Prefix

This article is about the linguistic feature. For other uses, see Prefix (disambiguation).

Affixes
Prefix
Suffix
Circumfix
Duplifix
Infix
Interfix
Transfix
Simulfix
Suprafix
Disfix

A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. 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.

Example of English derivational prefixes

• unhappy : un is a negative or antonymic prefix.
• prefix, preview : pre is a prefix, with the sense of before
• redo, review. : re is a prefix meaning again.
• dishonest, disobey: dis is also a negative prefix, but it isn't an antonymic prefix.
• impolite, immature: im has the meaning of dis.
• inadequate, incomplete: in has the meaning of dis and im.
• atheist, anarchy : a and an have the meaning of dis, im, and in (not) and without.

The word prefix is itself made up of the stem fix (meaning attach, in this case), and the prefix pre- (meaning "before"), both of which are derived from Latin roots.

In other languages

• In Japanese, some parts of the honorific system of speech are conveyed through prefixes.

See also

• English prefixes
• List of Greek and Latin roots in English
• Suffix