Second edition

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coin scientific or technical terms. This is the case, for instance, with the suffix -ance which has been used to form some terms in Electrical Engineering, e.g. capacitance, impedance, reactance. The same is true of the suffix -ity which has been used to form terms in physics and chemistry such as alkalinity, luminosity, emissivity and some others.-

§ 14. Origin of Derivational Affixes

While examining the stock of derivational affixes in Modern English from the point of view of their origin distinction should first of all be made between native and foreign affixes, e.g. the suffixes -ness, -ish, -dom and the prefixes be-, mis-, un- are of native origin, whereas such suffixes as -ation, -ment, -able and prefixes like dis-, ex-, re- are of foreign origin.
Many of the suffices and prefixes of native origin were originally independent words. In the course of time they have gradually lost their independence and turned into derivational affixes. For instance, such noun-suffixes as -dom, -hood, -ship may be traced back to words: -dom represents the Old English noun dom which meant ‘judgement’; ’sentence’. The suffix -hood goes back to the OE, noun had, which meant ’state’, ‘condition’; the adjective suffix -ly (e.g. manly, friendly) is also traced back to the OE. noun līc — ‘body’, ’shape’. Some suffixes are known to have originated as a result of secretion. An instance of the case is the suffix -ling occurring in words like duckling, yearling, hireling, etc. The suffix is simply the extended form of the Old English suffix -ing and has sprung from words in which -ing was tacked on to a stem ending in [1] as lỹtling. Many suffixes, however, have always been known as derivational affixes within the history of the English language, for instance -ish, -less-, -ness, etc.
The same is true of prefixes: some have developed out of independent words, e.g. out-, under-, over-, ethers have always functioned as derivational affixes, e.g. mis-, un-.
In the course of its historical development the English language has adopted a great many suffixes and prefixes from foreign languages. This process does not consist in borrowing derivational affixes as such. It is words that the language borrows from a foreign language and the borrowed words bring with them their derivatives formed after word-building patterns of this language. When such pairs of words as derive and derivation, esteem and estimation, laud and laudation found their way into the English vocabulary, it was natural that the suffix -ation should be recognised by English speakers as an allowable means of forming nouns of action out of verbs. In this way a great many suffixes and prefixes of foreign origin have become an integral part of the system of word-formation in English. Among borrowed derivational affixes we find both suffixes, e.g. -able, -ible, -al, -age, -ance, -ist, -ism, -ess, etc., and prefixes, e.g. dis-, en[em]-, inter-, re-, non- and many others.
It is to be marked that quite a number of borrowed derivational affixes are of international currency. For instance, the suffix -ist of Greek origin is used in many European languages to form a noun denoting ‘one who adheres to a given doctrine or system, a political party, an ideology’ or ‘one, who makes a practice of a given action’ (cf. socialist, communist,