Words within words: Derivation

Many Greek words relate to other words through derivation.

Derivational elements can be either suffixes or prefixes. The word κίνη-ση is built with the suffix -ση while μετακινώ has been formed with the prefix μετα-.

Identify the parts that form the following words

ξεντύνομαι : ξε + ντύνομαι

παρατρώω: παρά + τρώω

άτυχος: α+ τύχη

ξαναγράφω: ξανά+ γράφω

υπογράφω: υπό+ γράφω

προ+ βλέπω: προ+βλέπω

Prefixes

Many derived verbs contain prefixes.

δια-γράφω, υπο-γράφω, κατα-γράφω

Nouns are also formed through prefixation

άχρωμος, ανόμοιος, αντιπρόεδρος, αντηλιακό

The meaning of some prefixes is easy to define. For example αρχι- denotes “first, main”, ημι- “half”, ευ- “well” . The meaning of prefixes forming verbs is less easy to define.

αρχιεργάτης, ημισφαίριο, αμφιθέατρο δύστυχος, ευτυχής

You can also read: Cases and syntactic functions

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