Section 4.2 Common Morphemes by Word Class
English uses bound morphemes productively to create words belonging to different word classes. These affixes are productive—English speakers use them freely to create new words. You’ve probably encountered “unfriend”, “unsubscribe”, and “retweet”, none of which existed thirty years ago. The patterns are so reliable that you could invent a word right now and other English speakers would understand it immediately.
The following tables organize common English affixes by the word class they typically create.
Noun-Forming Morphemes.
These affixes create nouns, often from verbs or adjectives:
| Affix | Base Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ness | adjective | state/quality | happiness, darkness, kindness, sadness |
| -ity | adjective | state/quality | generosity, electricity, possibility, curiosity |
| -ment | verb | result/act | development, agreement, entertainment, movement |
| -tion/-sion | verb | act/result | selection, creation, discussion, decision |
| -er/-or | verb | one who | teacher, writer, actor, editor |
| -ist | noun/adj | one who practices | artist, scientist, guitarist, optimist |
| -ism | noun/adj | belief/practice | capitalism, heroism, criticism, optimism |
| -ance/-ence | verb/adj | state/quality | assistance, confidence, independence, resistance |
| -dom | noun/adj | state/realm | kingdom, freedom, boredom, wisdom |
| -hood | noun | state/group | childhood, neighborhood, brotherhood, likelihood |
Verb-Forming Morphemes.
These affixes create verbs, often from nouns or adjectives:
| Affix | Base Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ize | noun/adj | make/become | modernize, hospitalize, legalize, prioritize |
| -ify | noun/adj | make/cause | beautify, clarify, simplify, terrify |
| -ate | noun/adj | make/provide | activate, motivate, hyphenate, vaccinate |
| -en | adjective | make/become | brighten, darken, soften, strengthen |
| en- | noun/adj | put into/make | enable, encourage, endanger, enlarge |
| be- | noun/adj | make/cover | befriend, belittle, bewitch, bedeck |
Adjective-Forming Morphemes.
These affixes create adjectives, often from nouns or verbs:
| Affix | Base Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ful | noun | full of | hopeful, beautiful, careful, powerful |
| -less | noun | without | hopeless, careless, helpless, harmless |
| -able/-ible | verb | capable of | believable, readable, possible, flexible |
| -ous/-ious | noun | having quality | famous, dangerous, curious, spacious |
| -al | noun | relating to | musical, national, personal, educational |
| -ive | verb | tending to | creative, attractive, destructive, impressive |
| -ic | noun | relating to | artistic, scientific, historic, economic |
| -y | noun | having quality | dirty, sunny, rainy, noisy |
| -ish | noun/adj | somewhat like | childish, foolish, yellowish, oldish |
| -ly | noun | having quality | friendly, costly, lovely, timely |
Adverb-Forming Morphemes.
English has fewer productive adverb-forming affixes:
| Affix | Base Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ly | adjective | in this manner | quickly, happily, carefully, recently |
| -ward(s) | noun | in this direction | homeward, forward, backward, skyward |
| -wise | noun | in this way | clockwise, otherwise, likewise, lengthwise |
Common Meaning-Changing Prefixes.
These prefixes modify meaning without changing the word class:
| Prefix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un- | not, opposite | unhappy, undo, unusual, unfair |
| re- | again | rewrite, rebuild, rethink, replay |
| pre- | before | prehistoric, preview, predict, prepay |
| post- | after | postwar, postpone, postgraduate |
| mis- | wrongly | misunderstand, misspell, misjudge, misread |
| dis- | not, opposite | disagree, disappear, disconnect, dislike |
| non- | not | nonsense, nonfiction, nonprofit, nonstop |
| over- | excessive | overwork, overeat, overreact, overlook |
| under- | insufficient | underpay, underestimate, undervalue |
| anti- | against | antisocial, antiwar, antibiotic, antibody |
Productivity and New Words.
These affixes are called productive because English speakers actively use them to create new words. Consider some recent additions to English:
-
unfriend (un- + friend) — to remove someone from social media
-
doomscrolling (doom + scroll + -ing) — obsessively reading bad news
-
rewatchable (re- + watch + -able) — worth watching again
-
influencer (influence + -er) — social media personality
-
podcaster (podcast + -er) — one who creates podcasts
These words didn’t exist twenty years ago, yet English speakers immediately understand them. This is morphological productivity in action—the same patterns that created “unhappy” and “teacher” centuries ago continue to generate new vocabulary today.
