Introducing English Linguistics

affixation
– the process
of adding derivational morphemes to a word – is a major source of new
words in English.
Origins of derivational affixes.
Most derivational affixes were bor-
rowed into English from either Greek or Latin. In Modern English, rela-
tively few affixes of Germanic origin can be found. For instance, many
negative prefixes, such as il-, im-, in-, and non-, were borrowed from Latin
into English (the definitions and etymologies given in the lists below are
based on those listed in Merriam-Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary):
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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il
legal, illicit, improbable, immoral, incapable, incomplete, nonexistent,
non
lethal
Many medical terms in English contain derivational morphemes of Greek
origin:
ortho- ‘straight’ orthodontics, orthopedics
epi- ‘on’ epidermis, epidural
hyper- ‘excessive’ hypertension, hyperanxiety
-sis ‘disease’ psychosis, neurosis
peri- ‘around’ periodontist, perimacular
schizo- ‘split’ schizophrenia
Of course, not all of these affixes are restricted to medical terms: they can
occur on words with less restricted uses, such as episode, perimeter, and
hyperactive. Moreover, while the affixes in the words above are all of Greek
origin, they are not restricted to occurring with bases of Greek origin. For
instance, in hyperactive, the base, active, is of Latin origin (activus). Hybrid
forms such as this occur in other English words as well, in many cases
with bases of Germanic origin:
automobile: auto- (Greek ‘same’ or ‘self’) 
 mobile (Latin ‘moveable’)
bioscience: bio- (Greek ‘life’) 
 science (Latin sciens ‘possessing knowledge’)
dislike: dis- (Latin ‘opposite of ’) 
 like (Old English lı–cian ‘have some
affection for’)
preown: pre- (Latin prae- ‘before’)
 own (Old English a–gan ‘possess’)
Far fewer derivational affixes of Germanic origin can be found on cur-
rent English words, largely because, as Hogg (2003: 107) notes, “By quite
early in the Middle English period many of the original Germanic affixes
were lost ... and quickly replaced by new affixes from Latin and French.”
Some examples of derivational affixes of Germanic origin include -ard in
words such as drunkard or laggard; -dom in words such as freedom or wisdom;
and a- in words such as asleep or asunder.