widespread in borrowed and neo-classical words.

XX Compounding
Adams (1973) claims that verb compounds are mainly formed by three main processes:
backformation, from noun or adjective compounds (air-condition, sleep-talk); conversion from
noun compounds, and less often, compounding. Plag (2000) argues that, upon closer inspection,
we notice that the majority of compounds involving a verbal head is best analyzed as the result
of a back-formation or conversion process. In backformation, speakers derive a morphologically
simple word from a form which they analyze, on the basis of derivational and inflectional patterns
existing in English, as a morphologically complex word: baby-sit < babysitter, typewrite<typewriter. It
is, therefore, the opposite of derivation. In conversion, as we know, one part of speech is transformed
into another without the addition of a suffix, or by a zero derivational affix (to empty, to better).
According to Bauer (1983) and Brinton (2005), the main verb-forming patterns are:
N + V > V: baby-sit, carbon-date, head-hunt, skydive, housekeep
A + V > V: free-associate, double-book, fine-tune, whitewash
V + V > V: freeze-dry (very rare)
Prt. +V > V: outdo, overcook, underrate
A + N > V: strong-arm, blacklist brownbag, mainstream
N + N > V: breath-test (not common)
V + N > V: shunpike (quite unproductive)
The combination V + Prt is, however, the most common pattern, but it is separately known under
the notion of phrasal verb, which is out of the scope of this study.

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1. What inflectional forms do English verbs have?

2. What suffixes can be used in order to create English verbs?
3. Is it possible to create English verbs by means of prefixation?
4. How are English compound verbs formed?

2.5. Formation of Adverbs

The formation of adverbs in English is much more restricted than that of other word classes. In
fact, only suffixation is the productive procedure for their formation. Apart from it, Bauer (1983)
argues that the commonest way of forming compound adverbs is adding «-ly» to a compound
adjective: impatient > impatiently. In fact, this procedure may be ascribed to suffixation rather than
to compounding.

XX Suffixation
-ly: Although it can be considered inflectional, because it is syntactically obligatory, it is added in
order to form adverbs of manner, or viewpoint, with the meaning of «in a … manner»: (happily,
strangely). It is very productive. Following «-ic», the suffix generally takes the form «-ally»: scenically.
-ward(s): It is added to prepositional adverbs and nouns in order to form adverbs of manner or
direction. In British English, backward as adverb is used in a purely directional sense; backwards
means, in addition, movement «back first». In American English, forms without «-s» are general,
according to Quirk and Greenbaum (1973).
-wise: This suffix derives adverbs from nouns, with two distinguishable sub-groups: manner/
dimension adverbs, and so-called view-point adverbs. The former adverb type has the meaning «in
the manner of X, like X» as in the towel wound sarongwise about his middle. The smaller and much
more recent group of viewpoint adverbs is made up of adverbs whose meaning can be rendered
as «with respect to, in regard to, concerning X»: education-wise, weather-wise (Plag 2001). This type is
especially productive in informal American English.
-style/-fashion: Added to nouns, with the meaning of «in the manner of/ style of», are also used as
adverbial suffixes: American-style

1. How can English adverbs be formed?

See unit 15, 16, 25 and 26 for further information on adverbs.

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2.6. Formation of Adjectives

XX Inflection
The procedures for forming adjectives in English depend mainly on suffixation. However, the
distinction between inflectional and derivational forms is relevant in this word class, as adjectives
possess comparative and superlative suffixes (-er and -est) in order to express degree.

XX Prefixation
There is just one prefix which can create adjectives:
a-: It is added to verbs in order to form predicative adjectives, with the meaning of the progressive
aspect: afloat/floating, astride/striding.

XX Suffixation
-able (-ible): It combines with transitive verbal bases, as well as with nouns (fashionable, readable).
It has two possible meanings, both passive: «able of being Xed» (breakable, deterrable, readable),
and «disposed to X» (perishable, variable, changeable). Sometimes the preposition of a prepositional
verb is omitted: accountable: «able to be accounted for». The variant spelling «-ible» is used in some
borrowed and neo-classical words: comprehensible.
-al (-ial/-ual/-ical): It is attached almost exclusively to Latinate bases (accidental, colonial, cultural,
federal) to form non-gradable adjectives. Examples of variants are: confidential, contextual, historical.
-ary: Usually attached to nouns, meaning «belonging to the class of»: complementary, evolutionary.
-ed: It is added to nouns or noun phrases, with the general meaning of «having X, being provided
with X», as in broad-minded, wooded. The majority of derivatives are based on compounds or phrases
(empty-headed, pig-headed, air-minded, fair-minded).
-esque: It is attached to both common and (chiefly) proper nouns to convey the notion of «in the
manner or style of X»: picturesque, Kafkaesque. It appears in borrowed words: burlesque.
-ful: Adjectival «-ful» has the general meaning «having X, being characterized by X», and is typically
attached to abstract nouns to form gradable adjectives, as in beautiful, tactful. Verbal bases are not
uncommon (e.g. forgetful, mournful, resentful).
-ic: It is attached to foreign bases. Quite a number of «-ic» derivatives have variant forms in «-ical»
(electric - electrical, economic - economical, historic - historical, etc.). Sometimes these forms are clearly
distinguished in meaning (e.g. economic «profitable» vs. Economical «money-saving»). In other cases
it remains to be determined what governs the choice of one form over the other. It is often used for
names of languages and nationality adjectives.
-ing: This verbal inflectional suffix forms present participles, which can in general also be used as
adjectives in attributive positions, and also as nouns. The grammatical status of a verb suffixed by
«-ing» in predicative position is not always clear.
-ish: With adjectives (clearish, sharpish), numerals (fourteenish), adverbs (soonish), and syntactic
phrases (out-of-the-wayish), it conveys the meaning of «somewhat X, vaguely X». When attached to
nouns referring to human beings, the derivatives can be paraphrased as «of the character of X, like
X» (foolish, snobbish), or «belonging to» (Swedish, Turkish). Some forms have a pejorative meaning,
e.g. childish.

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-ive (-ative/-itive): Added chiefly from Latinate verbs and bound roots that end in [t] or [s]: connective,
explosive, fricative, in order to form gradable or non-gradable adjectives. Some nominal bases are also
attested, as in instinctive, massive.
-less: Semantically, «-less» can be seen as antonymic to «-ful», with the meaning being paraphrasable
as «without X»: expressionless, hopeless, speechless, thankless.
-ly: This suffix is appended to nouns and adjectives. With base nouns denoting persons, it usually
conveys the notion of «having the qualities of», as in brotherly, fatherly. Other common types of
derivative have bases denoting temporal concepts (e.g. half-hourly, daily, monthly) or directions
(easterly, southwesterly).
-ous (-eous/-ious): It derives gradable adjectives mostly from Latinate nouns (curious, barbarous,
famous), with the meaning of «having X».

XX Compounding
There are many possibilities for compounding new adjectives. Once the process has finished, and
a new word is created, it may express qualitative and classifying meanings, similar to a single word
adjective:
N + A > A: headstrong, duty-free
A + A > A: bittersweet, icy-cold, red-hot
N + N > A: seaside, coffee-table
A + N > A: redneck, blue-collar
V + Prt > A: tow-away, see-through
N + V + -ing > A: man-eating, heart-breaking
A + V + -ing > A: easygoing, good-looking
N + V + -en > A: manmade, hand-woven, housebroken
A + V + -en > A: widespread, far-fetched
A + N + -ed > A: cold-blooded, thick-skinned

1. Does the English adjective have inflected forms?

2. What is the main resource for the creation of adjectives?
3. Do compound adjectives exist? How are they created?

Further information on adjectives is available in unit 14.

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3 Prefixation, Suffixation and Compounding

3.1. Prefixation

They are placed before the base, and they do not generally alter its word class, except for the so-
called conversion prefixes, by which a change is made (Quirk and Greenbaum, 1973). Only three
prefixes, which are no longer productive in English, systematically change the part of speech of the
root: «a-», «be-», «en-» (already studied in the corresponding sections).
Productive prefixes normally have a light stress on their first (or only) syllable, the main stress of
the word remaining on the base. According to Quirk and Greenbaum (1973), the only possible
classification for prefixes is on semantic terms, that is, by means of their meaning, although they
warn that «inevitable semantic overlaps between the categories» may occur.
Prefixes fall into a number of semantic classes in English, depending upon the meaning that they
contribute to the root. Note the difference between privation and negation: a private prefix expresses
the reverse of an action (as in undo) or the absence of a quality (amoral), whereas the negative prefix
expresses «not» (immoral «not moral»).The list is not an exhaustive one; other semantic categories
would be needed to classify all the prefixes in English, such as «completeness» (fulfil), «reversal»
(counterattack), «subordination» (vicechair). Furthermore, some prefixes may fit into more than one
category; «under-», expresses both degree (in underpayment) and place (in underwater). Prefixes may
often attach to more than one part of speech, mislead (V) and misfortune (N).
Thus, according to Quirk and Greenbaum (1973), and Brinton (2005), the semantic classification of
English prefixes shows the following categories:
a) Time and order: fore- (‘before’), foretell; pre- (‘before’), pre-war; post- (‘after’), post-war; ex-
(‘former’), ex-president; re- (‘again’, ‘back’), rebuild.
b) Number: uni-/ mono- (‘one’), unilateral, monosyllable; bi-/di- (‘two’), bilateral, dichotomy; tri-
(‘three’), tripod; multi-/poly- (‘many’), multilateral.
c) Place: super- (‘over’, ‘above’), superstructure; sub- (‘under’, ‘beneath’), subway; inter- (‘between’,
‘among), international; trans- (‘across’), transatlantic.
d) Degree/ size: arch- (‘supreme’, ‘highest’), archbishop; super- (‘above’, ‘more than’), superman,
supermarket; out- (‘do something better’), outrun; sur- (‘over and above’), surcharge; sub- (‘under’,
‘lower than’), substandard; over- (‘too much’), overdo; under- (‘too little’), underfeed; hyper- (‘extra
specially’), hyperactive; ultra- (‘beyond’, ‘extremely’), ultra-modern; mini-/maxi- (‘little’/’big’), mini-
skirt.
e) Privation (reversative): un- (‘to reverse’, ‘deprive of’), undo, unhorse; de- (‘to reverse’, ‘to get rid
of’), decode, deforestation; dis- (‘to reverse’, ‘deprive of’), disconnect, disinfect.
f) Negation: un- (‘the opposite of’, ‘not’), unwanted; non- (‘not’), non-smoker; in-il-/ im-/ ir (‘the
opposite of’, ‘not’), incredible; dis- (‘the opposite of’, ‘not’), dislike; a- (‘lacking in’, ‘lack of’), amoral.
g) Attitude: co- (‘accompanying’, ‘with’), cooperate; counter- (‘against’), counter-revolution; anti-
(‘against’), antibody; pro- (‘for’, ‘on the side of’), pro-American; mis- (‘wrongly’, ‘astray’), miscalculate,
misleading; mal- (‘badly’) malfunction; pseudo- (‘false’), pseudo-intellectual.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) consider «mis-», «mal-» and «pseudo-» as having a pejorative meaning.
They also deal with a series of prefixes which they consider on the border between English and neo-
classical derivation: auto- (‘self’), autobiography; neo- (‘new’, ‘revived’), neo-Gothic; pan- (‘all’, ‘world-
wide’), pan-American; proto- (‘first’, ‘original’), prototype; semi- (‘half’), semicircle; vice- (‘deputy’), vide-
president.

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3.2. Suffixation

Suffixation, as has been seen specifically in the formation of nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives, is
one of the most productive procedures for word-formation in the English language. Suffixes can be
either native, coming from Old English, or borrowed during any of the periods of Latin and Greek
influences over English, especially in the neoclassical period.
Suffixes have two functions: to change the meaning of the root and to change the part of speech
of the root. Those changing meaning alone include the diminutive suffixes «-ling», «-let», «-y», the
feminine suffixes «-ess», «-ette», «-rix», «-ine» – which, for social and cultural reasons, are now falling
out of use – and the abstract suffixes, making an abstract noun out of a concrete noun «–ship»,
«-hood», «-ism». More often, however, suffixes change the word class of the root.
Some classifications of suffixes have been proposed. Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) claim that it is
convenient to group them not only by the class of word they form (noun suffixes, verb suffixes, etc.),
and they propose that the class of base to which they are added is also relevant. In this sense, they
distinguish between DENOMINAL, when they are added to nouns; DE-ADJECTIVAL and DEVERBAL.
Brinton (2005) focuses on the word-class produced after the process of suffixation, and defines as
nominalizer the suffix that produces a noun from a verb or an adjective. This constitutes the largest
set of class-changing suffixes. A suffix which produces a verb from a noun or an adjective is called a
verbalizer while one which produces an adjective from a noun, a verb, or another adjective is called
an adjectivalizer. The smallest set of class-changing prefixes is the adverbializer. Another adverbializer
in English is the old inflectional possessive ending «-s» in nowadays, nights, once, and thereabout.
The false morphological division of words may result in more or less productive suffixes, which one
scholar calls «splinters», as in: ham/burger, alc/oholic > workaholic, mar/athon, pano/rama, caval/cade,
heli/copter.
Finally, stress is one of the relevant issues when dealing with suffixation, as the combination of a
suffix to a borrowed or neo-classical origin word provokes variations in stress, and even in vowel
quality: ‘photograph, photo’graphic, pho’tographer. Quirk and Greenbaum state that, in general
terms, English suffixes are unstressed, the only exceptions being the ending «-ation».

3.3. Compounding

According to Brinton (2005), a compound is «the combination of two or more free roots (plus
associated affixes)». The origins of compounding can be traced back to Old English, although
according to Algeo and Piles (1993), this word-formation procedure is much less productive than in
previous periods.
Unlike phrases, a compound is considered a single word. English orthography is indeterminate
because compounds can be written as a single word or as two words, hyphenated or not, e.g.,
icecream, ice cream, ice-cream. Moreover, the semantics of compounds are not very helpful; we
expect compounds to have a semantic unity, internal coherence (externally modified at the single
word boundary: manhole > manholes, not *manhole). They also have external mobility, that is, they
move in a sentence as a whole.
However, stress seems to offer the most reliable means when distinguishing a compound from a
phrase. As a single word, a compound will carry only one primary stress, whereas a phrase, as a
group of words, will carry more than one primary stress. The second half of the compound carries
secondary stress and the vowel may be reduced. Compare the stress patterns in the following sets
(´indicates primary stress, whereas `indicates secondary stress):

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Compound phrase
Stónewàll stóne wáll
Sáfeguàrd sáfe guárd
Bréakdòwn bréak dówn

This principle is relevant for compound nouns and some compound verbs, although compound
adjectives may carry more than one primary stress, as duty-free or child-proof.
As to meaning, most often the semantics of compounds is not simply a sum of the meaning of the
parts; consider words like makeup or handout. As for syntax, compounds are even more complex. Any
combination of parts of speech seems possible, with almost any part of speech resulting. However,
we can establish a principle: the word class of the compound is determined by the head of the
compound, or its rightmost member, whereas the leftmost member carries the primary stress. The
only exception to his rule is a converted compound.
Once two roots have combined to form a compound word, derivational or inflectional affixes may
be added to the new word: when the present or past participle inflectional suffix («-ing» and «-ed»)
is added to a verb, the result unit functions as an adjective: hardworking, student-centred.
Compounds may also involve conversions and backformations. Another problem of historical interest
is amalgamated compounds. These are words which in origin are compounds, but which in the course
of time have become fused and no longer separable into two distinct parts: barn < bere ‘barley + aern
‘place; midwife < mid ‘with’ + wif ‘wife’. Since they are no longer recognizable as compounds, all are
considered single, unanalyzable morphemes. Apart from the different procedures for compounding
in order to form nouns, adjectives, verbs and adjectives, there are also compound prepositions: into,
onto, because of; compound pronouns: somebody, anyone; and compound conjunctions: whenever,
so that.

1. What are the general features of English prefixation? How are English prefixes
classified?
2. What are the general characteristics of suffixation?
3. What is compounding? Are there any specific rules for this process? How does it
affect the stress of the word?
4. Can compound words be further derivated or inflected? Justify your answer.

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CONCLUSION

Word-formation is an extensive, open field for research, since language continues

to evolve and lexicon is probably the area where changes are most frequent. The
exchange of information and data all over the world has geometrically grown in
the last decades, thanks to the Information Technologies, and the language is the
best of recipients in which this change in our lives is reflected. New words are
coined, in accordance with new concepts or technological advance; old ones
take up renewed meanings or modify their form thanks to affixational processes,
compounding, or derivation.
The unit provides a thorough account of the word-formation processes available
in contemporary English Language, taking into account the limitations of time
and space that must be considered for a competitive exam. As teachers we may
introduce this topic in the English classroom so as to make our students aware of
all these processes and let them know how the English language works as regards
the formation of words and their evolution.
In conclusion, the topic covered in this unit shows that language is not a closed,
abstract system of signs which can be prescribed by academies. Instead, language
is a living corpus, integrated by human beings (both living and dead), which
make up language in its everyday activities: by doing business, by travelling, by
reading. The existence of word-formation procedures in the language as well as
the relevance of borrowing are just a mirror of the dynamics of life, of the ever-
changing condition of existence. Though admirable and beautiful, Chaucer’s
English is not our English, just as our world has changed much since Chaucer’s
times. Heidegger said that language made us humans. We may add that, in fact,
language is what makes us alive.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARBER, C.: The English Language: A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
This book describes the nature of language and language change, and presents a history of the English language
from prehistory to the present day, dealing with key topics such as grammar, pronunciation and semantics.
BAUER, L.: English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
A survey of the types of word-formation found in English.
BAUER, L.:‘Word Formation’. In BROWN, K. (ed). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2nd edition)
London: Elsevier, 2006.
A brief contribution which provides a basic definition and theoretical grounding of the field.
BAUGH, A.C.: A History of the English Language. London: Routledge, 2002.
A classic comprehensive and balanced exploration of the history of the English language -- from the Middle
Ages to the present -- that combines internal linguistic history and external cultural history.
BRINTON, L.: The Structure of Modern English. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company, 2000.
A comprehensive survey of major points of the English language, covering all levels of language.
CRYSTAL, D.: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2003.
It covers the history of the English language in different parts of the world and English vocabulary (its nature,
structure, sources, etymology, and the dimensions of the lexicon).
GREENBAUM, S.: The Oxford English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
An excellent reference grammar for students of English at an advanced level.
HUGHES, G.: A history of English Words. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2000.
A comprehensive study of the evolution of English vocabulary.
JEFFRIES, L.: Discovering Language. The Structure of Modern English. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
This text provides students with the basic descriptive knowledge of all levels of language. It is an excellent
global work on the English language.
JULIEN, M.: Syntactic Heads and Word Formation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
It investigates the relation between morphology and syntax, and the form relation between the form of
inflected verbs and its position, in particular. It is a rather specific book.
KATAMBA, F.: English Words: Structure, History, Usage. London: Routledge, 2004.
The book deals with the structure and meaning of words, the relation of spelling to pronunciation, word
creation and borrowing and how the meaning of words changes in time.
PLAG, I.: Word-Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Plag explains the fundamentals of word-formation, demonstrating how morphemes can function to relate
words to other words, and to create new words.

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QUIRK, R., GREENBAUM, S., LEECH, G. and SVARTVIK, J.: A Grammar of Contemporary English. London:
Longman, 1972.
Probably the most cited, indispensable grammar of the English language yet.
STEKAUER, P. and LIEBER, R. (eds.).: Handbook of Word-Formation. London: Springer, 2006.
It covers the historical development of theories of word formation within generative grammar.
STOCKWELL, R. and MINKOVA, D.: English Words: History and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2001.
It is both an introduction to some of the basic principles of linguistic analysis and a helpful manual for vocabulary
discernment and enrichment.

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SUMMARY/OUTLINE

Lexicon. Characteristics of Word-formation in English. Prefixation, Suffixation and

Compounding

1. Lexicon „„ Irregular plurals.

−− Zero plural: fish, sheep.
−− Vowel alternation: mouse-mice, woman-women.
1.1. Lexicography −− -en plural: child-children
−− Foreign plurals: regular plural and foreign one: formula-
„„ It deals with arranging and describing items of vocabulary formulas (general)- formulae (Mathematics).
in dictionaries and glossaries, among others.
„„ Two types: alphabetic lexicography (dictionaries, both 2.3. Formation of Nouns
monolingual and bilingual) and thematic lexicography
(thesauri). „„ Nouns are created through different resources:
−− Prefixation: arch-, mini-/maxi-, step-, mal-, and pro-.
1.2. The Evolution of the Modern −− Suffixation: denominal, deverbal, deadjectival and
denominal/deadjectival suffixes.
Dictionary −− Compounding (airplane, madman, spending money,
„„ First English dictionary (17th century): A Table Alphabetical etc.).
(Robert Cawdrey).
„„ Samuel Jonson (18th century): his dictionary contributed 2.4. Formation of Verbal Forms
to the growth of lexicography. Innovations: words were
separated and numbered; contexts were included to „„ Inflection (present tense (-s: third person singular); past
explain the meaning of a word. tense (-ed), past participle (-ed), present participle (-ing)
and negation (not/ n’t)).
„„ Oxford English Dictionary (19th century): included all
words in use between the year 1100 and the date of its „„ Prefixation: be- (becalm), en- (empower).
publication. „„ Suffixation: ate- (methanate); -en (blacken); -ify (diversify);
-ize (-ise) (symbolize).
1.3. Dictionaries in America „„ Compounding: three processes: backformation, conversion
and compounding.
„„ Noah Webster (19th century): An American Dictionary of
the English Language.
2.5. Formation of Adverbs
„„ Suffixation (-ly: happily; -ward(s): backwards; -wise
(education-wise), -style/ -fashion: American-style).
2. Characteristics of Word-
formation in English 2.6. Formation of Adjectives
„„ Inflection (-er; est).
2.1. Word-formation „„ Prefixation (a-: afloat/ afloating).
„„ «The study of the ways in which new complex words are „„ Suffixation: -able (accountable); -al (accidental);
built on the basis of other words or morphemes» (Plag, -ary (complementary); -ed (broad-minded); -esque
2002). (picturesque); -ful (forgetful), -ic (electric).etc.
„„ Word-formation processes: affixation and compounding.

2.2. Plural Formation in English 3. Prefixation, Suffixation and

„„ Regular plural: «-s» suffix is added to the noun. Exceptions: Compounding
−− Addition of e after nouns ending in sibilants.
−− Treatment of «-y»: «-ys» after vowels (days), except nouns
ending in «quy» and «-ies» after consonants (spy-spies).
3.1. Prefixation
−− Doubling of consonants in a few words: quiz-quizzes, „„ Quirk et al. (1972) classify prefixes into: Time and order;
bus-busses (AmE). number, place, degree/size, privation (reversative),
negation, and attitude.

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3.2. Suffixation „„ English orthography is indeterminate because compounds

can be written as a single word, as two words, hyphenated
„„ Denominal, deverbal, and deadjectival. or not.
„„ Stress is the most reliable means of distinguishing a
3.3. Compounding compound from a phrase.

„„ A compound is «the combination of two or more free roots

(plus associated affixes)».

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EVALUATION

1. What is considered to be the first English dictionary in history?

a. Roget’s Thesaurus.
b. The Oxford English Dictionary.
c. A Table Alfabetical, by Robert Cawdrey.
d. Noah Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language.

2. «The smallest bit of language which has a meaning» is a

a. Morpheme.
b. Morph.
c. Lexeme.
d. Root.

3. The part of a word which an affix is attached to is called

a. Root.
b. Stem.
c. Lexeme.
d. Base.

4. The suffix «y» (ie) is a

a. Denominal suffix which forms countable nouns.
b. Denominal suffix which appears in diminutives.
c. Deadjectival suffix to form personal nouns.
d. Deadjectival suffix which appears in diminutives.

5. A suffix which expresses an activity or its result is

a. -hood.
b. -ism.
c. -age.
d. -dom.

6. «-ite» is a
a. Denominal/deadjectival suffix which means «member of a tribe or community».
b. Denominal suffix which means «member of a tribe or community».
c. Deadjectival suffix which means «member of a tribe or community».
d. Deverbal suffix which means «member of a tribe or community».

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7. The four suffixes which can derive verbs from other categories are:
a. –ate, -en, -ify, -ist.
b. –en, -ize, -ify, -ate.
c. –en, -ize, -ing, -ed.
d. –ate, -ify,- ify, -ed.

8. Which of these combinations is not possible to create a compound verb?

a. V+V
b. N+N
c. V+N
d. N+A

9. This suffix combines with adjectives, numerals and syntactic phrases, converying the meaning of
«vaguely»:
a. –esque.
b. –ary.
c. –ish.
d. –ly.

10. «un-», «de-» and «dis-» are

a. Privation prefixes.
b. Attitude prefixes.
c. Degree prefixes.
d. Negation prefixes.

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