LING150/University of Oregon

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Morpheme Set 1

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Based on English Vocabulary Elements, Keith Denning and William Leben, Oxford University Press 1995
A = 'Adjective Suffix'; N = 'Noun Suffix'; V = 'Verb Suffix'

a- / an-

'not, without'

ab- / abs-

'from, away'

-able / -ible

A ['able to']

-al

A

anthrop

'human' (as opposed to 'animal')

-ary / -ory

A, N

-ate

N, A, V

bio

'life'

can, cyn

'dog'

chrom

'color'

chron

'time'

circum-

'around'

con- / co-

'together, with'

contra- / counter-

'against, facing'

corp / corpor

'body, flesh'

cosm

'universe, order' ('ornament')

de-

'in reverse, away, down'

duc

'lead, draw, pull'

dys-

'bad' (as in 'difficult' or 'impaired')

ecto-

'outside'

-ence / -ance

N

endo-

'inside'

-ent / -ant

A, N

extra-

'outside'

gam

'marriage, sexual union'
('marriage' for people; 'sexual union' for plants, cells, etc)

greg

'gather'

hom

'earthling, human'

iatr

'to treat (a disease), heal'

-ic

A, N

idio

'individual, own'

infra-

'below, after'

inter-

'between, among'

intra-

'within'

-ion

N

-ive

A, N

-ize

V

leg

'law, charge'

log

'study, speak'

macro-

'long, large'

-ment

N

micro-

'small'

mis

'hate'

morph

'shape, form'

mot

'move'

nat

'source, birth, tribe'

nom

'law, system'
(also 'a system of laws about a body of knowledge')

nov

'new'

omni-

'all'

pan- / pant-

'all, overall'

par

'beget, produce' ('to give birth')

path

'feel, illness'

pel

'push'

per-

'through, bad'

peri-

'around, close'

petr

'rock'

phil

'love' ("tendency')

phon

'(speech) sound'

post-

'after, behind'

pot

'be able, powerful'

pre- / pro-

'before, forward, for'
(pre- indicates 'before' in time or space;
pro- has sense of 'forward, to the front')

pseud

'false'

psych

'mind, spirit'

pyr

'fire, fever'

-ous

A

re- / red-

'again, back'

sci

'know, discern'

se- / sed-

'apart'

sec / seg

'cut, split'

somn

'sleep'

supra-

'above, greater'

theo

'god'

-tic

A

top

'place' ('a location')

ven

'come, bring'

ver

'true'

xen

'foreign'

-y

N


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