WORD FORMATION "AFFIXES"

AFFIXATION

Affixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme, an affix, is attached to a morphological base.

PREFIXES

An affix that comes at the beginning of a word is called a prefix. In the English language, there are about 50 different common prefixes. Each of these prefixes gives the reader a clue about the word's meaning. You may recognize many prefixes from the list below:

• an- (to be without)
• anti- (against)
• bi- (two)
• contra- (against)
• dis- (not)
• ex- (without; not including)
• homo- (the same)
• inter- (between)
• micro- (small)
• pre- (before)
• tetra- (four)
• tri- (three)
• un- (not)
• uni- (one)

Let's look at how prefixes can be used to change a word. Take for example the word 'cycle'. What prefixes from the list above can be added to change the word's meaning? You could add the prefixes 'uni-', 'bi-', or 'tri-':

• A unicycle is a vehicle with just one wheel.
• A bicycle is a vehicle with two wheels.
• A tricycle is a vehicle with three wheels.

SUFFIXES

Unlike a prefix, a suffix is series of letters added at the end of a word. Suffixes fall into one of two categories: inflectional and derivational. 

Inflectional suffixes change the way you understand a word without changing its meaning. For example, what happens when you add the letter 's' to the word 'cookie'? It forms the word 'cookies'...the meaning doesn't change, but now you know there is more than one cookie (which is always a good thing!). Inflectional suffixes can also change the tense of a base word from present to past by adding the letters '-ed' (change 'walk' to 'walked') or can make the root word comparative or superlative by adding '-er' or '-est' ('big' becomes 'bigger' or 'biggest'). Again, the words have changed, but the meaning has not. 

Derivational suffixes change the meaning of a word. In addition to changing the meaning of a word, derivational suffixes can change an adjective to a noun or a verb, or change a noun to an adjective. The list below includes common derivational suffixes that you encounter on a daily basis:

• -able (able to do)
• -acy (quality)
• -er (someone who does something)
• -esque (similar to)
• -ish (having a similar quality)
• -ism (a belief)
• -ist (someone who does something)
• -less (without)

Let's take a look at a suffix in action. Think about the suffix '-less' and how it changes the nouns 'fear', 'friend', and 'emotion':

·      Fear becomes fearless, meaning “without fear”

·      Friend becomes friendless, meaning “without friends”

·      Emotion becomes emotionless, meaning “without emotion”

(http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-an-affix-definition-examples.html)

INFIXES

An infix is a word element (a type of affix) that can be inserted within the base form of a word (rather than at its beginning or end) to create a new word or intensify meaning. Also called an integrated adjective. The process of inserting an infix is called infixation.

(http://grammar.about.com/od/il/g/infixterm.htm)

CONFIXES

The term “confix” refers to a specific type of affix. Confixes are composed of at least one prefix and one suffix, which are placed on either side of a root word. When a confix is added to a root, a new meaning separate from the meaning of the root word by itself is created. The term “circumfix” is often used interchangeably with “confix.” Confixes are used extensively in Indonesian and Malay, and they appear to varying degrees in many other languages, such as Arabic, German and Japanese, to name a few.

“Confix” derives from Latin roots; con means “with” and fix means “attach” in this context. Unlike a prefix, which is attached to the front of a root, or a suffix, which is attached to the end, a confix is divided and attached to both ends. The fact that the separate parts of confixes appear on different sides of the root makes confixes discontinuous morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest units of a word that carry meaning. Though confixes are discontinuous, both of their halves must be present for the meaning to be formed.

(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-confix.htm)

SUPERFIXES

Superfixes a suprasegmental feature distinguishing the meaning or grammatical function of one word or phrase from that of another, as stress does for example between the noun conduct and the verb conduct.

(from super- + -fix, on the model of prefix, suffix)

(http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/superfix)