What are DERIVATIVE morphemes

A morpheme it is the smallest unit of language that has its own meaning. If we divided a morpheme, the word that would remain would be devoid of meaning and grammatical meaning. A derivative morpheme is therefore that particle added to the root of a word to create new meanings.

Each of the combinations that we can make between a morpheme and a root are the different derived words. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to explain what are derivative morphemes and show you some examples.

The derivative morphemes are particles that bind before or after a root to create derived words from the same family but with different meanings.

For instance: sportstista / sportstive / sportstea. We have marked the root of the word in bold so you can see that by changing the morpheme we modify the meaning of the word.

The root, which is also called lexeme, is the invariable part of the word, the one that does not change regardless of the morpheme that we add. It is the root that will give us the essential meaning of the word. For instance:

officeist o economist. As the root is different, the two words have nothing more in common than the function they perform within a sentence, that is, they are nouns.

Theaffixes Are the particles that join the root creating new meanings. For example: marine and tides. Their meaning is completely different, but they do share the same general theme, the sea. The action of mixing the roots or lexemes with different derivative morphemes has the derivation name.

Derivative morphemes do not provide any information regarding gender, number, mode, time, person, etc. If not, simply modify the meaning of the root and many times they are those that indicate the grammatical category of the word. For instance: dancear and danceand. The first is a verb and the second is a noun.

exist four types of derivative morphemes depending on their position with respect to their root word. These are the different types of derivative morphemes that you can find in Spanish to derive words.

Prefixes

Prefixes that we have in the Spanish language come from Greek and Latin. They are all those particles that are positioned in front of the root or lexeme to modify the word semantically or grammatically. The act of prefixing is called prefixing.

Prefixes can you give us information on whether the word is negative, on the place, the quantity, the time or the intensity of the posterior root.

• The prefixes that indicate us space They can give us information about whether it is near or far. For example bypass.
• Prefixes negative they indicate denial or disapproval of the word that comes later. For example a- of amorphous.
• The prefixes of amount they express the size or quantity in reference to the lexeme. For example bipolar bipolar.
• The prefixes of intensity they can express to us the excess of something or the utmost importance. For example super- like superhero.
• Prefixes temporary they can give us an orientation in time as before or after. For example pre- as pre-Columbian.

There are some Latin prefixes that due to their disuse have ceased to exist in the common vocabulary of the Spanish language. Next we are going to put some examples of prefixes so you can see it more clearly and try to classify them by their meaning:

• Self-: autonomous, self-taught, self-critical
• Co-: co-author, cooperate, covalent
• Hemi-: hemisphere, hemicycle, hemiplegia
• I-, in-, im-: immortal, impostor, deluded
• Intro-, intra-: introverted, intramural, intravenous

Suffixes

Suffixes are all those derivative morphemes that are positioned after the root or lexeme. The main function of it is to create types different grammar words. That is, by changing the suffix of a word that was a verb, it can become a noun or an adjective. For example: reposar, reposador, reposado. To rest after a run is a verb. The footrest to work comfortably is a noun. The calm and calm man exercises the function of adjective.

Depending on the suffix that we want to put after each root we will obtain a different grammatical category and, therefore, they will have a different syntactic function within a sentence.

There are two different types of suffixes, depending on the function they perform in a sentence:

• Aspectual suffixes: They are divided into nominal, verbal and adjectival depending on the function they perform within a sentence.
• Appreciative suffixes: They can be diminutives to show appreciation and sympathy, augmentatives that express exaggeration and ridicule, the derogatory ones that show a revulsion and the superlatives that express an intensity maximum.

Let's see some types of examples of suffixes so that you can see clearly how they position themselves behind the lexeme and modify its meaning and its grammatical function:

• -archy: monarchy, anarchy
• -cide, -cide: insecticide, genocide
• -ism: Buddhism, Cubism, Fascism
• -ísimo: very good, very high
• -itis: arthritis, gastritis
• -therapy: radiotherapy, music therapy
• -logy: psychology, ecology, geology

Interfixes

The interfixes they are particles that are positioned between the root and the suffix in order to give a different meaning to the word. For example: espionage. Espi- (root), -on- (infix), -aje (suffix). Not all the particles that are positioned between the root and the suffix are interfixes, as it could be another suffix itself.

The best way to detect an interfix is to eliminate the last suffix that we can find in the word. In doing so we are left with the root and a morpheme, if these do not have any meaning by themselves, it will mean that it is an interfix. For example: dust. Polv- (root), -ar- (interfix) and -eda (suffix). If we eliminate the last suffix, which in this case would be -eda, the word that remains is polvar, which has no meaning by itself. That is why we can determine that -ar- in the word dust is an interfix.

If, for example, we find the word stab and want to identify if carries an interfix or not, we should analyze it as follows. Puñ- (root), -al- (interfix?), -Ada (suffix). If we eliminate the last suffix that we find, we will be left with the word dagger, which in Spanish has a clear meaning. Therefore, we will determine that -al- is a suffix in the word stab and that it does not act as an interfix.

There are some exceptions where the interfixes are positioned between the prefix and the root, but this is not the most common. We leave you with some examples of interfixes so that you learn to identify them in the words:

• Haughty: alt (root), an (interfix), ero (suffix)
• Architectural: architect (root), on (interfix), ico (suffix)
• Coffee: coffee (root), l (interfix), ito (suffix)
• Chaotic: caó (root), t (interfix), ico (suffix)
• Fanfanoso: fang (root), an (interfix), bear (suffix)

Circumfixes

The circumfixed morphemes They are particles that surround the root of a word using combinations between prefixes and suffixes. They are very unusual in the Spanish language, but everything and thus it is important to know them in case you find any case.

The act of adding a circumfix is ​​called circumfixation. For example: amanrar. This word is formed by a- + root + -rar, therefore we can say that the two particles that surround the root are circumfixes.

We leave you with some examples of circumfixes so you can see it more clearly:

• a- + root + -ar / -er / -ir: orange, gentrify
• des- + root + -ar / -er / -ir: husk
• en- + root + -ar / -er / -ir: dirty

Practicing is the best way to know if you have correctly understood the concept and know how to put it into practice. Then we leave you with a exercise on derivative morphemes so you can put your knowledge to the test.

For perform this exercise You must read the word that we propose and separate the root of the morpheme and indicate what type it is. We give you the first as an example:

• Cook: Cook- (root), -ero (suffix)
• Violinist
• Impossible
• Undo
• Washable
• Lazy
• Responsable
• Unpleasant
• Unbearable
• Ugliness

Next we are going to give you the answers from the previous exercise, so you can check if you have done it correctly.

• Cook: Cook- (root), -ero (suffix)
• Violinist: Violin- (root), -ista (suffix)
• Impossible: Im- (prefix), -possible (root)
• Undo: Un- (prefix), -do (root)
• Washable: Lava- (prefix), -ble (suffix)
• Lazy: Perez- (root), -oso (sujijo)
• Responsible: Respons- (root), -able (suffix)
• Unpleasant: Des- (prefix), -agrad- (root), -able (suffix)
• Unbearable: In- (prefix), -soport- (root), -able (suffix)
• Ugliness: Fe- (root), -al- (interfix), -dad (suffix)

Now you know what are derivative morphemes and you have seen some examples. If you are interested in continuing to learn about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to take a look at the grammar and linguistics section.