Лексикология английского языка

Some productive affixes

Noun-forming suffixes	-er (trainer, leader), -ing (dying, building), -ness (coldness, fairness), -ism (materialism), -ist (impressionist)
Adjective-forming suffixes	-y (angry, merry), -ish (oldish, lookish), -ed (learned), -able (capable)
Adverb-forming suffixes	-ly (coldly, simply)
Verb-forming suffixes	-ize/-ise (realize)
Prefixes	un- (unhappy), re- (reconstruct), dis- (disappoint)

Some non-productive affixes

Noun-forming suffixes	-th, -hood
Adjective-forming suffixes	-ly, -some, -en, -ous
Verb-forming suffix	-en

3. 
   Semantics of affixes
   

The morpheme, and therefore affix, which is a type of morpheme, is generally defined as the smallest indivisible component of the word possessing a meaning of its own. Meanings of affixes are specific and considerably differ from those of root morphemes. Affixes have widely generalized meanings and refer the concept conveyed by the whole word to a certain category, which is vast and all-embracing. So, the noun-forming suffix –er could be roughly defined as designating persons from the object of their occupation or labour (painter – the one who paints) or from their place of origin or abode (southerner – the one living in the South). The adjective-forming suffix –ful has the meaning of “full of”, “characterized by” (beautiful, careful) whereas –ish may often apply insufficiency of quality (greenish – green but not quite; youngish (моложавый) – not quite young but looking it).

The semantic distinctions of words produced from the same root by means of different affixes are also of considerable interest for language studies. Compare: womanly (женственный) – womanish (женоподобный), flowery (цветистый) – flowering (цветущий) – flowered (украшенный цветочными узорами), reddened (окрашенный в красный цвет) – reddish (красноватый).

The semantic difference between the members of these groups is very obvious: the meanings of the suffixes are so distinct that they colour the whole words.

Womanly is used in a complimentary manner about girls and women, whereas womanish is used to indicate an effeminate man and certainly implies criticism.

Flowery is applied to speech or a style, flowering is the same as blossoming (e.g. flowering bushes or shrubs).

Reddened imply the result of an action or process, as in the eyes reddened with weeping, whereas reddish point to insufficiency of quality: reddish is not exactly red, but tinged with red.

4. 
   Conversion
   

Conversion consists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech: the morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged. The new word has a meaning which differs from that of the original one though it can more or less be easily associated with it. It has also a new paradigm peculiar to its new category as a part of speech.