Root and Affixes

Root and Affixes

Affixation is the most common word formation process in English. Words are formed by adding affixes to roots.

Roots can be free or bound morphemes. They cannot be further analyzed into smaller parts. They form the base forms of the words.

1. Free roots are free morphemes. They can stand alone to function as words.
   Examples:
   recollect, bilingual, uneasy, mislead, hardly, attractive
2. Bound roots are bound morphemes. They cannot stand alone to function as words because they are no longer used in Modern English.
   Examples:
   receive, reduce

Affixes are bound morphemes. They can be classified into prefixes and suffixes in English.

1. A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of other morphemes to form a word.
   Examples:
   dislike, deactivate, inadequate, immobile, misleading, unaccountable

   endurable, underachieve, overdeveloped, prerequisite, postgraduate, recycle
2. A suffix is an affix added to the end of other morphemes to form a word.
   Examples:
   admirable, fruitful, ambitious, enjoyment, eagerness, standardize, cowardly,

   younger, processing, McDonald's, assignments, decides, decided

Can you tell the different functions of the red suffixes and the blue suffixes?