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Szymanek also underlines that some re- prefixed verbs have bases which are nouns. There are also some intransitive verbs playing a role as the bases.
Though, some other intransitive verbs cannot apply the use of the prefix re-. The New Oxford American Dictionary
provides the usage of this prefix. Modern English tends to use the prefix without hyphen. But in certain occasion,
hyphen can be added to avoid misinterpretation, e.g. recover and re-cover.
d. Suffix -en
Suffix –en can be added to form either adjective or verb Bauer, 2003. In
The New Oxford American Dictionary , the suffix
–en can form an adjective when it is attached to a noun e.g. wooden and it will construct a verb if following an
adjective e.g. soften. However, as written in the dictionary, there are still four
other entries of the suffix. Since this research deals with verb formation, the researcher would take the suffix
–en which is attached to an adjective, e.g. freshen
, whiten, and brighten. Szymanek 1989 says that the suffix
–en functions as causative. It is also stated that the adjectives to which the suffix
–ens are attached are non-Latinate adjectives. In term of productivity, the suffix
–en is not very productive due to the phonological constraint on its use. Szymanek firmly
states that based on many studies, “–en attachment is subject to a powerful phonological constraint: the adjectival base must be monosyllabic and it must end
in an obstruent preceded by an optional sonorant” p. 280. Therefore, he adds that
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“there are no –en derivatives from monosyllabic adjectives ending in vowels cf. dry
, free, new or in sonorants cf. clean, full, slim ” p. 281.
As stated by Szymanek 1989, the rules should be specified that a monosyllabic adjective ending in a nasal followed by an obstruent cannot add the
suffix –en to form a verb. There are also some cases that should be excluded from
the constraint. Lengthen and strengthen are the examples of the exceptions and they are categorised as irregular p. 281.
e. Suffix -ify
As explained on www.merriam-webster.com, the suffix is originally from Middle English -ifien, which is from Anglo-French -ifier, which is from Latin -
ificare . Further, the Latin -ificare is analysed as -i- plus -ficare, which becomes -
fy in English. As stated in The New Oxford American Dictionary, suffix
–ify is a verb-forming suffix. Szymanek 1989 categoris
es the suffix as “causative”. Unfortunately, there are not many English verbs of the form Xify easily
decomposed into the form of base plus the suffix –ify. He adds that there is an
alternative approach when the base ends in i. How to analyse it is by adding the suffix
–ify after dropping the stem-final i before p. 285.
f. Suffix –ise
