Prefix definitions

Prefix definitions, etymology & examples

see https://www.dailywritingtips.com/list-prefixes-suffixes

Terms

• assimilation
• cognate
  • = related sounds that yield shifts in pronunciation, generally between languages that have a common origin
  • ex. the English "night" is "cognate" with the German "nacht"
    • in English the "i" is cognate with the German "a"
    • and the ENglish "ght" is cognate with the German "act"
  • within a language, cognates are seen in words such as "night":
    • Old English: niht was changed to "night" in Middle English in order to represent the "ggh" sound of niht in Old English
      • eventually, the "ggh" sound was dropped and the "i" became "eye"-sound (from "ehh" sound)
      • but the spelling was kept the same, "night"
• etymology
  • = word origin, or study of word origins
• morpheme
  • = the smallest constituent of a word
  • some words are morphemes unto themselves ("it", "and")
  • others are a combination of morphemes ("itself", "below")
• PIE
  • for proto-Indo-European language
  • = the origin or pre-origin language of Indo-European languages, which share the PIE language as their origin
  • Indo-European languages include, Celtic, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Latin, Persian, Spanish, and others across Europe and parts of central and western Asia and South Asia
• root
• suffix
  • = a word ending "inflection" (change in sound) that identifies or changes a root's part of speech

When is a prefix not a prefix?

• many prefixes are attached to roots that are not words unto themselves
  • some scholars argue that these words are not "prefix + root" and stand as single "morphemes" (word units)
    

Letter sound shifts

• because of the way letter sounds are formed by the mouth (physically)
  • some letters more naturally precede others
• examples:
  • "m" starts with closed lips, then open lips ("mmmah" sound)
  • "n" starts and ends with open lips, along with release of the tongue from against the front teeth ("nnnah" sound)
  • "p" starts with closed lips, then open lips > open lips ("pppuh" sound)
  • thus
    • n + p requires open for n, then close and open for m
    • whereas m + p only requires closed lips for m, which transitions easily to the open lips p sound
• consequently, some prefixes with the same meaning use different letters, depending on the first letter of the root word

Pronoun ending letter

m & n	-b, -m, -p	-c, -d, -f, -g, -h, -j, -l, n, -r, -q, -t, -v
m & n	em-, im-ember, eminent, empathy, immaterial, important	en-, in-include, induce, infuse, ingress, inhuman, injury, enliven, enrage, inquisitive, into, invisible
m & n	um-umbrella, umpire	un-unclear, under, unfettered, unhinged, unjust, unlimited, unrest, unready, invertibrate
ad	ad- addition, adhere, advertize

Prefixes with dual, opposite meanings

• some prefixes have opposite meanings
  • adhere = stuck to
    • ad from a- (adding the "d" before the h
      • ad- (to, into) + haesitare (stuck, in place)
        • "here" = from PIE root *ghais- forms adhere, hesitate
    • versus
  • averse = against, disliking, hostile, unwilling
    • a- (against, not) + verse (turn)
      • = turn against

A-B-C

a-, ab

• away, away from, from, from off, down
• also ab-,abs-
• ex.
  • avert, abduct, abscond
• for more see ab-

ab-

• away, away from, from, from off, down
  • PIE *apo- off, away
    • abstract
    • absolve
    • absolute
      • note that "absolute" = ab (to, towards) + solvere (to loosen)
        • = not attached, released, without restrictions
• by (as in agency, for origin, consequence of)
• can also mean "not" (as in a negation)
• can also mean "ad-" for to, toward, near

• examples:
  • aberration, abstract, abnormal, abysmal
  • note that ab- in "abbreviation" is from ad- (to, toward), thus
    • ab- for "to" (from ad-) + breviare (Latin) for short, low, little, shallow = "to shorten"
      • PIE *mregh-u for short

ad-

• to, toward (space or time), in relation to, regarding
  • from PIE *ad- for to, near, at
  • addict, adhere, ad
• becomes a- before -sc-, -sp- and -st-
  • aspect, astronomy
• becomes ab-
  • also af-, -ag, -al,
    • affection, aggression

acer-

• bitter, harsh, severe, sharp, sour,
  • acerbic, acrid
  • also:
    • exacerbate, mediocre
• from PIE *ak- "sharp, to a point, pierce"
  • includes words such as acid, acme, acrobat, acronym, acropolis, acumen, acupuncture

add-

• same as ad-
  • addition, addendum

ana-

• 1. up, upward, through (in place or time)
• 2. back, backward, against
• 3. again, anew
  • by itself, "ana" means "an equal quantity"
• origin
  • PIE *an- for "on, upon, above"
• examples
  • anabaptism for "a second" or "renewed" baptism
  • analysis
    • ana- "up" + *leu "loosen, divide, cut apart" thus "cut or divided up"
  • analog
    • log = from "logos" thus "through or again words or logic"
  • analogy
    • log -y "through or separate words or logic" (that mean the same thing)

com- & con-

• mean the same thing

com-

• with
• examples
  • complement = with (com-) + fill (-plere) for "add/ed to make complete"
    • from PIE *pele for "to fill"
  • compliment = cognate with Latin complere shifting to complire for "to complete"
    • indicates "completion" and thus "expression of respect" for something completed or done

con-

D-E-F

em- & en-

• = mean the same
  • into
  • to place
  • to cause
  • not, to restrict
• en- precedes all letters except those that follow -em
• em- precedes -b, -m, -p
  • see chart above

em-

• put in or into, to affect, bring to the state of, distribute
  • assimilation from in- and into
  • PIE root *em- for "to take, distribute"
• used instead of -en words beginning with -b- and -p-
• examples
  • empathy
    • in the (same) state of pathos (emotions, feelings)
  • embitter (make bitter)
  • embody (make into the body of; representation)
  • emit (distribute
  • emotion

en-

• from PIE *en, into, to make or put

in- prefix synonyms w/ opposite meanings

prefix	definition 1	definition 2
em-	opposite of, not	in, into
en-	opposite of, not	in, into
im-	opposite of, not	in, into
in-	opposite of, not	in, into

G-H-I

in-

• same as en-, im-, em-
• see entry for en-

S-T-U

sym-

• alike, with, together, mutual, reciprocal, at the same time
  • assimilated with syn-
  • origin in PIE *ksun- for "with"
• used instead of syn-' with words beginning with -b-, -m-, -p-, -ph-, -ps-
• examples
  • symbiosis, symbol, sympathetic,

syn-

• alike, with, together, mutual, reciprocal, at the same time
• examples
  • synagogue, synthesis, synthetic,
  • sympathy
    • with emotion