Лекции по лексикологии английского языка. Гусева Г.В. - 25 стр.

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II. Affixation

Affixation has been one of the most productive ways of word-building

throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a

definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.

III. Suffixation

The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of

speech from another, the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of

the same part of speech, e.g. educate v – educatee n.

There are different classifications of suffixes.

1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes which can form different parts of

speech are given here:

a) noun-forming suffixes: -er criticize, -ism ageism;

b) adjective-forming suffixes: –able breathable, -less symptomless, -ous

prestigious;

c) adverb-forming suffixes: -ly singly, -ward tableward, -wise jet-wise;

d) numeral-forming suffixes: -teen sixteen, -ty seventy, -fold twofold.

2. Semantic classification. Suffixes changing the lexical meaning of the stem

can be subdivided into groups, e.g. noun-forming suffixes can denote:

a) the agent of the action: -er teacher, -ist taxist, -ent student;

b) nationality: –ian Russian, -ese Japanese, -ish English.

c) collectivity: -dom kingdom, -ry peasantry, -ship readership;

d) diminutiveness: -ie horsie, -let booklet, -ette kitchenette,

e) quality: -ness copelessness, -ity answerability;

f) feminine gender: -ess actress, -ine heroine, -ette cosmonette;

g) abstract notion: -hood childhood, -ness politeness, -ence/ance tolerance;

h) derogatory meaning: -ard drunkard, -ster gangster.