Suffixation in English. Classification of Suffixes.

Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a different part of speech. There are suffixes, however, which do not shift words from one part of speech into another; a suffix of this kind usually transfers a word into a different semantic group, e.g. a concrete noun becomes an abstract one, as in the case with child - childhood, friend- friendship etc. Suffixes may be classified:

1. According to the part of speech they form

a). Noun-suffixes: -er, -dom, -ness, -ation (e.g. teacher, freedom, brightness, justification).

b). Adjective-suffixes: -able, -less, -ful, -ic, -ous (e.g. agreeable, careless, doubtful, poetic, courageous).

c). Verb-suffixes: -en, -fy, -ize (e.g. darken, satisfy, harmonize).

d). Adverb-suffixes: -ly, -ward (e.g. quickly, eastward).

e) numeral-forming suffixes: -fold (twofold): -teen (fourteen): -th (seventh): -ty (sixty)

2. According to the lexico-grammatical character of the base the suffixes are usually added to:

a). Deverbal suffixes (those added to the verbal base):-er, -ing, -ment, -able (speaker, reading, agreement, suitable).

b). Denominal suffixes (those added to the noun base):-less, -ish, -ful, -ist, -some (handless, childish, mouthful, troublesome).

c). Deadjectival suffixes (those affixed to the adjective base):-en, -ly, -ish, -ness (blacken, slowly, reddish, brightness).

3. According to the meaning expressed by suffixes:

a). The agent of an action: -er, -ant (e.g. baker, dancer, defendant), b). Appurtenance64: -an, -ian, -ese (e.g. Arabian, Elizabethan, Russian, Chinese, Japanese).

c). Collectivity: -age, -dom, -ery (-ry) (e.g. freightage, officialdom, peasantry).

4. According to the degree of productivity:

a). Highly productive

b). Productive

c). Non-productive

5. According to the stylistic value:

a). Stylistically neutral:-able, -er, -ing.

b). Stylistically marked:-oid, -i/form, -aceous, -tron (e.g. asteroid)

Semantically suffixes fall into:

-monosemantic. the suffix -ess has only one meaning female

-polysemantic, suffix -hood has two meanings:'condition or quality' —falsehood; ‘collection or group’ — brotherhood.

13. Conversion. Nature of Conversion. Synchronic and Diachronic Approaches to Conversion.
Conversion is one of the principal ways of forming words in Modem English. It is highly productive in replenishing the English word-stock with new words. Conversionconsists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech: the morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged, e.g. work — to work, paper — to paper. The new word acquires a meaning, which differs from that of the original one though it can be easily associated with it. The converted word acquires also a new paradigm and a new syntactic function, which are peculiar to its new category as a part of speech, e.g. garden — to garden.

Among the main varieties of conversion are: I) verbalization (the formation of verbs), to ape (from ape n.); 2) substantivation(the form-n of nouns), a private (from private adj.);adjectivation (the form-n of adjectives), down (adj) (from down adv.); 4) adverbalizalion(the f-n of adverbs), - home (adv.) (from home n.).

Verbs convened from nouns - denominal verbs.If the noun refers to some object of reality the converted verb may denote:

-action characteristic of the object: ape n. > ape v. ‘imitate in a foolish wav’;

-instrumental use of the object: whip n. > whip v. ‘strike with a w hip':

-acquisition or addition of the object: fish n. > fish v. ‘catch or try to catch fish*;

-deprivation of the object: dust n. > dust v. remove dust from smth;

-location:n. pocket > pocket v. ‘put into one’s pocket’.

Nouns converted from verbs - deverbal substantives.If the verb refers to an action, the converted noun may denote:

-instance of the action: jump v. > jump n. ‘sudden spring from the ground’;

-agent of the action: help v. > help n. ‘a person who helps’;

-place of the action: drive v. > drive n. ‘a path or road along which one drives’:

-result of the action: peel v. > peel n. ‘the outer skin of fruit or potatoes taken off;

-object of the action: let v. > let n. ‘a property available for rent’.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 4955