9
votes
Is suffix -red still active in word formation?
The Etymonline link in your question says that suffix -red " is analogous to -hood, which has replaced it in brotherhood, neighborhood, etc.; it survives in about 25 words."
Wiktionary's ...
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6
votes
Is suffix -red still active in word formation?
Despite what Etymonline says, it is "no longer productive" (per Wiktionary). That page also provides several words with the -red suffix, of which only "hundred" is common nowadays ...
- 7,930
6
votes
Accepted
What is a word for "to create a universe"? Can 'universalize' be used?
Universalize doesn't have the sense 'to create a universe' as the productive suffix -ize (-ise) modifies the word universal, not universe.
The correct formation would be universize (universe + -ize) ...
- 65.5k
4
votes
What is a word for "to create a universe"? Can 'universalize' be used?
I don't beleive so. The suffix -ize/-ise (acorrding to https://www.thoughtco.com/common-suffixes-in-english-1692725 and a few other sources) means to become, and the definition of the word universal ...
3
votes
"miss assessed" “miss-assessed” or “misassessed”?
This is a combination of the verb assess and the prefix mis-, which when attached to verbs expresses the sense of "badly" (Collins).
The prefix is mis-, not miss, so it's incorrect to use two S's ...
- 84.5k
2
votes
Could "mismodify" be a word?
A Google Books search yields two matches for mismodify. The earlier of these is from Mervyn Falk, A Cleft Palate Team Addresses the Speech Clinician (1971) [combined snippets]:
Keep in mind that we ...
- 169k
2
votes
Accepted
What is the relational antonym for the word mentioner?
This question is predicated upon a false assumption. It wrongly asserts that mentionee is not a word, but this is simply not true.
This is because deriving agent and patient nouns from transitive ...
- 137k
2
votes
Accepted
Is "place name + er" ("New Yorker") a productive morpheme?
Sure. It is perfectly productive, with the fine print indicated in John Lawler's comment, i.e., limited applicability: not every place name will sit happily with the -er suffix. Many will, however; ...
- 6,288
1
vote
What is a word for "to create a universe"? Can 'universalize' be used?
As others have said, "universalize" means to make something more general or more broadly applicable. It doesn't have anything to do with creating a universe.
If you're looking for a word ...
- 338
1
vote
Does reduplication always place the front/close vowel before the back/open vowel?
Since some time has passed without an answer, I thought I'd try with a partial one.
I don't know of any examples of ablaut reduplications in English where the first vowel is the backer/opener one.
...
- 84.5k
1
vote
Could "mismodify" be a word?
Yes, mismodified means exactly what you imagine it to mean. That’s how English affixes like this work: you combine a common prefix and a common base word to create a word that everyone who knows those ...
- 137k
1
vote
When can/can't you add "-less" at the end of a word?
-less can be added to nouns and more rarely to some verbs to form adjectives. It is never added to an adjective to form another part of speech.
When it means:
without; lacking (Dict.com)
it is ...
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