Roots, Prefixes, Suffixes and Affixes
Many English words are built from smaller meaningful units. Understanding these units can help learners determine the meaning, grammatical category, and relationships of unfamiliar words.
The central element of many related words is a root. A root carries the fundamental meaning of a word. For example, the root spect is associated with seeing and appears in words such as inspect, respect, spectator, and prospect. The meaning of the original root may become modified as it combines with other elements.
An affix is a meaningful element attached to a root or base. Affixes are commonly divided into prefixes and suffixes.
A prefix is placed before a base or root. Prefixes often modify meaning without fundamentally changing the grammatical category of the word. For example:
- happy → unhappy
- possible → impossible
- write → rewrite
- national → international
Common prefixes include un-, in-, im-, dis-, re-, pre-, post-, anti-, inter-, and sub-.
A suffix is attached after a base or root. Suffixes can modify meaning, but many also change the grammatical category of a word. For example:
- happy → happiness
- teach → teacher
- modern → modernize
- care → careful
- quick → quickly
Common noun-forming suffixes include -ness, -ment, -tion, -ity, and -er. Adjective-forming suffixes include -ful, -less, -ous, -able, and -ive. Common adverb-forming suffixes include -ly.
The distinction between root, base, stem, and affix is useful in advanced vocabulary study. A root is the fundamental lexical element, while a base is a form to which an affix can be added. A stem is the form to which an inflectional ending is attached.
Affixes can be either derivational or inflectional. Derivational affixes create new words or change their lexical category, as in happy → happiness. Inflectional endings generally express grammatical information without creating a fundamentally new lexical item, as in walk → walked or book → books.
Knowledge of roots and affixes is particularly useful for vocabulary development because one learned element can provide clues to many related words. However, learners should avoid assuming that every word can be understood simply by adding together the meanings of its components. Historical development can produce meanings that are not completely predictable from modern word parts.