ABSTRACT
The great majority of languages employ prefixes or suffixes or both, with suffixes being more popular than prefixes. A number of other classical roots have emerged in English as prefixes recently. Super can be used as a noun standing for various words prefixed with super- such as superannuation, superintendent and superphosphate and for high-octane petrol. Prefixes and suffixes played a major role in word formation in Old English and some survive as productive affixes in Present-day English. The Old English suffixes that live on in mill-er, craft-y, friend-less, sore-ness and sorrow-ful are all quite productive. The Greek preposition peri ‘around’ is well established as a combining element in English in words such as perimeter and periscope. It is being used as a prefix in perinatal and peri-urban, the area around the fringes of a city. One surprising addition to the list of prefixes is cis-.
