ISSN: 2302-920X

Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud

Vol 16.1 Juli 2016: 100 - 107

Derivational Suffix In English With Special Reference To Academic Discourse On Corpus Of Contemporary American English (Coca)

I Kadek Nurcahyadi Indrapranata1*, I Made Winaya2, Putu Ayu Asty Senja Pratiwi3

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123English Department Faculty Of Arts, Udayana University

1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]]

3[[email protected]]

*

Corresponding Author

Abstrak

Imbuhan merupakan salah satu komponen yang dapat digunakan untuk membentuk kata baru dalam Bahasa inggris. Imbuhan yang digunakan dalam hal ini adalah imbuhan derivatif. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bentuk, fungsi dan makna dari imbuhan derivatif yang ditemukan di “Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)” khususnya dalam kategori wacana akademis. Bentuk, fungsi dan makna dari imbuhan derivatif yang ditemukan diklasifikasin berdasarkan teori yang dikemukakan oleh Plag (2002) dalam bukunya yang berjudul “Word-Formation in English.” Hasil dari penilitian ini menunjukan bahwa ada empat bentuk imbuhan derivatif, yaitu “nominal suffix,” “verbal suffix,” “adjectival suffix” dan “adverbial suffix.” Fungsi dari imbuhan tersebut adalah “class-changing” atau “classmaintaining.” “Connected with,” “area,” “status” dan “quality” adalah beberapa makna dari imbuhan derivatif tersebut.

  • 1.    Background of the Study

Considering that there is no limit to the number of word that can be produced in a language, it is essential to study about derivational suffix in English. When speakers or writers do not know words that can convey what they mean, they can easily coin new words by using morphological process, especially by adding derivational suffixes into the base word. Hence, it is important to study about the forms, functions and meanings of the derivational suffixes in English.

  • 2.    Problems of the Study

The problems that the writer would like to discuss in this study are:

  • a)    What forms of derivational suffixes are used in academic discourse on COCA?

  • b)    What functions and meanings of derivational suffixes are used in academic discourse on COCA?

  • 3.    Aims of the Study

The aims of this study are:

  • a)    To identify the forms of derivational suffixes used in academic discourse on COCA.

  • b)    To explain the functions and meanings of derivational suffixes used in academic discourse on COCA.

  • 4.    Research Method

The data source of this study were taken from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Words in academic discourses that is mostly used were the concentration of this study. One thousand mostly used words in academic discourses were the data of this study.

The study used documentation method in collecting the data. The method was done by accessing the website of COCA. Then, words were filtered based on mostly used words in academic discourses. Finally, founded words with derivational suffix were noted.

Qualitative method was used in analyzing the data in this study. Some steps were done in analyzing the data. First, the derivational suffixes were analyzed to identify their form by applying the theory of Morphology proposed by Plag (2002). Second, examples of words with derivational suffix were put into context taken from its usage in academic discourse on Corpus of Contemporary American English. Third, functions and meanings of the derivational suffixes were analyzed by using Morphology theory proposed by Plag (2002). Finally, the analysis of this study was described descriptively.

  • 5.     Result and Discussion

    • 5.1    Forms of Derivational Suffix

To analyze forms of derivational suffix found in academic discourse on Corpus of Contemporary American English, theory proposed by Plag (2002) was used. Plag states that there are four forms of derivational suffix, namely nominal suffix, verbal suffix, adjectival suffix and adverbial suffix (Plag, 2002: 109).

  • 5.1.1    Nominal Suffix

Nominal suffix is suffix that changes part of speech of the base into noun or maintains the part of speech of the base which is already noun. According to Plag (2002), there are twenty two forms of nominal suffix, those are -age, -al, -ance, -ant,-cy, -dom, -ee, -eer, -er, -(e)ry, -ess, -ful, -hood, -an, -ing, -ion, -ism, -ist, -ity, -ment, -ness, and -ship. However, not all forms of derivational suffixes were found in the data source. There were six nominal suffixes that were not found in the data source, namely suffix -dom, -eer, -(e)ry, -ess, -ful, and -ist. Examples of words with nominal suffix attached to it found in the data source were: Marriage, Approval, Performance, Participant, Efficiency, Committee, Driver, Childhood, American, Teaching, Instruction, Terrorism, Activity, Development, Awareness and Citizenship.

  • 5.1.2    Verbal Suffix

Verbal suffix is suffix that changes word class of the base into verb. There are four verbal suffixes according to Plag (2002), those are –ate, –en, –ify and –ize. All those verbal suffixes were found in the data source. Examples of words with verbal suffix attached to it found in the data source were: Formulate, Activate, Strengthen, Weaken, Classify, Clarify, Realize and Criticize.

  • 5.1.3    Adjectival Suffix

Adjectival suffix is suffix that changes part of speech of the base into adjective or maintains the part of speech of the base which is already adjective. Based on Plag (2002), there are thirteen forms of adjectival suffix, those are -able, -al, -ary, -ed, -esque, -ful, -ic, -ing, -ish, -less, -ive, -ly, -ous. Nevertheless, not all forms of this derivational suffixes were found in the data source. There were two adjectival suffixes that were not found in the data source, namely suffix -eque and -ish. Examples of words

with adjectival suffix attached to it found in the data source were: Acceptable, Biological, Disciplinary, Skilled, Beautiful, Strategic, Supporting, Attractive, Homeless, Friendly and Dangerous.

  • 5.1.4    Adverbial Suffix

Adverbial suffix is suffix that changes word class of the base into adverb. There are two adverbial suffixes, based on Plag (2002), namely –ly and –wise. Both these adverbial suffixes were found in the data source. Examples of words with adverbial suffix attached to it found in the data source were: Effectively, Publicly, Pairwise and Likewise.

  • 5.2    Functions and Meanings of Derivational Suffix

Plag (2002:22) states that derivational suffix often changes part of speech of the base. However, it may also do not change word class of the base. Every suffixes have their own meaning/meanings. The meaning of the suffix is often extended so that it may have more than one meaning.

  • 5.2.1    Class-Maintaining Suffix

  • a)    Noun from Noun

There are some suffixes that form noun from noun, namely /-age/, /-cy/, /-dom/, /-ee/, /-eer/, /-er/, /-(e)ry/, /-ess/, /-hood/, /-ship/, /-ful/, /-an/, /-ing/, /-ist/, and /-ism/. Five noun class maintaining suffixes were found in the data source, those were /-er/,/-hood/, /-ship/, /-an/, and /-ism/.

  • (5-1) He would require a mastery of more American history as one qualification for citizenship.

The word citizenship is formed from word citizen which is a noun plus suffix –an. This suffix does not change the word class of the base. The meaning of this suffix in word citizenship is status.

  • b)    Adjective from Adjective

There is only one suffix that forms adjective from adjective. That suffix is /-ish/ which has meaning ‘somewhat’. In mostly used word on academic discourse, there is no any single word listed in the data source that contains this suffix.

  • 5.2.2    Class-Changing Suffix

  • a)    Noun from Verb

There are ten suffixes that can be used to form noun from verb. Those suffixes are /-age/, /-al/, /-ance/, /-ant/, /-ee/, /-er/, /-(e)ry/, /-ing/, /-ment/ and /-ion/. Only word with suffix /-(e)ry/ that was not found in the data source.

  • (5-2) Using action research, the teacher should be able to clearly answer these questions.

The word teacher is formed from word teach which is a verb plus suffix –er. This suffix does change the word class of the base into noun. The meaning of this suffix in word teacher is a person that X (with X as the base word).

  • b)    Noun from Adjective

/-ness/ and /-ity/ are suffixes used to form noun from adjective. These suffixes have two meanings, those are ‘state’ and ‘quality’. Both of these suffixes were found in the data source.

  • (5-3) For youth with significant disabilities, it may take more time and creativity to gather preferences and ideas.

The word creativity is formed from word creative which is an adjective plus suffix –ity. This suffix does change the word class of the base into noun. The meaning of this suffix is quality.

  • c)    Verb from Other Word Class

Four suffixes that can be used to form verb from other word class are -ate, -en, -ify and -ize. The base word of these suffixes are noun and adjective All words containing these suffixes were found in the data source.

  • (5-4) These tests activate several cognitive processes simultaneously and do not make inferences about the specific processes involved.

The word activate is formed from word active which is an adjective plus suffix –ate. This suffix changes the word class of the base into verb. The meaning of this suffix is make X (with X as the base word).

  • (5-5) These principles summarize large volumes of research and can be used by practitioners in concert with the other.

The word summarize is formed from word summary which is a noun plus suffix –ize. This suffix changes the word class of the base into verb. The meaning of this suffix is make into X (with X as the base word).

  • d)    Adjective from Noun

There are some suffixes used to change noun into adjective. Those suffixes are -able, -al, -ary, -ed, -esque, -ful, -ic, -less, -ly, -ish, and -ous. These suffixes were found attached to some noun-base word in the data source. There were only suffix –able and -ish which were not found in the data source.

(5-6) Climate change poses risks to food security via reductions in agricultural and fishery yields.

The word agricultural is formed from word agriculture which is a noun plus suffix –al. This suffix changes the word class of the base into adjective. The meaning of this suffix is connected with X (with X as the base word).

  • e)    Adjective from Verb

There are three suffixes used to change verb into adjective. –ing, –ive and –able are those suffixes. These suffixes were found attached to some verb-base words in the data source. All these suffixes were found in the data source.

(5-7) This study is notable in that it was the first systematic attempt to examine the effectiveness of communication strategies.

The word notable is formed from word note which is a noun plus suffix –able. This suffix changes the word class of the base into adjective. The meaning of this suffix is worthy to be X-ed (with X as the base word).

  • f)    Adverb from Other Word Class

There are two suffixes used to make adverb from other word class. Those suffixes are –ly and –wise. These suffixes were attached to noun or adjective to form adverb. Both these suffixes were found in the data source.

(5-8) It is essential that patients are clearly informed of the health benefits of insulin and the health costs of delay.

The word clearly is formed from word clear which is an adjective plus suffix –ly. This suffix changes the word class of the base into adverb. The meaning of this suffix is in a/an X manner (with X as the base word).

(5-9) Missing values were excluded pairwise.

The word pairwise is formed from word pair which is a noun plus suffix –wise. This suffix changes the word class of the base into adverb. The meaning of this suffix is in the manner of X (with X as the base word).

  • 6.    Conclusion

It can be concluded that there are four forms of suffixes found in the data source, namely nominal suffix, verbal suffix, adjectival suffix and adverbial suffix. Functions of the suffixes found in the data source are either class-maintaining or class-changing.

Class-maintaining suffixes can be divided into two: noun from noun and adjective from adjective. While, class-changing suffixes can be divided into: noun from adjective, noun from verb, verb from other word class, adjective from noun, adjective from verb and adverb from other word class. Derivational suffixes found in the data source have various meanings, such as: quality, connected with X, in a/an X manner, make X, etc.

  • 7.     Bibliography

Bauer, L. (1983). English Word Formation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Davies, M. (2008). Corpus of Contemporary American English [Internet]. Brigham Young University, Provo. Available from: http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/ [Accessed on 6th of June 2015].

Hornby, A. S. (2010). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Seventh Ed). Oxford University Press Ltd, Oxford.

Katamba, F and Stonham, J. (1993). Morphology. Palgrave, London.

Plag, I. (2002). Word-Formation in English. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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