of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix un- is added

to the word happy, it creates the word unhappy. Particularly in the study of languages, a

prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it

is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can be either inflectional, changing the syntactic

category, or derivational, changing either the lexical category or the semantic meaning.

In English, there are no inflectional prefixes. Prefixes, like all other affixes, are bound

morphemes. The word prefix is itself made up of the stem fix, and the prefix pre-, both

of which are derived from Latin roots.

In English List of English derivational prefixes

In English, a fairly comprehensive list, although not exhaustive, is the following. Depending

on precisely how one defines a derivational prefix, some of the neoclassical combining

forms may or may not qualify for inclusion in such a list. This list takes the broad

view that acro- and auto- count as English derivational prefixes because they function

the same way that prefixes such as over- and self- do.

As for numeral prefixes, only the most common members of that class are included here. There

is a large separate table covering them all at Numeral prefix > Table of number prefixes

in English. Hyphenation

The choice between hyphenation or solid styling for prefixes in English is covered at Hyphen

> Prefixes and suffixes. In other languages

Japanese The most commonly used prefix in Japanese,

お o-, is used as part of the honorific system of speech. It is a marker for politeness,

showing respect for the person or thing it is affixed to.

Bantu languages In the Bantu languages of Africa, which are

agglutinating, the noun class is conveyed through prefixes, which is declined and agrees

with all of its arguments accordingly. Example from Ganda

The one, old, fat farmer goes.

Navajo Verbs in the Navajo language are formed with

a stem and multiple affixes. For example, each verb requires one of four non-syllabic

prefixes to create a verb theme. Sunwar

In the language of the Sunuwar people of Eastern Nepal, the prefix ma- म is used to create

negative verbs. It is the only verbal prefix in the language.

Bad child!

Russian As a part of the formation of nouns, prefixes

are less common in Russian than suffixes, but alter the meaning of a word.

German In German, derivatives formed with prefixes

may be classified in two categories: those used with substantives and adjectives, and

those used with verbs. For derivative substantives and adjectives, only two prefixes are still

in use as of 1970: un-, which expresses negation, and ur-, which means "original, primitive"

in substantives, and has an emphatic function in adjectives. ge- expresses union or togetherness.

On the other hand, verbal prefixes are still much in use: be-, er-, ent-, ge-, ver-, zer-,

and miß-. be- expresses strengthening or generalization. ent- expresses negation. ge-

indicates the completion of an action, and that's why its most common use has become

the forming of the past participle of verbs; ver- has an emphatic function, or it is used

to turn a substantive or an adjective into a verb. In some cases, the prefix particle

ent- can be considered the opposite of particle be-, while er- can be considered the opposite

of ver-. The prefix er- usually indicates the successful

completion of an action, and sometimes the conclusion means death. With fewer verbs,

it indicates the beginning of and action. The prefix er- is also used to form verbs

from adjectives. See also

Affix Suffix

Bound morpheme English prefixes

List of Greek and Latin roots in English Prefix — the mathematical notion in formal

language theory References