ABSTRACT
In this chapter we look at word that are created by adding affixe to already e i ting word • and discover that orne affixe are very
lective about what they can be added to.
In the last chapter we saw that we can make new English words by sticking two words together to form a compound. In this chapter we are going to consider how we make new words without starting with two words. We are still interested in sticking two bits together, but here one of the bits is not a word in its own right. Rather it is something which can be found only as a part of other words and which has a very general meaning. These bits are called AFFIXES. The affixes in the words below have been put in bold type, and separated off (where necessary) by a decimal point: be·head, discuss·ion, form·al·is·able, pre-pay, unfamiliar·;ty. New words (strictly, new lexemes; see Chapter 2) made with affixes in this manner are called DERIVATIVES.
