Word formation: affixation

Rules of Formation

Although a speaker may generally count on intuition in forming complex words in terms of which affixes may be attached to which roots, underlying rules of word-formation actually account for the process.  Our intuition allows us to attach ‘un-‘ to ‘productive’ but not to ‘fish’.  We can attach the suffix ‘-ly’ to ‘kind’ but not to ‘sky’. 

(3)
un + ‘productive’    but not      *un + ‘fish’
‘kind’ + ly       *’sky’ + ly

This distribution of affixes leads us to believe that there are rules of word-formation to which we intuitively adhere.  So let’s break this down.

Productivity

Certain affixes are more productive than others, meaning that they can be added to a large number of words without obstructing meaning.  An example of a productive suffix in English would be –ness which we regularly use to derive nouns from adjectives.

(4)
adjective + ness = noun
happy     + ness = ‘happiness’

In fact, some affixes are so productive that they can be attached to almost any stem creating nonce words in which meaning is transparent.  Take –ish for example in English. This suffix can be attached to almost any noun or adjective to communicate like –ness.  If a soup broth is not thick, it could be described as ‘thin’-ish and there would be no ambiguity as to this non-word’s meaning.  All listeners would agree on the interpretation of ‘thin’-ish.

Unproductive morphemes, on the other hand,  are not frequently used.  An example would be the suffix –th  as in ‘warmth’.
(5)
adjective + –th = noun
‘warm’       + –th = ‘warmth’

-th can only be attached to a small number of words.  No English speaker would consider using the word ‘thinth’ to describe soup broth that is not thick.

So back to rules.

As we have seen, there are rules that govern the process of affixation (3).   Furthermore, we know that when specific suffixes are attached to one part of speech, they derive another.

–ly will derive an adverb from an adjective.

(6)
adjective + –ly = adverb
‘calm’        + –ly = ‘calmly’

We can also use –ly with a limited number of nouns to derive adjectives.

(7)
noun + –ly = adjective
‘matron’ +-ly = ‘matronly’
‘friend’ + –ly = ‘friendly’
‘love’ + –ly = ‘lovely’

However this is not possible with verbs.

(8)
*verb +-ly = adverb/adjective
*’walk’  + –ly = adverb

Thus we can claim:

1. adjective + –ly = adverb
2. noun + –ly = adjective

Let’s look again at ‘-ness‘.  This suffix can be attached to adjectives but not to nouns or verbs.

Let’s look again at –ness.  This suffix can be attached to adjectives but not to nouns or verbs.
(9)
adjective + –ness = noun
‘sweet’ + –ness = ‘sweetness’
‘tender’ + —ness = ‘tenderness’

*noun + —ness = noun (or anything)

*‘house’ + —ness = ‘houseness’

*verb + –ness = noun (or anything)

*’study’ + –ness = ‘studiness’

Prefixes in English do not generally change the grammatical category of a word, but rather meaning.  Even so, there are still rules as to how they are distributed.

Un-   may combine with adjectives and certain verbs, but not with nouns or adverbs.

(10)
u–n + ‘friendly’ = ‘unfriendly’

un– + ‘do’ = ‘undo’