<page 100>

WORD-BUILDING AND DERIVATION.

1. The primary element—that which is the shortest form—of a word is called its root. Thus tal (which means number) is the root of the words tale and tell and till (a box for money).

2. The stem is the root + some modification. Thus love (= love + e) is the stem of lov.

3. It is to the stem that all inflexions are added, and thus to love we add d for the past tense.

4. If to the root we add a suffix, then the word so formed is called a derivative. Thus by adding ling to dar (= dear), we make darling.

5. In general, we added English prefixes and English suffixes to English words; but this is not always the case. Thus we have cottage, where the Latin ending age is added to the English word cot; and covetousness, where the English ending ness is added to the Latin word covetous. Such words are called hybrids.

6. When two words are put together to make one, the one word so made is called a compound.

7. The adding of prefixes or of suffixes to words, or the making one word out of two, is called word-formation.

COMPOUND NOUNS.

8. Compound Nouns are formed by the addition of:—

(i) Noun and Noun, as—

<page 101>

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES.

9. There are in the language a great many compound adjectives, such as heart-whole, sea-sick, etc.; and these are formed in a large number of different ways.

Compound adjectives may be formed in the following ways:—

(i) Noun + Adjective, as purse-proud, wind-swift, way-weary, sea-green, lily-white.

(ii) Noun + Present Participle, as ear-piercing, death-boding, heart-rending, spirit-stirring, sea-faring, night-walking, home-keeping.

(iii) Noun + Passive Participle, as moth-eaten, worm-eaten, tempest-tossed, way-laid, forest-born, copper-fastened, moss-clad, sea-girt.

(iv) Adverb + Present Participle, as far-darting, everlasting, high-stepping, well-meaning, long-suffering, far-reaching, hard-working.

(v) Adverb + Passive Participle, as high-born, “ill-weaved,” well-bred, thorough-bred, high-strung, ill-pleased.

<page 102>

(vi) Noun + Noun + ed, as hare-brained, dog-hearted, beetle-headed, periwig-pated, club-footed, lily-livered, trumpet-tongued, eagle-eyed.

(vii) Adjective + Noun + ed, as evil-eyed, grey-headed, thin-faced, empty-headed, tender-hearted, thick-lipped, two-legged, three-cornered, four-sided, high-minded, bald-pated.

(viii) Noun + Noun, as bare-foot, lion-heart, iron-side.

(ix) Adverb + Noun + ed, as down-hearted, under-handed.

COMPOUND VERBS.

THE FORMATION OF ADVERBS.

11. Adverbs are derived from Nouns, from Adjectives, from Pronouns, and from Prepositions.

a. Adverbs derived from Nouns are either: (i) Old Possessives, or (ii) Old Datives, or (iii) Compounds of a Noun and a Preposition:—

(i) Old Possessives: Needs = of need, or of necessity. The Calendrer says to John Gilpin about his hat and wig—

“My head is twice as big as yours,
They therefore needs must fit.”

Of the same class are: always, nowadays, betimes.

(ii) Old Datives. These are seldom and the old-fashioned whilom (= in old times).

(iii) Compounds: anon= (in one moment), abed (= on bed) asleep, aloft, abroad, indeed, of a truth, by turns, perchance, perhaps.

b. Adverbs derived from Adjectives are either: (i) Old Possessives,  or (ii) Old Datives, or (iii) Compounds of an Adjective and a Preposition:—

(i) Old Possessives: else (ell-es, possessive of al = other), unawares, once (= ones), twice, thrice, etc.

<page 103>

(ii) Old Datives. The old English way of forming an adverb was simply to use the dative case of the adjective—which ended in ë. Thus we had deepë, brightë, for deeply and brightly. Then the ë dropped away. Hence it is that there are in English several adverbs exactly like adjectives. These are: fast, hard, right (in “Right Reverend”), far, ill, late, early, loud, high.

(iii) Compounds of an Adjective and a Preposition: on high, in vain, in short, at large, of late, etc.

c. Adverbs derived from Pronouns come from the pronominal stems: who, the (or this), and he. The following is a table, and it is important to note the beautiful correspondences:—

(i) How and why are two forms of the same word—the instrumental case of who. How = in what way? Why = with what reason?

(ii) The, in the last column, is the adverbial the (A.S. thý) before a comparative. It is the instrumental or ablative case of that or thaet. “The more, the merrier” = by that more, by that merrier. That is, the measure of the increase in the number is the measure of the increase in the merriment.

(iii) Thus is the instrumental case of this, and is = in this manner.

d. Compound Adverbs are formed by adding together—

(i) Noun and Noun, as lengthways, endways.

(ii) Noun and Adjective, as—

(iii) Preposition and Noun, as Aboveboard, outside.

(iv) Adverb and Preposition, as—

PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES.

12. The Prefixes used in our language are of English, French, Latin, and Greek origin.

(i) French is only modified Latin. Hence French prefixes fall naturally under Latin prefixes, as the one is only a form of the other.

<page 104>

13. English Prefixes are divided into Inseparable and Separable. Inseparable Prefixes are those that have no meaning by themselves and cannot be used apart from another word. Separable Prefixes may be used and are used as independent words.

14. The following are the most important

English Inseparable Prefixes:—

1. A (a broken-down form of O.E. an = on), as—

2. Be (an O.E. form of by), which has several functions:—

(i) To add an intensive force to transitive verbs, as—

(ii) To turn intransitive verbs into transitive, as—

(iii) To make verbs out of nouns or adjectives, as—

(iv) To combine with nouns, as—

(v) To form part of prepositions and adverbs, as before, besides, etc.

3. For (O.E. for = Lat. per) means thoroughly, and has two functions:—

 (i) To add an intensive meaning, as in—

Forswear means to swear out and out, to swear anything, hence falsely. Compare the Latin perjurare; hence our perjure.

(ii) To give a negative meaning, as in forgo (wrongly spelled forego), to go without.

4. Fore = before; as forebode, forecast.

5. Gain (O.E. gaegn, back, again), found in gainsay (to speak against); gainstand.

<page 105>

6. Mis (O.E. mis, wrong; and connected with the verb to miss), as in—

Caution.—When mis occurs in French words, it is a shortened form of minus, less; as in mischief, mischance, miscount, miscreant (= non-believer).

7. Th, the prefix of the third personal pronoun and its cognates, and indicating something spoken of, as in—

8. Un = not, as

9. Wan (O.E. wan, wanting; and connected with wane), which is found in—

10. With (a shortened form of O.E. wither=back or against) is found in—

It exists also in a latent form in the word drawing-room = withdrawing-room.

15. The following are the most important

English Separable Prefixes:—

1. After, which is found in—

2. All (O.E. al, quite), which is found in—

3. Forth, found in forthcoming, forward, etc.

4. Fro (a shortened form of from), in forward.

5. In appears in modern English in two forms, as:—

 (i) In, in—

(ii) En or em (which is a Frenchified form), in—

<page 106>

6. Of or off (which are two spellings of the same word), as—

7. On, as in onset, onslaught, onward.

8. Out, which takes also the form of ut, as in—

9. Over (the comparative of the ove in above), which combines:—

(i) With nouns, as in—

(ii) With adjectives, as in—

(Shakespeare is very fond of such forms.)

(iii) With verbs, as in—

10. Thorough or through, two forms of the same word, as in—

Shakespeare has “thorough bush, thorough brier, thorough flood, thorough fire”.

11. Twi = two, in twilight, twin, twist, etc.

12. Under, which goes:—

(i) With verbs, as in—

(ii) With nouns, as in—

(iii) With other words, as in—

13. Up, which goes:—

(i) With verbs, as in—

(ii) With nouns, as in—

(iii) With other words, as in—

<page 107>

16. There are in use in our language many Latin Prefixes; and many of them are of great service. Some of them, as circum (about), come to us direct from Latin; others, like counter (against), have come to us through the medium of French. The following are the most important

Latin Prefixes:—

1. A,  ab, abs (Fr. a, av), away from, as in—

2. Ad (Fr. a), to, which in composition become ac, af, ag, al, an ap, ar, as, at, to assimilate with the first consonant of the root. The following are examples of each:—

All these words come straight to us from Latin, except agree, arrive, and attain. The following are also French: Achieve (to bring to a chef or head), amount, acquaint.

3. Amb, am (ambi, about), as in—

4. Ante (Fr. an), before, as in—

5. Bis, bi, twice, as in—

6. Circum, circa, around, as in—

7. Cum, with, in French com, which becomes col, con, cor, coun, and co before a vowel, as in—

(i) In cost (from constare, to “stand”); couch (from collŏco, I place); cull (from collĕgo, I collect); and cousin (from consobrīnus, the child of a mother’s sister), the prefix has undergone great changes.

(ii) Co, though of Latin origin, can go with purely English words, as in co-worker, co-understanding. These are not desirable compounds.

8. Contra (Fr. contre), against, which also becomes contro and counter, as in—

(i) In counterweigh and counterwork we find it in union with English roots.

(ii) In encounter we find it converted into a root.

<page 108>

9. De (Fr. de), down, from, about, as in—

It has also two different functions. It is—

(i) negative in destroy, deform, desuetude, etc.

(ii) intensive in desolate, desiccate (to dry up), etc.

10. Dis, di (Fr. des, de), asunder, in two, as in—

11. Ex, e (Fr. es, e), out of, from, as in—

(i) ex has a privative sense in ex-emperor, etc.

(ii) In amend (emendo), astonish (étonner), the e is disguised.

(iii) In sample (short for example), scorch (O. Fr. escorcer), and special (for especial), the e has fallen away.

12. Extra, beyond, as in—