Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word.[1] Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix un- is added to the word happy, it creates the word unhappy. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.
| Affixes |
|---|
| See also: |
Prefixes, like other affixes, can be either inflectional, creating a new form of the word with the same basic meaning and same lexical category (but playing a different role in the sentence), or derivational, creating a new word with a new semantic meaning and sometimes also a different lexical category.[2] Prefixes, like all other affixes, are usually bound morphemes.[1]
In English, there are no inflectional prefixes; English uses suffixes instead for that purpose.
The word prefix is itself made up of the stem fix (meaning "attach", in this case), and the prefix pre- (meaning "before"), both of which are derived from Latin roots.
In English
List of English derivational prefixes
This is a fairly comprehensive, although not exhaustive, list of derivational prefixes in English. Depending on precisely how one defines a derivational prefix, some of the neoclassical combining forms may or may not qualify for inclusion in such a list. This list takes the broad view that acro- and auto- count as English derivational prefixes because they function the same way that prefixes such as over- and self- do.
As for numeral prefixes, only the most common members of that class are included here. There is a large separate table covering them all at Numeral prefix > Table of number prefixes in English.
| Prefix | Meaning | Example | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| a- | "not" | asymmetric, "not symmetric" | a- before consonants, an- before vowels |
| acro- | "high" | acrophobia, "fear of heights" (more) | |
| allo- | "other" | allotransplantation, "transplant of tissue from another person" (more) | |
| alter- | "at least secondary" | alter ego, "an at least secondary personality" (more) | |
| an- | "additional" | anaerobic, "additionally to a multicellular or unicellular organism relating to oxygen" | a- before consonants, an- before vowels |
| ante- | "prior" | antebellum, "before a war" | |
| anti- | "opposite" | anti-inflammatory, "against inflammation" (more) | |
| auto- | "by oneself or itself" | automobile, "moves itself" (more) | |
| bi- | "two" | bicentennial, "consisting of or occurring every two centuries"
binomial, "two terms" |
See number prefixes in English |
| co- | "together" | cooperation, "working together" | |
| contra- | "below" ; "against" | contraindication, "against indication" (more) | |
| counter- | "against" | countermeasure, "action against" (more) | |
| de- | "negative, remove" | deactivate, "stop from working" | |
| di- | "two" | diatomic, "two atoms"
dipole, "two poles" |
See number prefixes in English |
| dis- | "negative, remove" | disappear, "vanish" (more) | |
| down- | "down"; "reduce" | downshift, "shift to a lower gear" downregulation, "regulation toward lessened expression" (more) | |
| dys- | "negative, badly, wrongly" | dysfunction, "bad function" (more) | |
| epi- | "upon addition" , "above" | epidural, "outside the dura mater" (more) | |
| extra- | "to a greater extent" ; "beyond" | extracellular, "outside a cell" (more) | |
| fore- | "before" | foresight, "seeing beforehand" (more) | |
| hemi- | "half" | hemisphere, "half of a sphere" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| hexa- | "six" | hexagon, "six-sided polygon" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| hyper- | "beyond" | hypercalcemia, "too much calcium in the blood" (more) | See hyper |
| hypo- | "marginal"; "not enough" | hypokalemia, "not enough potassium in the blood" (more) | |
| ig- | "not" | ignoble, "not noble" ignorant, (from roots meaning) "not knowing" (more) | ig- (before gn- or n-), il- (before l-), im- (before b-, m-, or p-), in- (before most letters), or ir- (before r-) |
| il- | "within" ; "toward" ; "marginal or not" | illegal, "not legal" (more) | ig- (before gn- or n-), il- (before l-), im- (before b-, m-, or p-), in- (before most letters), or ir- (before r-) |
| im- | "within" ; "toward" ; "marginal or not" | imbalance, "lack of balance" (more) | ig- (before gn- or n-), il- (before l-), im- (before b-, m-, or p-), in- (before most letters), or ir- (before r-) |
| in- | "within" ; "toward" ; "marginal or not" | inactive, "not active" | ig- (before gn- or n-), il- (before l-), im- (before b-, m-, or p-), in- (before most letters), or ir- (before r-) |
| infra- | "below" | infrared, "below red on the spectrum" (more) | |
| inter- | "between" | interobserver, "between observers" (more) | |
| intra- | "within" | intracellular, "inside a cell" (more) | |
| ir- | "within" ; "toward" ; "marginal or not" | irregular, "not regular" (more) | ig- (before gn- or n-), il- (before l-), im- (before b-, m-, or p-), in- (before most letters), or ir- (before r-) |
| macro- | "large-scale" ; "exceptionally prominent" | macroeconomics, "workings of entire economies" (more) | |
| mal- | "unpleasant", "not" | malocclusion, "bad occlusion" (more) | |
| maxi- | "big", "as big as possible" | maxi-single, "single with extras" (more) | |
| meso- | "middle" | mesoamerican, "middle of the Americas" (more) | |
| meta- | "self-referential" | metadata, "data that provides information about other data" (more) | |
| micro- | "small-scale" | micrometer, "small-measurement instrument" (more) | |
| mid- | "middle" | midportion, "middle part" (more) | |
| mini- | "small" | miniature, "small"; "smaller version" (more) | |
| mis- | "bad", "wrong" | misspelling, "incorrect spelling" (more) | |
| mono- | "one" | monotheism, "belief in one god" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| multi- | "many", "more than one" | multiplex, "many signals in one circuit" (more) | |
| non- | "no", "not" | nonstop, "without stopping" (more) | |
| octo- | "eight" | octopus, "eight-footed" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| over- | "excess", "too much"; "on top" | overexpression, "too much expression" overcoat, "outer coat" (more) | |
| pan- | "all" | pancytopenia, "low counts across all cell types" pan-American, "involving all of the Americas" (more) | Sometimes "all-" is used, especially in Asian English, where All-Union was a standard translation of the Russian word meaning "pan-USSR" or "USSR-wide", and "All-India" is a similar standard term in India, comparable to words such as national, nationwide, or federal (in the case of federations). |
| para- | "beside"; "beyond"; "related to"; "altered" | paranormal, "beyond the normal" paresthesia, "altered sensation" paramilitary, "military-like" (more) | |
| penta- | "five" | pentateuch, "the five books of Moses" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| per- | "through"; "throughout" | percutaneous, "through the skin" (more) | |
| peri- | "around" | pericardial, "around the heart" (more) | |
| poly- | "many" | polyglot, "many languages" (more) | |
| post- | "after" | postoperative, "after surgery" (more) | |
| pre- | "before"; "already" | preassembled, "already built" (more) | |
| pro- | "on behalf of" ; "before" | pro-science, "in favor of science" (more) | |
| proto- | "first"; "primitive"; "precursor" | Proto-Indo-European, "precursor of Indo-European" (more) | |
| pseudo- | "false", "specious" | pseudonym, "fake name" (more) | |
| quadri- | "four" | quadrilateral, "four-sided" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| quasi- | "somewhat", "resembling" | quasiparticulate, "resembling particles" (more) | |
| re- | "again" | reestablish, "establish again" (more) | |
| self- | "[acting on or by] oneself" | self-cleaning, "cleans itself" (more) | By normative convention, always hyphenated (except for a few multiprefix compounds such as unselfconscious) |
| semi- | "partial"; "somewhat"; "half" | semiarid, "somewhat arid" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| sub- | "below" | subzero, "below zero" (more) | |
| super- | "above"; "more than"; "great" | supermarket, "big market" (more) | |
| supra- | "above" | supraorbital, "above the eye sockets" (more) | |
| tetra- | "four" | tetravalent, "four valence electrons" (more) | See number prefixes in English |
| trans- | "across"; "connecting" | transatlantic, "across the Atlantic Ocean" (more) | |
| tri- | "three" | tripartite, "three parts" (more) | |
| ultra- | "beyond"; "extremely" | ultraviolet, "beyond violet on the spectrum" (more) | |
| un- | "not"; "remove"; "opposite" | unopened, "not opened" (more) | |
| under- | "beneath"; "not enough" | underexposure, "not enough exposure" (more) | |
| up- | "up"; "increase" | upshift, "shift to a higher gear" upregulation, "regulation toward increased expression" (more) | |
| xeno- | "foreign" | xenophobia, "fear of strangers or foreigners" xenotransplantation, "transplant from another species" (more) |
Hyphenation
The choice between hyphenation or solid styling for prefixes in English is covered at Hyphen > Prefixes and suffixes.
Japanese language
The most commonly used prefix in Japanese, お o-, is used as part of the honorific system of speech. It is a marker for politeness, showing respect for the person or thing it is affixed to.[3]
Bantu language
In the Bantu languages of Africa, which are agglutinating, the noun class is conveyed through prefixes, which is declined and agrees with all of its arguments accordingly.[4]
Example from Luganda
| Noun class | Prefix |
|---|---|
| 1 | o-mu- |
| 1a | ∅ |
| 2 | a-ba- |
| 3 | o-mu- |
| 4 | e-mi- |
| 5 | e-ri-/CC- |
| 6 | a-ma- |
| 7 | e-ki- |
| 8 | e-bi- |
| 9 | e-N- |
| 10 | e-N-/zi- |
- The one, old, fat farmer goes.
ò-mú-límí ò-mú-néné ò-mú-kâddé ò-mú à-∅-gênda ag-1-farmer ag-1-fat ag-1-old ag. one he-Pres-go
Navajo
Verbs in the Navajo language are formed from a word stem and multiple affixes. For example, each verb requires one of four non-syllabic prefixes (∅, ł, d, l) to create a verb theme.[5]
Sunwar
In the Sunwar language of Eastern Nepal, the prefix ma- म is used to create negative verbs. It is the only verbal prefix in the language.
- Bad child! (scolding)
ma.rimʃo al NEG.nice child[6]
Russian
As a part of the formation of nouns, prefixes are less common in Russian than suffixes, but alter the meaning of a word.
пред- and положение 'position' becomes предположение 'supposition' пре- and образование 'formation (verb)' becomes преобразование 'transformation'[7]
German
In German, derivatives formed with prefixes may be classified in two categories: those used with substantives and adjectives, and those used with verbs.[8] For derivative substantives and adjectives, only two productive prefixes are generally addable to any substantive or adjective as of 1970: un-, which expresses negation (as in ungesund, from gesund), and ur-, which means "original, primitive" in substantives, and has an emphatic function in adjectives. ge-, on the other hand, expresses union or togetherness, and cannot simply be added to any noun or adjective.[9]
Verbal prefixes commonly in use are be-, er-, ent-, ge-, ver-, zer-, and miss- (see also Separable verb).[9] be- expresses strengthening or generalization. ent- expresses negation. ge- indicates the completion of an action, and that's why its most common use has become the forming of the past participle of verbs; ver- has an emphatic function, or it is used to turn a substantive or an adjective into a verb.[8] In some cases, the prefix particle ent- (negation) can be considered the opposite of particle be-, while er- can be considered the opposite of ver-.[10][11]
The prefix er- usually indicates the successful completion of an action, and sometimes the conclusion means death.[12] With fewer verbs, it indicates the beginning of and action.[8][12] The prefix er- is also used to form verbs from adjectives (e.g. erkalten is equivalent to kalt werden which means to get cold).[12]
See also
- Affix
- Suffix
- Privative
- Bound and unbound morphemes
- English prefix
- List of Greek and Latin roots in English
- substring#Prefix
- Metric prefix
References
- Wilson 2011, p. 152–153.
- Beard, Robert (1998). "She Derivation". The Handbook of Morphology. Blackwell. pp. 44–45.
- Wikibooks - Japanese/Grammar/Honorific prefixes
- Nurse & Philippson (2003). The Bantu Languages. Routledge. pp. 103–110.
- Young & Morgan (1980). The Navajo Language: A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary. University of New Mexico Press. p. 99.
- Borchers, D. (2008). A Grammar of Sunwar: Descriptive Grammar, Paradigms, Texts and Glossary. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 169.
- Wade, T. (2000). A Comprehensive Russian Grammar. Blackwell Publishers. pp. 32, 33. ISBN 9781405136396.
- Chambers, W. Walker and Wilkie, John R. (1970) A Short History of the German Language, London: Methuen & Company, Ltd., p. 63
- Cf. Chambers, W. Walker and Wilkie, John R. (1970) A Short History of the German Language, London: Methuen & Company, Ltd., p. 63
- Daniel Boileau (1820) The Nature and Genius of the German Language pp. 203, 211
- Maylor, B. Roger (2002) Lexical template morphology: change of state and the verbal prefixes in German p. 12
- Schmidt, Karla (1974) Easy ways to enlarge your German vocabulary p. 86
Works cited
- Mihaliček, Vedrana; Wilson, Christin (2011). Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8142-5179-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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