Morphological Analysis of Affixes in Dictionary of Medical Terms

Abstract

This study investigates the role of affixation in the formation of English medical vocabulary, using data from the Dictionary of Medical Terms by Peter Collin (2004). Employing a qualitative descriptive method, the analysis draws on Katamba and Stonham’s (2006) classification of affixation—prefixation, suffixation, infixation, and multiple affixation—and McCarthy’s (2018) framework of class-changing and class-maintaining processes. The findings reveal that only prefixation, suffixation, and multiple affixation appear productively, with 18 cases of prefixation, 23 of suffixation, and 20 of multiple affixation, while infixation was not found. Common prefixes include dis-, re-, and un-, and frequent suffixes include -ed, -ly, and -er. In total, 280 derived words were identified. Based on process, class-changing derivation dominates, including: Nouns derived from verbs (135), Adjectives derived from verbs (35), Adjectives derived from nouns (30), Nouns derived from adjectives (17), Adverbs derived from adjectives (8), Nouns derived from nouns (6), Verbs derived from nouns (2), Verbs derived from adjectives (4), Verbs derived from verbs (2), and Adjectives derived from adjectives (2). These findings highlight the central role of affixation in shaping medical vocabulary, reflecting its morphological complexity and precision.