17. Mis (Fr. mes, from Latin minus), less, as in Misadventure. Mischance. Mischief. Caution.-Not to be confounded with the English prefix mis in mis take, mistrust, etc. 18. Non, not, as in Nonsense. Non-existent. Nonsuit. (i) The initial n has dropped off in umpire, formerly numpire=O. Fr. nonper= Lat. nonpar, not equal. (ii) The n has fallen away likewise from norange, napron (connected with napkin, napery), etc., by wrongly cleaving to the indefinite article a. 19. Ob, against, becomes oc, of, op, etc., as in 21. Per (Fr. par), through, which becomes pel, as in— Pellucid. Perfect. Perform. Permit. Perjure. (i) Pilgrim comes from peregrinus, a person who wanders per agros, through the fields, by the medium of Ital. pellegrino. (ii) Perhaps is a hybrid. 22. Post, after, as in Postpone. Postdate. Postscript. (i) The post is much disguised in puny, which comes from the French puis në =Lat. post natus, born after. A "puny judge" is a junior judge, or a judge of a later creation. 23. Præ, pre (Fr. pré), before, as in Predict. Presume. Pretend. Prevent. (i) It is shortened into a pr in prize, prison, apprehend, comprise (all from prehendo, I seize). (ii) It is disguised in provost (prepositus, one placed over), in preach (from præ. dico, I speak before), and provender (from præbeo, I furnish). 24. Præter, beyond, as in Preternatural. Preterite (beyond the present). Pretermit. 25. Pro (Fr. pour), which becomes pol, por, pur, as in 26. Re (Fr. re), back, again, which becomes red, as in— Rebel. Redeem. Reclaim. Recover. (i) It is much disguised in rally (=re-ally), in ransom (a shortened Fr. form of redemption), and in runagate (=renegade, one who has denied-negavit-his faith). (ii) It combines with English roots to form the hybrids relay, reset, recall. 27. Retro, backwards-as in retrograde, retrospect. (i) It is disguised in rear-guard (Ital. retro-gardia), rear, and arrears. 28. Se (Fr. sé), apart, which becomes sed, as in Secede. Seclude. Seduce. Sedition. 29. Sub (Fr. sous or sou), under, which becomes suc, suf, sud, sum sup, sur, and sus, as in Subtract. Summon. Succour. Suffer. Suggest. (i) Sub is disguised in sojourn (from O. Fr. sojorner, from Low Latin subdiurnāre), and in sudden (from Latin subitaneus). (ii) It combines with English roots to form the hybrids sublet, subworker, subkingdom, etc. 30. Subter, beneath-as in subterfuge. 31. Super (Fr. sur), above, as in— Supernatural. Surface (superficies). Superpose. Surname. Superscription. (i) It is disguised in sovereign (which Milton more correctly spells sovran), from Low Latin superanus. 32. Trans (Fr. trés), beyond, which becomes tra, as in— Translate. Tradition. Transport. Transform. Transitive. (1) It is disguised in treason (the Fr. form of tradition, from trado (=transdo), I give up), in betray and traitor (from the same Latin root), in trance and entrance (Latin transitus, a passing beyond), and in trestle (from Latin diminutive transtillum, a little cross-beam). 33. Ultra, beyond, as in— Ultra-Liberal. Ultra-Tory. (i) In outrage (O. Fr. oultrage) the ultra is disguised. Ultramontane. 34. Unus, one, which becomes un and uni, as in— 17. Our language possesses also a considerable number of prefixes transferred from the Greek language, many of which are very useful. The following are the most important 5. Apo (ảπó), away from, which also becomes ap, as in Anachronism. Antipodes. Antarctic. 7. Auto (avrós), self, which becomes auth, as in (i) This prefix is disguised in devil-from Gr. diabolos, the accuser or slanderer, from Gr. diaballein, to throw across. 13. En (ev), in, which becomes el and em, as in— Exotic. 15. Eu (ev), well, which also becomes ev, as in— 17. Hyper (vπép), over and above, as in Hyperborean. Hyperbolé. Hypercritical. Hypermetrical. 18. Hypo, hyp (ůπó), under, as in— Hypocrite. Hypotenuse. Hyphen. 19. Meta, met (μerá), after, changed for, as in Metaphor, Metamorphosis. Metonymy. 20. Mono, mon (uóvos), alone, as in— Monogram. Monody. Monad. Monk. Method. 21. Pan (xâv), all, as in— Pantheist. Panacea. Panorama. Pantomime. 22. Para (πapá), by the side of, which becomes par, as in— 26. Syn (ovv), with, which becomes syl, sym, and sy, as in— Proselyte. 18. The Suffixes employed in the English language are much more numerous than the Prefixes, and much more useful. Like the Prefixes, they come to us from three sources-from Old English (or Anglo-Saxon); from Latin (or French); and from Greek. 19. The following are the most important English Suffixes to Nouns : 1. Ard or art (=habitual), as in 4. Dom (O.E. dôm=doom), power, office, from deman, to judge, as in Dukedom. Christendom. Kingdom. Halidom (=holiness). (i) In O.E. we had bisceopdóm (=bishopdom); and Carlyle has accustomed us to rascaldom and scoundreldom. 5. En (a diminutive), as in Chicken (cock). Kitten (cat). Maiden. (i) The addition of a syllable has a tendency to modify the preceding vowel--as in kitchen (from cook), vixen (from fox), and nătional (from nātion). 6. Er, which has three functions, to denote— Finger (from O.E. fangan, to take). Stair (from stigan, to mount). (iii) A male agent, as in Fuller (from fullian, to cleanse). Player. Sower. The ending er has become disguised in beggar and sailor (not sailer, which is a ship). Under the influence of Norman-French, an i or y creeps in before the r, as in collier (from coal), lawyer, glazier (from glass), etc. 7. Hood (O.E. hâd), state, rank, person, as in Farthing (fourth). Riding (trithing=thirding). Tithing (tenth). (i) This suffix is found as a patronymic in many proper names, such as Browning, Harding; and in Kensington, Whittington, etc. (ii) Lording (=the son of a lord) and whiting (from white) are also diminutives. (iii) This ing is to be carefully distinguished from the ing (=ung) which was the old suffix for verbal nouns, as clothing, learning, etc. 9. Kin (a diminutive), as in— Bodkin. Firkin (from four). Lambkin. Mannikin. (i) It is also found in proper names, as in Dawkins (= little David), Jenkins (=son of little John), Hawkins (=son of little Hal), Perkins (=son of little Peter). 10. Ling=1+ing (both diminutives), as in— Darling (from dear). Firstling. Duckling. Gosling (goose). (i) Every diminutive has a tendency to run into depreciation, as in groundling, underling, worldling, etc. (ii) In some words, ing has been weakened into y or ie, as in Johnnie, Billy, Betty, etc. |