Word formation: prefixes de-/dis- and suffixes –ic, -ment, -y, -able

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

« Aztec civilization integrated as a result of the Spanish conquest. » Read the sentence again: a conquest does not bring a civilization together — it breaks it apart. Three letters are missing, and with them the sentence becomes true: Aztec civilization disintegrated. Words can grow at both ends. A prefix at the beginning can turn a word into its opposite; a suffix at the end can turn a verb into a noun, or a noun into an adjective. So which letters do you add — and what do they change?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

تكوين الأضداد بالسابقتين ⁦de-⁩ و ⁦dis-⁩، مثل ⁦agree → disagree⁩ و ⁦populate → depopulate⁩
تكوين أسماء من أفعال باللاحقة ⁦-ment⁩، مثل ⁦achieve → achievement⁩
التعرّف على صفات تنتهي باللاحقتين ⁦-ic⁩ و ⁦-able⁩، مثل ⁦scientific⁩ و ⁦hospitable⁩، وعلى ظروفها المنتهية بـ ⁦-ly⁩
إكمال عائلة الكلمة من فعل واسم وصفة وظرف، واختيار فردها المناسب في نصّ

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

أقسام الكلمة: الفعل والاسم والصفة والظرف
الماضي البسيط والحاضر البسيط
جمع الاسم بإضافة ⁦-s⁩

1. Prefixes that make opposites: de- and dis-

السابقة حروف تُضاف في أوّل الكلمة. و ⁦de-⁩ و ⁦dis-⁩ سابقتان تفيدان النفي: تقلبان معنى الكلمة إلى ضدّه، ولا تغيّران قسمها.

A prefix is a group of letters added at the beginning of a word. De- and dis- are negative prefixes: they form opposites. The word keeps its class — a verb stays a verb, a noun stays a noun — but its meaning is reversed: agree → disagree, populate → depopulate. The prefix is added to the word as it is, without changing a letter: dis + satisfaction → dissatisfaction, with two s.

Add the negative prefix de- or dis- to the words in bold so that the texts make sense.

A. Aztec civilization integrated as a result of the Spanish conquest. The Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) possessed the Aztecs of their wealth and populated the major Aztec cities. B. Historians agree on the real causes of the fall of Maya civilization. Some of them say that its integration was due to the spread of epidemics. But others approve by arguing that it came as a result of the regulation of the climate, and domestic satisfaction and content.

Task 1 — the answers, and why each text now makes sense

أضف السابقة المناسبة ثمّ اقرأ الجملة من جديد: هل صار لها معنى؟

The nine words

disintegrateddispossesseddepopulateddisagreedisintegrationdisapprovederegulationdissatisfactiondiscontent

A. The Spanish conquest broke Aztec civilization apart: it disintegrated. Cortés took their wealth away from the Aztecs — he dispossessed them of it — and the major Aztec cities lost their people: he depopulated them. B. Historians disagree: they do not share the same view. Some explain the disintegration of Maya civilization by the spread of epidemics; others disapprove of this explanation and point to the deregulation of the climate — it stopped being regular — and to domestic dissatisfaction and discontent.

2. Suffixes that build word families: -ment, -ic, -able

اللاحقة حروف تُضاف في آخر الكلمة فتنقلها إلى قسم آخر: ⁦-ment⁩ تصنع اسما من فعل، و ⁦-ic⁩ و ⁦-able⁩ تنتهي بهما صفات، و ⁦-ly⁩ تصنع منها ظروفا.

A suffix is a group of letters added at the end of a word. It moves the word into another class, and so builds a family: a verb, a noun, an adjective and an adverb that share the same root. -ment makes nouns from verbs: achieve → achievement. -ic ends adjectives: science → scientific. -able ends adjectives too: hospitable, the adjective of hospitality. And -ly turns an adjective into an adverb: hospitable → hospitably.

The suffixes of this lesson

-ment → noun-ic → adjective-able → adjective-ly → adverb

Complete each family: find the missing word.

1. achieve (verb) → the noun: … 2. improve (verb) → the noun: … 3. develop (verb) → the noun: … 4. enriching (adjective) → the verb: … → the noun: … 5. science (noun) → the adjective: … → the adverb: … 6. hospitality (noun) → the adjective: … → the adverb: hospitably

Task 2 — the families

في كلّ عائلة: إلى أيّ قسم تنقل اللاحقةُ الكلمة؟

Word families

Word given	Word formed	Class	Suffix
achieve	achievement	noun	-ment
improve	improvement	noun	-ment
develop	development	noun	-ment
enriching	enrich · enrichment	verb · noun	-ment
science	scientific · scientifically	adjective · adverb	-ic · -ly
hospitality	hospitable	adjective	-able

3. The right member of the family in a text

لاختيار الكلمة المناسبة من العائلة انظر إلى ما يسبق الفراغ: بعد أداة التعريف أو اسم الإشارة يأتي اسم، وقبل الاسم تأتي صفة.

Fill in the blanks with words from the families above.

History shows that civilizations enrich one another. This …(1) is often the result of contacts of various kinds. For example, though Ancient Egyptians invented many things and achieved important scientific successes on their own, they did not keep these inventions and …(2) for themselves. In their contact with Ancient Egypt, Greek travellers and scientists like Thales borrowed both …(3) and practical ideas from the ancient Egyptians. Greek genius contributed to the …(4) of these ideas.

Task 3 — the answers, and the clue for each

انظر إلى الكلمة التي تسبق الفراغ: هل تنتظر اسما أم صفة؟

1. enrichment — after This, the sentence needs a noun: the enrichment of civilizations by one another.
2. achievements — a noun in the plural, like inventions: « these inventions and achievements » picks up « achieved important scientific successes ».
3. scientific — an adjective, before the noun ideas: scientific and practical ideas.
4. development — after the, a noun: the development of these ideas (improvement is also possible).

Do this alone, in writing. Find three other words that can take dis- or de-, and use each one in a sentence of your own. Then check each word: is it the opposite of the word without the prefix, and is it still in the same class?

ابحث وحدك عن ثلاث كلمات أخرى تقبل السابقة ⁦dis-⁩ أو ⁦de-⁩، واستعمل كلّا منها في جملة من إنشائك.

A model answer

I dislike noisy places. (like → dislike: two verbs) My little brother often disobeys our parents. (obey → disobey: two verbs) Before cooking the chicken, my mother defrosts it. (frost → defrost) Each time, the prefix reverses the meaning, and the word keeps its class.

In the exam, word formation is tested in two ways: a chart to complete (verb, noun, adjective, adverb), or opposites to form with a prefix. Before you write, ask which class the blank needs. Have three things ready: ① de- and dis- make opposites and keep the class of the word; ② -ment makes nouns from verbs (achievement, development); ③ -ic and -able end adjectives, and -ly turns them into adverbs (scientifically, hospitably). The frequent mistake is to lose a letter: dis + satisfaction = dissatisfaction, with two s.

What I keep — A prefix changes the meaning of a word, a suffix changes its class. De- and dis- are negative prefixes: they make opposites (disagree, depopulate, dissatisfaction). -ment makes nouns from verbs (achievement, development); -ic and -able end adjectives (scientific, hospitable); -ly turns an adjective into an adverb. To choose the right member of a family, look at the word before the blank.

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