Ads 468x60px

Pages

Prefixes - Gender - Noun-Parts Of Speech-ESL/Learn English Grammar

Next Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |



I. Gender shown by Prefixes

[Sidenote: _Very few of class I._]

28. Usually the gender words _he_ and _she_ are prefixed to neuter
words; as _he-goat_--_she-goat_, _cock sparrow_--_hen sparrow_,
_he-bear_--_she-bear_.

One feminine, _woman_, puts a prefix before the masculine _man_.
_Woman_ is a short way of writing _wifeman_.


II. Gender shown by Suffixes.


29. By far the largest number of gender words are those marked by
suffixes. In this particular the native endings have been largely
supplanted by foreign suffixes.

[Sidenote: _Native suffixes._]

The native suffixes to indicate the feminine were _-en_ and _-ster_.
These remain in _vixen_ and _spinster_, though both words have lost
their original meanings.

The word _vixen_ was once used as the feminine of _fox_ by the
Southern-English. For _fox_ they said _vox_; for _from_ they said
_vram_; and for the older word _fat_ they said _vat_, as in _wine
vat_. Hence _vixen_ is for _fyxen_, from the masculine _fox_.

_Spinster_ is a relic of a large class of words that existed in Old
and Middle English,[1] but have now lost their original force as
feminines. The old masculine answering to _spinster_ was _spinner_;
but _spinster_ has now no connection with it.





Next Lessons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

0 comments:


Hello Friends ! Please send your requests,comments,suggestions to improve this blog. Learn English Grammar & Usage; Are U Anxious To Know The Science & Tech News; Where Are You ? Know The Changes; Health:News N Tips
Word of the Day

miry discuss

Definition:(adjective) (Of soil) soft and watery.
Synonyms:boggy, marshy, mucky, muddy, quaggy, sloppy, sloughy, soggy, squashy, swampy, waterlogged
Usage:Right across the lower part of the bog lay a miry path.
Article of the Day

The Father of the Yellow School Bus

In 1939, American educator Frank Cyr organized the first national standards conference for school transportation. One of the most memorable accomplishments of the conference was the selection of a highly visible, standardized color for school buses that would allow them to be easily identified by other motorists. The hue became known as "National School Bus Chrome," and Cyr was hailed as the "Father of the Yellow School Bus." According to Cyr, what was the main priority of conference attendees? More... Discuss

This Day in History

Adams-Onís Treaty: Spain Sells Florida to the US (1819)

In the early 1800s, tensions between the US and Spain were increasing over border disputes in North America. With Spanish power in the New World declining, it was widely believed that Spain would lose land to the US. The Adams-Onís Treaty settled the dispute by attempting to draw clearer borders, roughly granting Florida and Louisiana to the US while giving everything west of Louisiana to Spain. The US did not pay Spain directly for the new land. Instead, it compensated Spain in what way? More... Discuss
Today's Birthday

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857)

Powell was a British army officer and founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, later the Girl Scouts. He was a hero of the South African War and author of Aids to Scouting, a military textbook. Upon learning that his book was being used to train boys in woodcraft, he wrote Scouting for Boys and established the Boy Scout movement in 1908. In 1910, with his sister and wife, he founded the Girl Guides. What disguise did Powell use while gathering information in war? More... Discuss

In the News

Quote of the Day
I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without children, and what an inhuman world without the aged.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
Discuss

Spelling Bee
difficulty level:
score: -
tr.v. To usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics
 
spell the word:
Match Up
Select word:










Match each word in the left column with its synonym on the right. When finished, click Answer to see the results. Good luck!