Vocabulary building

Affixes and roots

Adding affixes to existing words (the base or root) to form new words is common in academic English. Prefixes are added to the front of the base ( like 

->dislike), whereas suffixes are added to the end of the base (active

-> activate). Prefixes usually do not change the class of the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word.

The most common prefixes used to form new verbs in academic English are: re-, dis-, over-, un-, mis-, out-. The most common suffixes are: -ise, -en, -ate, -(i)fy. By far the most common affix in academic English is -ise.

Verbs

e.g. prefix + verb -> verb

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
re-	again or back	restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild, refinance
dis-	reverses the meaning of the verb	disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect, discontinue
over-	too much	overbook, oversleep, overwork
un-	reverses the meaning of the verb	unbend, uncouple, unfasten
mis-	badly or wrongly	mislead, misinform, misidentify
out-	more or better than others	outperform, outbid
be-	make or cause	befriend, belittle
co-	together	co-exist, co-operate, co-own
de-	do the opposite of	devalue, deselect
fore-	earlier, before	foreclose, foresee
inter-	between	interact, intermix, interface
pre-	before	pre-expose, prejudge, pretest
sub-	under/below	subcontract, subdivide
trans-	across, over	transform, transcribe, transplant
under-	not enough	underfund, undersell, undervalue, underdevelop

Exercise:

1.He became a porter, was __________, often not paid at all, but did not complain. (pay)

-> underpay

2 Nevertheless, this peculiar combination had a long life and was destined to ______in the Middle Ages. (appear)

->reappear

3 Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's caretaker president, today said that he would _______ the peso as he prepared to unveil a high-risk plan to end the country's economic turmoil. (value)

->devalue

4 Of themselves, of course, the rules are normative, and their validity is thus __________ by issues of fact. (affect)     

-> unaffected

5 In Garner's case the formal elements often go unnoticed because they are __________ and made almost invisible by the emotional power and urgency of the story. (merge)   

-> submerged

6 The Maya priests discovered, however, that they had slightly __________ the average synodic period of Venus. (estimate)  

-> overestimated

7.In essence, the systems involve diffusing chemicals that __________ with one another. (act)

-> interact

8.The concept of entities that appear for only an instant and then __________ was used by Buddhists to prove that all is merely appearance. (appear)

-> disappear

9.A man's useless tuxedo could be __________ into a woman's smart town suit. (form) 

-> transformed

10.There is nothing harmful or threatening in institutionalizing, and thereby recognizing, a relationship which some fear, many object to, and most still __________. (understand)  

-> misunderstand

e.g. Suffix used to form verbs with the meaning "cause to be".

Suffix	Example
-ise	stabilise, characterise, symbolise, visualise, specialise
-ate	differentiate, liquidate, pollinate, duplicate, fabricate
-fy	classify, exemplify, simplify, justify
-en	awaken, fasten, shorten, moisten

Exercise

1.The society may be __________ by such dealings, and experienced through them. (symbol)

2.There remained a distinctive philosophy of liberalism which could __________ the Liberals from other political parties. (differ)

3.To __________ a rather complex historical phenomenon, it can be said that the present political division between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael originates in positions taken by opponents in that war. (simple)

4.Berkeley's ideas were __________ early. (formula)

5.Frederick's reforms, however, __________ a major flaw in the progressive infatuation with scientific management. (example)

6.They __________ other flowers within the same fig. (pollen)

7.In a black leather notebook __________ with a metal clasp, he wrote: Oswestry July 18th 1829... (fast)

8.It seems probable that some doctors carry out mercy killings by administering large doses of pain-killing drugs which __________ life significantly, and the law may well protect them from liability. (short)

9.The only miracle left in the nuclear dream is that more people have not __________ to the fact that nuclear power is economically - and increasingly, in that it takes much-needed funds away from renewables and efficiency - ethically, redundant. (wake)

10.Some more theologically articulate members of the provisional movement __________ violence on traditional Roman catholic ethical grounds, the theory of the just war against the unjust oppressor. (just)

11.In the second draft of this letter Marx says: "the archaic formation of society reveals a number of different types which __________ different and successive epochs." (character)

12.This conversion of sound symbols in time to __________ symbols in space was the greatest single step in the quest for permanence. (visual)

13.To __________ all reckless killings as murder might be too broad, but the point remains that some reckless killings may be thought no less heinous than intentional killings. (class)

Answers:

1.symbolized or symbolised

2.differentiate

3.simplify

4.formulated

5.exemplify

6.pollinate

7.fastened

8.shorten

9.awakened  or  awoken

10.justify

11.characterise  or  characterize

12.visualize  or  visualse

13.classify

Nouns

The most common prefixes used to form new nouns in academic English are: co- and sub-. The most common suffixes are: -tion, -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, 

-ment, -ant, -ship, -age, -ery. By far the most common noun affix in academic English is -tion.

e.g. prefix + noun -> noun

Prefix	Meaning	Examples
anti-	against	anticlimax, antidote, antithesis
auto-	self	autobiography, automobile
bi-	two	bilingualism, biculturalism, bi-metalism
co-	joint	co-founder, co-owner, co-descendant
counter-	against	counter-argument, counter-example, counter-proposal
dis-	the converse of	discomfort, dislike
ex-	former	ex-chairman, ex-hunter
hyper-	extreme	hyperinflation, hypersurface
in-	the converse of	inattention, incoherence, incompatibility
in-	inside	inpatient,
inter-	between	interaction, inter-change, interference
kilo-	thousand	kilobyte
mal-	bad	malfunction, maltreatment, malnutrition
mega-	million	megabyte
mis-	wrong	misconduct, misdeed, mismanagement
mini-	small	mini-publication, mini-theory
mono-	one	monosyllable, monograph, monogamy
neo-	new	neo-colonialism, neo-impressionism
out-	separate	outbuilding,
poly-	many	polysyllable
pseudo-	false	pseudo-expert
re-	again	re-organisation, re-assessment, re-examination
semi-	half	semicircle, semi-darkness
sub-	below	subset, subdivision
super-	more than, above	superset, superimposition, superpowers
sur-	over and above	surtax
tele-	distant	telecommunications,
tri-	three	tripartism
ultra-	beyond	ultrasound
under-	below, too little	underpayment, under-development, undergraduate
vice-	deputy	vice-president

Exercise


e.g. Suffix added to a verb (V), noun (N) or adjective (A) -> noun

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-tion -sion	action/instance of V-ing	alteration, demonstration expansion, inclusion, admission
-er	person who V-s something used for V-ing	advertiser, driver computer, silencer
-ment	action/instance of V-ing	development, punishment, unemployment
-ant -ent	person who V-s	assistant, consultant student
-age	action/result of V	breakage, wastage, package
-al	action/result of V	denial, proposal, refusal, dismissal
-ence -ance	action/result of V	preference, dependence, interference attendance, acceptance, endurance
-ery/-ry	action/instance of V-ing place of V-ing	bribery, robbery, misery refinery, bakery

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-er	person concerned with N	astronomer, geographer
-ism	doctrine of N	Marxism, Maoism, Thatcherism
-ship	state of being N	friendship, citizenship, leadership
-age	collection of N	baggage, plumage

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
-ity	state or quality of being A	ability, similarity, responsibility, curiosity
-ness	state or quality of being A	darkness, preparedness, consciousness
-cy	state or quality of being A	urgency, efficiency, frequency

Exercise

Adjectives

Many adjectives are formed from a base of a different class with a suffix (e.g.

-less, -ous). Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives, especially by the negative prefixes (un-, in- and non-).

The most common suffixes are -al, -ent, -ive, -ous, -ful, -less.

e.g. Suffix added to verbs or nouns -> adjective

Suffix	Example
-al	central, political, national, optional, professional
-ent	different, dependent, excellent
-ive	attractive, effective, imaginative, repetitive
-ous	continuous, dangerous, famous
-ful	beautiful, peaceful, careful
-less	endless, homeless, careless, thoughtless
-able	drinkable, countable, avoidable,

Exercise

e.g. negative + adjective -> adjective

Prefix	Examples
un-	unfortunate, uncomfortable, unjust
im-/in-/ir-/il-	immature, impatient, improbable, inconvenient, irreplaceable, illegal
non-	non-fiction, non-political, non-neutral
dis-	disloyal, dissimilar, dishonest

Exercise

Mixed

e.g. base with both prefix and suffix
Adjectives: uncomfortable, unavoidable, unimaginative, inactive, semi-circular
Nouns: disappointment, misinformation, reformulation

Word formation

Formal written English uses nouns more than verbs. 

For example, judgement rather than judge, development rather than develop, admiration rather than admire.

There appeared to be evidence of differential treatment of children.

This is reflected in our admiration for people who have made something of their lives, sometimes against great odds, and in our somewhat disappointed judgment of those who merely drift through life.

All airfields in the country would be nationalised, and the government would continue with the development of new aircraft as recommended by the Brabazon Committee.

Associated with nominalisation is the occurrence of prepositional phrases, introduced by of:

judgment of those

treatment of children

development of new aircraft

-tion is the most common suffix used in this way. For example: alteration, resignation.

However others are: -ity ability, similarity, complexity; -ness blindness, darkness, preparedness; -ment development, encouragement; 

-ship friendship; -age mileage; -eryrobbery, bribery; -al arrival; 

-ance assistance, resemblance.

                                                                       From: http://www.uefap.com/