  The root of a word is the shortest form in which it appears. Thus tal, meaning number, speech, is the root of tale, a number counted; tale, a story; tell, narrate; toll, something counted out; talk, discourse. The root of a word may undergo modification and become a stem. Thus love is the stem of the root lov-, and to this stem are added such inflections as -est, -s, -d, as loves, lovest, loved. Again, to the root of a word may be added a prefix or suffix, thereby forming a new word called a derivative. If to the root dar-, dear, the prefix en- be added, we get endear, and the same root with the suffix -ling gives darling. As a rule, English prefixes and suffixes are added only to English roots. But there are many exceptions. Word-making is often effected by compounding. A compound word is one made by uniting two words together, as sea-lion. Compound Nouns are formed in various ways:—(a) by uniting a noun with a noun: bridal = bride ale, daisy = day's eye, Gospel = God's spell or story; (b) noun with adjective: redbird, midnight, quicksilver, twilight = two lights; (c) noun with verb: bakehouse, godsend, grindstone, spendthrift; (d) noun with adverb: bystander, offshoot, uplift; (e) noun with preposition: afterthought, byword, onset; (f) verb with adverb: drawback, farewell, income, welcome. Compound Adjectives are numerous:—(a) Noun with adjective: barefoot, lily-white, purse-proud, sea-green, sky-blue; (b) noun with participle: heart-rending, sea-faring, sea-girt, way-laid, worm-eaten; (c) adverb with participle: bygone, everlasting, far-reaching, high-strung, ill-pleased, well-bred; (d) noun with noun: iron-side, lion-heart; (e) nouns with nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, + ed: club-footed, gray-headed, tender-hearted, under-handed. Compound Verbs are few:—(a) Verb with noun: backbite, browbeat, henpeck, hoodwink, kiln-dry; (b) verb with adjectives: dumbfound, fulfil, whitewash; (c) verb with adverb: don = do on, doff = do off, outdo. Compound Adverbs are made by uniting (a) noun with noun: endways, sideways; (b) noun with adjective: always, breast-high, meanwhile, sometimes; (c) preposition with noun: outside, overboard; (d) adverb with preposition: hereafter, therein, whereupon. |
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