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4.4.1 Derivation

　 Derivation forms a word by adding an affix to a free morpheme. Since derivation can apply more than once, it is possible to create a derived word with a number of affixes. If you add affixes to the word friend, you can form:

　　befriend
　　friendly
　　unfriendly
　　friendliness
　　unfriendliness

This process of adding more than one affix to a free morpheme is termed complex derivation.

　 The majority of English suffixes change the part of speech when added to a free morpheme or word, and most prefixes do not, as shown by the following table:

Suffixes

Examples of derived words

Change in part of speech

-able

-ible

-(at)ion

-er(1)

-er(2)

-ive

-al

-ant

-ment

-ful(1)

-ful(2)

-(i)al

-(i)an(1)

-(i)an(2)

-ic

-ize

-less

-ous

-ate

-en

-ity

-ly

-ness

understandable

irresistible

protection

worker

Londoner

impressive

approval

servant

treatment

dreadful

handful

relational

Arabian

Newtonian

atomic

crystallize

homeless

gorgeous

activate

affectionate

electorate

harden

electricity

happily

happiness

practicable

flexible

invitation

teacher

New Yorker

active

refusal

defendant

government

useful

cupful

residential

Singaporean

Chomskyan

electric

modernize

penniless

poisonous

regulate

literate

doctorate

liven

priority

privately

liveliness

V→ A

V→ N

V→N

N→ N

V→ A

V→ N

N→ A

N →N

N→ A

N(A)→ V

N→ A

A→ V

N→ A

N→ N

A→ V

A→ N

A→ Ad

A→ N

Prefixes

Examples of derived words

Change in part of speech

anti-

be-

de-

dis-

ex-

in-

mis-

un-(1)

un-(2)

anti-pollution

anti-nuclear

befriend

defrost

disable

dishonest

disadvantage

disagree

ex-wife

incomplete

mis-place

re-write

renew

unpleasant

untie

anti-matter

antiseptic

begrudge

derail

dishonorable

disharmony

disapprove

ex-president

inorganic

mis-identify

re-state

unfair

unlock

N→ N

A→ A

N →V

N→ V

A→ V

A→ A

N→ N

V→ V

N→ N

A→ A

V→ V

A→ V

A→ A

V→ V

　　Derivation does not apply freely to any word of a given category. Generally, affixes can not be added to morphemes of a different language origin. -ant, for example, can combine with morphemes of Latin origin, as in defendant, servant, contestant, intoxicant, etc.

　 Derivation is also constrained by phonological factors. -en, which combines with adjectives to create verbs with a causative meaning, cannot added to adjectives that are composed of more than one syllable. Among the monosyllabic adjectives the suffix can be added only to those that end in an obstruent. Whiten, soften, madden, quicken, liven and straighten are all examples, while *truen and *abstracten never occur.

　 Some English suffixes (most of which are of Latin origin) change the word stress,-ity (sane → sanity), -y (democrat → democracy), and -ive (product → productive) are such suffixes. Other suffixes (which are mostly native) generally do not affect the stress, such as -ness, -ly, -less, -ful, -er, -ish, -able.