CHAPTER 4

The Internal Structure of Words and

Processes of Word Formation in English
Exercise 4.7
Prefixation
1.
Consider the following words:
disbelief
dishonorable
dislike
discomfort
dispassionate
disconnect
disharmony
dismissive
disclose
disorder
disgraceful
disinfect
displeasure
disorderly
disown
dishonest
dissimilar
discontinuous
discharge
disobey
distrust
a.
What kinds of roots does the prefix dis- attach to? Explain.
b.
Is it a class-maintaining or class-changing prefix?
c.
What are the two meanings of the prefix? Name and give an example from the list
above of each of the two meanings.
d.
In addition to derivation, what process of word formation is involved in the formation of
the following words?
disarm
distrust
dismember
disfigure
disband
discolor
discourage
disbar
e.
What problem do the following words pose for morphological analysis? Explain.
discern
disgust
dissipate
disburse
disparage
dismantle
dispel
discreet
f.
Would you say that the following words contain the dis- prefix or a different prefix?
Explain.
denude
deforest
demerit
declassify
deform
degrade
denounce
decode
detract
deflower
deflect
defrost
g.
Analyze the following words into morphs and label each morph as R (= root), DP (=
derivational prefix), DS (= derivational suffix), and IS (= inflectional suffix). Specify the
grammatical function of the affixes and the part of speech of the root.
Example: DISCOURAGEMENT dis- (DP) + courage (R - noun) + -ment (DS -
nominalizer)
disheartening
disproportionately
disqualification
disenchantments
disinterested
h.
Draw a tree diagram showing the derivation of the word disreputable.

2.
Consider the following words:
antisocial
antibacterial
antihistamine
antibody
antinuclear
antihygienic
anticlimax
antihero
antiseptic
a.
What kinds of roots does the prefix anti- attach to? Explain.
b.
Is the prefix class-changing or class-maintaining?
c.
Give the meaning of the prefix.
d.
What problem do the following words pose for morphological analysis? Explain.
antipathy
antidote
antithetic
antibiotic
e.
In addition to derivation, what process of word formation is involved in the formation of
the following words?
antiwar
antifreeze
antislip
antitrust
antiknock
antiwrinkle
f.
What problem do the following words pose for morphemic analysis? Explain.
antacid
antarctic
antepileptic
g.
Analyze the following words as in (1h) above:
antibacterial
antiperspirant
antirevolutionary
anticommercialization
antidisestablishmentarianism
h.
Give a tree diagram showing the derivation of the word antidepressant.
Key
1.
a.
dis- attaches only to noun and verb roots. The adjectives in the list given are all derived from
nouns by the addition of adjectivalizers (-ate, -ive, -ful, -able, -ly).
b.
The prefix is class-maintaining.
c.
The two meanings are privative (as in disconnect, disinfect) and negative (as
in disharmony, disorder).
d.
All of these words involve a shift in the part of speech (from N to V) as well as derivation.
e.
These words all contain bound roots.
f.
The prefixes de- and dis- may both derive from the Latin prefix dis-, or de- may derive from the
Latin prefix dē-; it is not entirely clear. In any case, like dis-, de -has the two meanings of
privation (as in denude, deforest, deflower) and negation (as in denounce, deform, detract). The
two prefixes are in competition with the native prefix un-, which likewise expresses privation (as
in undo, unwrap) and negation (as in unfair, unhappy).
g.

dis- (DP) heart (R - noun) + -en (DS - -ing (IS - prsprt)

+ verbalizer) +
dis- (DP) pro- (DP) + portion (R - noun) -ate (DS - -ly (DS _
+ + adjectivalizer) + adverbializer)
dis- (DP) qual (R - noun) + -ify (DS - -cation (DS -
+ verbalizer) + nominalizer)
dis- (DP) en- (DP - chant (R - noun) + -ment (DS - -s (IS - pl)
+ verbalizer) + nominalizer) +
dis- (DP) interest (R - noun) -ed (DS -
+ + adjectivaler)

h.
2.
a.
anti -attaches only to noun roots. The adjectives in the list given are all derived from nouns by
the addition of adjectivalizers ( al, -ic, -ar).
b.
The prefix is class-maintaining.
c.
The meaning is ‘counter, opposite, inverse’.
d.
These words all contain bound roots.
e.
These words all involve a conversion, either from N > A (antiwar, antitrust, antiwrinkle) or from V
> N (antifreeze, antiknock, antislip).
f.
These words show an allomorph ant -of the morpheme occurring with roots beginning in a
vowel. However, this allomorph is not consistently used in this context, as evidenced
by antiaircraft, antiallergenic, antienzyme, anti-inflammatory.
g.

anti - bacteria (R - -al (DS -

(DP) noun) + adjectivalizer)
+
anti - perspire (R - -ant (DS -
(DP) verb) + nominalizer)
+
anti - revolve (R - -ution (DS - -ary (DS -
(DP) verb) + nominalizer) + adjectivalizer)
+
anti - commerce (R -ial (DS - -ize (DS - -ation (DS -
(DP) - noun) + adjectivalizer) + verbalizer) + nominalizer)
+
anti - dis -(DP) + establish (R - -ment (DS - -arian (DS - -ism (DS -
(DP) verb) + nominalizer) + adjectivalizer) + nominalizer)
+
h.
https://benjamins.com/sites/z.156/exercise/c4q7