Questions tagged [affixes]
13 questions
11
votes
1 answer
Prefixes in verbs that appear redundant or meaningless: do they really mean anything?
appellere
from ad- "to" + pellere "to beat, drive" (see pulse (n.1))
resolvere
"to loosen, loose, unyoke, undo; explain; relax; set free; make void, dispel,"
from re-, perhaps intensive, or "back" + solvere "loosen" (see solve)
In verbs…
user37
8
votes
1 answer
Quid significat "-amen"?
Quid suffixum -amen significat, ut foramen, putamen, calceamen, regimen, æquamen, vocamen, etc.?
-amen suffixo in dictionariis interretialibus non invenio, neque perspicuam significationem communem in verbis eo factis. Foramen est id quod est factum…
Ben Kovitz
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8
votes
1 answer
What governed or influenced or selected which prefix is used to intensify a verb?
In addition to their (usual) meanings as prepositions, many common prefixes ad-, com-, de-, ex-, re-, etc... serve as intensive prefixes; but for a given verb, what governed or influenced or selected the prefix used? Was a prefix chosen…
user37
7
votes
1 answer
Could 'com-' function as a causative prefix?
Preface: Etymonline does not answer this question. I (but please tell me if I should not) quote the definitions for the English verbs (Loan words from Latin then Old French) because they did not shift semantically and so equal the Latin…
user37
4
votes
1 answer
Why were prefixes repeated as postverbal prepositions?
French: s'abstenir de Spanish: abstenerse de English: abstain [from] (v.)
late 14c., "to withhold oneself,"
from Old French abstenir (14c.), earlier astenir (13c.) "hold (oneself) back, refrain, abstain (from), practice abstinence,"
…
user37