Reflection on English Word Formation From Morphemes

鄒雅男

摘要： Many arguments have been made in regard to whether studying the English word formation from morphemes is important in learning English vocabulary. I fully sanction the idea of studying the English word formation from morphemes， which can enable students to better understand the composition of vocabulary and effectively remember and use English words.

關鍵詞： English word formation ?morphemes ?meaning

The learning effect of English vocabulary affects the ability of students listening， speaking， reading and writing. It is undoubtedly the most fundamental， effective and scientific method for vocabulary learning by analyzing the English word formation from morphemes. Therefore， how to improve students ability to learn English vocabulary？

Morphemes are the smallest units of semantics， including roots and affixes. Roots are the part of the word and represents the main information of vocabulary. Affixes include the prefix and the suffix. The affix that is attached to the front of the root is called the prefix， and attached to the back of the root is called the suffix. The root determines the meaning of the word， and the affix changes the meaning of the word.

Roots are like the radicals of Chinese characters and they follow the rule of “nearly taken from the body and far from the objects”. According to this rule， English roots are divided into four categories： the first is the human body itself， which mainly includes various tissues and organs of the human body; the second is the natural world， which includes changes in spatial position， nature， quantity; the third is the psychological world， including emotional and cognitive experiences; the fourth is the social life， including social relations and other aspects of life.

There are some examples about the English roots. The roots “ced”， “ceed， “cess” derive from the word “cedere” or “cede” and mean “to go”. They can be translated into different meanings. The root of the word “access” is “cess” and means “a way of entering or reaching a place”， and it can be translated into “通道、入門”. The word “cede” means “to give sb control of sth or give them power， a right， especially unwillingly” and it can be translated into “放棄、割讓”. Although the root of the word “precede” is also “cede”， there are completely different meanings， it means “to go before” and means “領先、先于”. In addition， the root “ress” is similar to the meaning of these three roots， such as the word “regress” and means “倒退、回歸、退化”. It can be interpreted as “ to return to an earlier or less advanced form or way of behaving”. Take another example， the two roots “duc” and “duct” derive from the word “ducere” and mean “to lead”. They refer to the human body experience and can be translated into different meanings. For example， the phrase “lead away” means “誘導、誘拐”， the phrase “lead in” means “介紹、引入”， the phrase “lead out” means “教導、教育”， and the phrase “lead down” can be interpreted as “減少、減小”. From these two examples， we can find out the rule of learning English roots， which is to accurately infer the meaning of English vocabulary according to the meanings of the roots.

Affixes can only adhere to the morphemes that make up a new word on the root， and they cannot constitute a word by itself. There are many different types of prefixes. The first category indicates positive and negative （or increase or decrease）， such as un-， in-， im-， mis-， dis-， etc. The second category represents size， such as semi-， mini-， micro-， etc. The third category represents the positional relationship， such as inter-， super-， extra-， sub-， etc. For example， the word “supercilium” consists of the prefix “super-” and the word “cilium”. This word “cilium” means “眼睫毛”. As on the cilium， we can know that it is “眉毛”. By adopting this method， our students can learn a lot of English vocabulary easily.

In general， English vocabulary consists of the roots and the affixes. We can analyze this word “abduct” to understand its morpheme formation. It includes the prefix “ab-” means “away” and the root “duct” means “to lead away”. This word “abduct” means “to take sb away illegally” and can be translated into “誘拐、劫持、綁架”. The another word “produce” also consists of the prefix “pro-” means “forward” and the root “duc” means “to lead forward”. According to the meanings of the two parts， we can infer to meaning of this word is “生產、制造”. As a result， its not difficult to see that we can accurately locate the meanings of the words by analyzing the roots and affixes.

In a word， studying the English word formation from morphemes is the key to students' proficiency in English learning. It is also a premise for the development of listening， speaking， reading and writing skills. Therefore， learning English morphemes formation is of great significance for us to learn new words. Besides， it can provide a better platform for us to learn English well.

References：

Zhang Fachun， Zhang Xiaoping. A Study of English Word Formation From Morphemes[M]. China Ocean University Press， 2012， 86-93.

Xia Chunhong. A study of English Word Formation From Morphemes[J]. Nan Jing Press， 2018（74）， 1-3.