A Brief Study on Affixation and Vocabulary Memorization

Zhu xu

Abstract： There are a large number of words in English， but the word-building method is rule-based. Mastering the English word formation rules is also a shortcut to expand the number of terms. This thesis begins with an introduction to affixation， a quite productive method of word- formation and focus on memorizing English words through affixation. With this analysis of the relationship between word-building and English vocabulary memorization， this thesis hope to help English learners understand the prefixation better in their future studying， expand the English vocabulary and bring some inspiration in vocabulary learning.

Key words： affixation； affixes； prefixes； vocabulary memorization

1 Introduction

As a cornerstone of the English language， vocabulary plays an important role in English learning. In this process， only with a certain vocabulary can we successfully develop the abilities of listening， speaking， reading， writing and other basic skills. Up to now， there are about one million English words. With the need of social development and human communication， a lot of new words come into our daily life. The expansion of vocabulary today depends chiefly on word-formation， especially affixation， which can quickly and effectively expand our vocabulary and help us understand and remember the word to a maximum extent. This thesis is going to focus on the study of affixation， especially on its application in vocabulary memorization.

2 Affixation ：A Productive Method of Word-Formation

From the linguistics perspective， English word-building depends chiefly on the following methods： affixation， composition， conversion， blending， shortening and back-formation， among which， the most productive are affixation， composition and conversion. In this thesis， we are going to introduce affixation only.

2.1 Definition of Affixation，Affixation①， as an active role in the entire history of the development of English language， is generally defined as the formation of words by adding word-forming or derivational affixes to stems. This process， because new words formed by this means are derived from an old form， is also called derivation and the new words created in this way are known as derivatives. For example， the word “prewar” is formed by adding an affix pre- to the stem war and the word “worker” with an affix post- and the stem work.

2.2 Two Subcategories of Affixation.According to the position of the affix， affixation can be divided into two subcategories： prefixation and suffixation.Prefixation②is the formation of new words by adding prefixes to stems， such as the words “review”， “preview”， “interview”， and so on. Obviously， these three words have the same stem， so having an abundant knowledge of the affix is quite good for the identification of their meanings.

2.3 Suffixation，Suffixation④ is a method of word-formation by adding suffixes to derive a new word. Take the two words “beautiful” and “beautify” for example. Both of them are based on the stem “beauty”. Since combined with different suffixes， they have different grammatical meaning.

3 Ways to Memorize Words through Affixation

Vocabulary is the cornerstone of English learning. It is quite necessary to find some scientific and effective methods to memorize English words. The most common way is the mechanical memory approach， with which words are memorized by spelling， reading and writing repeatedly. As to those derivatives， we might as well employ affixation. During the development of English ， affixation plays a huge role in the expansion of English vocabulary .At the same time it also enriched the external form of language .With the help of affixation to memorize the words， you can perform more efficiently. Now we have to analyze how to use affixation memorize English vocabulary effectively.

3.1Memorizing through Prefixation.Just a mentioned in 2.2.1， prefixation is a method by adding a prefix before a stem. So if we are familiar with the prefix and its stem， the essence of memorization is just a process of integration and revision. For example， the word” exposé” is made up with a prefix ”ex” and a stem ”pose” .Since the prefix means ”out” and the stem means ”to display” ，the meaning the word created with these two parts is “to uncover something”； Since the prefix means ”not” and the stem means” regular laws”， the meaning the word ，created with these two parts “irregular” is “not the law”. The word “underestimate” is made up with a prefix “under” and a stem “estimate”. Since the prefix means “l(fā)ower” and the stem means “think or guess that the amount， cost or size of sth.” the meaning the word created with these two parts is “to think or guess that the amount， cost or size of sth is smaller than it really is”

3.2 Memorizing through Suffixation.The method is the same principle as memorizing through prefixation.

The main function of suffixes is to change the part of speech of the stem and rarely change their meaning， so we can memory the word formed by suffixation through analyzing its stem and suffixes. Concretely speaking， it can be classified into serials of ways as follows.（1）Enumerative Approach.Enumerative approach is to list words with the same suffix， identify corresponding relationship between the suffix and stems， and then to strengthen the memory， lest you forget it. Take the suffix”-ify” for example. It can be added to derive curbs， such as： beautify， simplify， humidify， purify， qualify， intensify， magnify， testify， intensity， modify， acidify， prettify and so on. through an analysis of the relations between the stem and the suffix， we know the suffix means” to become”. As a result， the word ”beautify” means “to make something beautiful.”（2）String approach.String approach is to put words with the same toot together，， memorize them with comparison so as to enhance the understanding and application of the vocabulary. Take the following words with the same root， for example：

3.3 The Special Memory Method.This kind of method is to combine words and specific which can be either prefix or suffix. Here come some examples based on the prefix en- and –en.（1） “En-“is loaded before a certain adjective or noun to express a feature causative. For example： “enrich” means to make sb rich. “Enlarge” means make sth bigger. ”Entitle “means to give sb the right to have or to do sth. “Enjoy” means to get pleasure from sth.（2）”-en” is put after some adjectives or nouns， and also express a causative， such as： “ripen” means to become ripe. “Lighten” means to reduce the amount of work， debt， worry that sb has. ”brighten” means to become or make sth lighter or brighter in color.（3）”-en “is added behind nouns and creates adjectives. Such as： “golden” means made of gold. “Woolen” means made of wool. ”Wooden” means made of wood.（4） Some words can not only be preceded by en-， but also followed by -en， expressing” to make. Such as；” enliven” means to make sth more interesting or more fun. ”lighten” means reduce the amount of work， debt， worry that sb has.

3.4 Interpretation Approach.Interpretation approach is to mix the original meaning of the affix into the lexicon， and arrive at its new meaning. It also can be divided into pre-and post-interpretation approach.（1）Pre-interpretation Approach.In English， some prefix as are added before a word or root to form a new word whose meaning is clearer， such as： ir （not） plus regular （laws） form a new word” irregular” which means not happening regularly. While another part of the prefix is added before a root or a word， then the meaning of new words is not so obvious that we need to add the word to help understand its meaning. The method of memorizing vocabulary on the basis of understanding the prefix is known as pre-interpretation approach. This memory approach is not only lively but also practical. For example：The prefix “co-“（together） and free morpheme “incidence” （things） form a new word which means ” simultaneous things”， so the new word “coincidence” means the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance through the accurate interpretation .So the prefix “in-“（not） and free morpheme “ability” （capacity） form a new words whose literal meaning is "no capacity". So the new word “inability” means the fact of not being able to do sth. As the same principle， the prefix “en-“（make... be able to） and the free morpheme “l(fā)arge “ form a new word whose literal meaning is to make larger， so the new word” enlarge" means to make sth bigger.（2）After-interpretation Approach.The after-interpretation approach has the same principle as the Pre-interpretation approach. For example：The suffix “-ist” （person） and free morpheme “dent” （tooth） form the new word whose literal meaning is "people who care of their teeth." Through the interpretation we can know the new word “dentist” means a person whose job is to take care of peoples teeth.The suffix “-ment” （noun suffix） and the free morpheme “argue “（debate） form the new word whose literal meaning is "bone of contention" ，so through the interpretation we know the new word ”argument” means “a conversation or discussion in which two or more people disagree. “Similarly， the suffix”-ism” （noun suffix） and the free morpheme “method “form the new word whose literal meaning is "too much emphasis on one way or another”， so the new word “Methodism” means emphasis on some fixed means.（3）Indirect-interpretation Approach.In some cases， the meaning of words with the prefix or suffix unlike the two kinds of situations mentioned above so obvious. First， find out the familiar part， and then reason out its meaning. Then we can employ indirect-interpretation approach. Take the word “disinfected” for example， firstly， find out the prefix “dis-“， familiar words” infect” （infection）， and the suffix”-ed”. Then we can get a supposition that the word “disinfecte” means to clean sth using a substance that kills bacteria.

4 Conclusion

The finally purpose to study word-building is to learn and grasp the vocabulary， so learning some knowledge about affix can contribute us to understand the composition of the phrases.Anyway， the ultimate meaning of this paper is to remember new English words efficiently.

Notes

[1] http：//www.thefreedictionary.com/affixed

[2] http：//www.thefreedictionary.com/prefixation

[3] Lu Guoqiang，Modern English Lexicology， Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，p13.

[4] Dai Weidong，A New Concise Course On Linguistics For Students Of English， Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，p36.

[5] http：//www.thefreedictionary.com/prefix

（Author Affiliation：Hunan First Normal University Communication Engineering）