改变词根词性的英语动词前缀

关于缀合法构词,一些词汇学方面的书籍探讨了后缀对词根的词性的影响,而对前缀在这方面的影响研究不详。夸克在其语法专著《现代英语语法》中提到了三个改变词根词性的前缀,汪榕培在《实用英语词汇学》中指出“英语中只有三个前缀决定词性”。作者查阅了大量文献,特别是“Webster' s Third New International Dictionary”,结果表明有一些前缀加在名词或形容词前,构成动词,从而改变了词根的词性。这些动词前缀在数量、构词能力方面并不逊色于动词后缀。

Verb Prefixes That Alter the Word Class of the Base

On affixation of English words, it is generally acknowledged that suffixes frequently alter the word class of the base, and that prefixes generally don't. Randolph Quirk mentioned three "conversion prefixes" in his book "A Grammer of Contemporary English". After consulting many references, especially "Webster's Third New International Dictionary", the author finds more conversion prefixes to change nouns or adjectives into verbs. These verb prefixes are comparable to verb suffixes not only in number but also in productivity.