AFFIXES

AND CHANGES IN PRONUNCIATION/

GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION
WORD FORMATION
 Words are the building blocks of any language
 Every language flourishes by forming new words
 English became a global language because of the vast resource of vocabulary it holds
 English has its own ways of forming words
 Among them the most common way is called AFFIXATION
It means the formation of words
using AFFIXES
 AFFIXES are mainly divided into two categories – PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
 There are INFIXES and CIRCUMFIXES also
 But they are uncommon in English
 PREFIXES are attached at the BEGINNING of a word
 SUFFIXES are attached at the END of a word

◦ Eg.: PRE-fix, UN-happy

◦ faith-FUL, run-S,
◦ UN-faith-FUL – both prefix and suffix
Of the two main AFFIXES
 The PREFIXES are  The SUFFIXES are
typical of VERB formation typical of NOUN and
ADJECTIVE formation
AFFIXES change the MEANING, CLASS
and PRONUNCIATION of the word
 According to their function AFFIXES are divided into TWO classes
 DERIVATIONAL and INFLECTIONAL

 DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES are the AFFIXES that are used to DERIVE words
 They CHANGE words from one TYPE to another
INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES are the AFFIXES that are used to INFLECT words to INDICATE
GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS
 They CHANGE words from one CLASS to another (Noun – Verb, Verb- Adverb, etc.)
In English there are
 INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES
DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES and
DERIVATIONAL PREFIXES

But there are NO INFLECTIONAL PREFIXES in English

Inflectional Suffixes change only the
FORM of a word and NOT its CLASS or
MEANING
 Therefore they do not create new words
◦ Eg.: LAUGH (v)– LAUGHS (v), LAUGHING (v), LAUGHED (v)
◦ Here the inflectional suffixes “-S, -ING” and “-ED” do not make any change in the class of the
word
 They serve to indicate GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS such as NUMBER, GENDER, TENSE, etc.
◦ Eg.: GIRL (n) – GIRLS (n).
◦ “S” in GIRLS make it PLURAL but there is no change in meaning or class and it is not a new
word
INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES in
English
 NOUNS  ADJECTIVES/ADVERBS
Plural -s (girl - girls) comparative –er (higher)
Possessive -‘s (girl – girl’s) superlative –est (highest)
 VERBS
present tense singular - -s (laughs)
past tense –ed (laughed)
present participle –ing (laughing)
past participle –en (driven)
DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES create NEW
WORDS. They change the word’s
CLASS also
◦ Eg.: CHILD – CHILDHOOD
◦ “HOOD” in CHILDHOOD makes it a new word
◦ KIND (n) – KINDLY (adj)
◦ “LY” in KINDLY makes it an ADJECTIVE

 DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES generally change the CLASS of a word

But they sometimes MAINTAIN the CLASS
So they are divided into TWO TYPES
CLASS CHANGING - Eg.: HAPPY (adj) – HAPPYNESS (n), HUMANISE (v) – HUMANISATION (n)
CLASS MAINTAINING - Eg.: KIND (adj) – UNKIND (adj)
Change in PRONUNCIATION and
WORD STRESS
 PRONUNCIATION is the manner in which a native speaker utters a word and STRESS is the
degree of force with which a sound or syllable is produced.
 In every word made up of more than a single sound, at least one sound is heard to be more
prominent than the neighbouring sounds in pronunciation.
 If it has only one such sound that word is called MONOSYLLABIC and if it has two it is called
DISYLLABIC and if it has more than two it is called POLYSYLLABIC.
◦ EG.: TREE, HIT, BELL – MONOSYLLABIC
◦ LETTER, SISTER, BROTHER – DISYLLABIC
◦ CULTIVATION, CIVILIZATION, HUMANITY – POLYSYLLABIC
So each puff of air pushed out of the lungs produces one SYLLABLE. There are
many rules in English that govern the rhythmic utterance of a word.
Chang in PRONUNCIATION and
WORD STRESS
 When the word is used as a NOUN/ADJECTIVE the STRESS is on the FIRST
SYLLABLE. When it is a VERB, the STRESS is on the SECOND SYLLABLE.
◦ EG.: INSULT – 'INsult (n/adj), in'SULT (v)
ABSENT - 'Absent (n/adj), ab'SENT (v)
PRODUCE - 'PROduce (n/adj), pro'DUCE (v)
PERFECT - 'PERfect (n/adj), per'FECT (v)
OBJECT - 'Object (n/adj), ob'JECT (v)
 Exceptions: 'LIMIT, 'VISIT and re'MARK. There will be NO CHANGE in the
STRESS in these words
 Words with WEAK PREFIXES are
stressed on the ROOT
◦Eg.: AGO - a'GO
◦BELOW - be'LOW
◦REDUCE - re'DUCE
◦ADMIT - ad'MIT
◦AHEAD - a'HEAD
◦BECAUSE - be'CAUSE
The INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES –
ed, es, and –ing DO NOT AFFECT
THE STRESS
◦Eg.: re'LATE - re'LATED
◦'BUS - 'BUSES
◦'SING - 'SINGING
DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES –age, -ance, -en, -er,
-ess, -ful, -hood, -ice, -ish, -ive, -less, -ly, -ment, -
ness, -or, -ship, -ter, -ure, and –zen DO NOT
AFFECT THE STRESS
◦ Eg.: 'CARRY - 'CARRIAGE 'FOOL - 'FOOLISH
◦ 'BREAK - 'BREAKAGE a'BUSE - a'BUSIVE
◦ per'FORM - per'FORMANCE 'AIM - 'AIMLESS‘
◦ a'PPEAR - a'PPEARANCE 'BAD- 'BADLY
in'VOLVE -
◦ 'LIGHT - 'LIGHTTEN
in'VOLVEMENT
◦ 'BRIGHT - 'BRIGHTEN 'BITTER -
◦ 'WORK - 'WORKER 'BITTERNESS
◦ be'GIN - be'GINNER 'CONQUER -
◦ 'GOD - 'GODDESS 'CONQUEROR
◦ 'ACTOR - 'ACTRESS 'FELLOW -
◦ 'CARE -'CAREFUL 'FELLOWSHIP
'LAUGH - 'LAUGHTER
◦ 'CHILD - 'CHILDHOOD
'CITY - 'CITIZEN
◦ 'COWARD - 'COWARDICE
VERBS of TWO SYLLABLES beginning
with the PREFIX dis-- are stressed on the
LAST SYLLABLE
◦ Eg.: dis'ARM
◦ dis'SPEL
◦ dis'CLOSE
◦ dis'TURB
◦ dis'GUISE
◦ dis'STRESS
◦ dis'MISS
◦ dis'MAY
VERBS that have TWO SYLLABLES and
END IN -ate, -ise/ize, -ct are stressed on
the LAST SYLLABLE
◦Eg.: at'TRACT
◦nar'RATE
◦de'BATE
◦bap'TIZE
◦cre'MATE
◦in'JECT
◦cap'SIZE
Words ENDING in -–ion are
STRESSED on the LAST BUT ONE
SYLLABLE
◦ Eg.: appli'CATION
◦ intro'DUCTION
◦ assimi'LATION
◦ exami'NATION
◦ simplifi'CATION
◦ pro'DUCTION
◦ expla'NATION
◦ repe'TITION
ially, –ian, -ity, -eous and -ious are
STRESSED on the SYLLABLE BEFORE
the SUFFIX
◦ Eg.: charis'MATIC ◦ ca'PACITY
◦ me'MORIAL ◦ curi'OSITY
◦ 'SPECIAL ◦ possi'BILITY
◦ e'LECTRICAL ◦ natio'NALITY
◦ sub'STANTIAL ◦ la'BORIOUS
◦ li'BRARIAN ◦ in'DUSTRIOUS
◦ mu'SICIAN ◦ vi'CTORIOUS
◦ es'SENTIAL ◦ spon'TANEOUS
◦ of'FICIALLY ◦ cou'RAGEOUS
◦ ac'TIVITY
graph, graphy, -meter, and –logy are
stressed on the THIRD SYLLABLE
FROM THE END
◦ Eg.: 'JUS-TI-FY
◦ 'SA-TIS-FY
◦ 'BEAU-TI-FY
◦ de-'MO-CRACY
◦ au-'TO-CRACY
◦ 'AU-TO-GRAPH
◦ bi-'O-GRAPHY
◦ ba-'RO-METER
◦ bi-'O-LOGY
WORDS ENDING with the SUFFIXES –aire, -eer, -ental,
-ential, -ese, -esce, -escence, -escent, -esque, -ique, -
ee, -ette, -ete, and –ade are STRESSED ON THE
SUFFIX
◦ EG.: pio'NEER ◦ ga'ZETTE
◦ ca'REER ◦ com'PLETE
◦ millio'NAIRE ◦ mi'STIQUE
◦ question'NAIRE ◦ ado'LESCENT
◦ pay'EE ◦ re'PLETE
◦ barri'CADE ◦ gro'TESQUE
◦ de'LETE ◦ billion'NAIRE
◦ exi'STENTIAL ◦ pictu'RESQUE
In case of COMPOUND WORDS,
the stress is on the FIRST
ELEMENT
◦Eg.: 'BLACKsmith
◦'DINING-room
◦'TEA-party
◦'BLACKbird
But COMPOUND WORDS WITH –EVER
AND –SELF the STRESS is on the
SECOND ELEMENT
◦Eg.: how'EVER
◦when'EVER
◦him'SELF
◦her'SELF
Thank you