成绩Root and Affixation of LexicologyAbstract: It’s important and permanent to master the vocabulary in the English learning. Everyone who has ever set foot on English realizes that it’s somewhat incredible for us to reciting numerous and difficult words. Nevertheless, there are some skills we should acquire to make word-recitation easier and more effective. This paper mainly discusses the using of vocabulary root and affix. Only by having a good knowledge of the roots and affixes, can we prosper our English vocabulary and further our English study.Key words: root; affixation; detailed analysis; difficult words1Introduction: Blindly reciting numerous and difficult words is a total waste of time and energy. Especially, situation becomes worse for the college students with little words storage and non-interest. However, most of the English words are comprised with roots and affixes, which are limited, stable and short. If we acquire them, it will be much simpler and rapider for us to recognize the unfamiliar and difficult words through the analysis on roots and affixes. If we can master and know how to use them properly, it will be a big step for the further study of this foreign language. A road of a thousand miles begins with each single step, so does the English words. Now we are going to learn the root and affixation respectively.Definition is the basic form of a word which cannot be further analyzed without total loss of identity and it carries the main component of meaning in a word. By learning the roots, we will find it not complicated for us to understand the long and difficult words which we often encounter in the tough reading test. However long and tough the word is, we can divide it into several parts, the fundamental part is the root and then we can understand what it means and fluently blurt it out without repeating it.Here are some detail analyses of the examples:Internationalist: nation is the root which means country or state, inter- is prefix meaning between or interactive, -al is the suffix and the –ist is the suffix meaning the person. So you will quite simply find its meaning. Invigorate: the root is vigor similar to power and energy, in- means making sth have the function of verb, here is make sth vigor, -ate is the verb suffix. So invigorate is to make sth vigorous.Antecedent: -ced- is the root referring to motion or going forward, ante- is before, and –ent means somebody. So antecedent is somebody who moves ahead of us, the same as forefather or ancestor.Protract: -tract is the root like pulling sth or extending sth make it wider or longer, pro- is the prefix meaning “ahead”. After analyzing this word, we know that “protract” is similar to prolong meaning make sth longer or longer to live. A lot of words contain this root, such as detract, extract, subtract, attract, tractable, intractable, etc.Arbitrariness: arbitrary is the root indicating to randomness or out of order, -ness is the noun suffix.The profound meaning of learning roots is that you will find it much easy to memorize words because there are so many word share the same root. No matter how long and hoe difficult the word is, the basic meaning of the word is stable and unchangeable. If we recite words according theag=do,act: agent agency agenda aggrandizeagri,agro,agrfield: agriculture agricorporation agrimotor agrinomy cred=believe,trust: credible credibility incredible credulous credit creditable discredit accredit creditor creed credentialsdoc=teach: doctor doctoral doctorate doctrine doctrinal doctrinaire documentflat=blow: Inflate inflation inflationary inflatable inflator deflate deflation deflationary hospit=guest: hospital hospitalize hospitality inhospitable inhospitalityinsul=island: peninsula peninsular insular insularism insularity insulation insulatorit=go: exit initial initiate initiation initiative transit transitor transition vid,vis=see: visible visual visage vision visionary visor vista visa visit advise advice revise3 Affixation:Affixes are linguistic fragments that are attached to words or word elements to modify meaning or change function. According to the distribution of them in formation, affixes can be divided into prefixation and suffixation.Prefixation is the formation of new word by adding prefixes to bases. Prefixes do not generally change the word-class of the base but only modify its meaning. Root is included in the base.Suffixation is the formation of new words by adding suffixes to the base. Suffixes have only a small semantic role, their primary function being to Here are some detail analyses of the prefixation and suffixation respectively:non- : meaning not, a productive affix expressing the idea that a person or thing does not have qualities and characters referred to, as innon-classical, non-smoker, non-violence, non-president, non-virtue,and so on.de- : meaning reversing the action or depriving of, a productive affix, as in decentralize, demystify, dehumanize, deforestation; fixed to nouns to form verbs, a characters absent from most prefix as in device, defeather, debug.mal- : meaning badly or bad, added to verbs, participles, adjectives, ang abstract nouns, e.g. maltreat, malformed, malnourished, malodorous, malpractice, and maladministration.post- : meaning after, productive with nouns and adjectives, e.g.post-election, post-independence, post-structuralism, post-settlement, post-arrival.They are prefixes, let’s move to suffixes.-ship: meaning occupation and position, e.g. ambassadorship, governorship, authorship; also meaning skill and ability as in craftsmanship, sportsmanship; also meaning relation, e.g. acquaintanceship, partnership, friendship.-ant: meaning occupations and participation, e.g. assistant, contestant, informant, applicant; also referring to an object or substance, e.g. coolant, pollutant, decongestant.-ation, -ition, -tion, -sion, -ion: meaning process of or state of or product of, e.g. realization, imagination, addition, protection, commission, decision, operation, motivation.-able, -ible Adjective:worth, abilitysolvable, incredible-ate Verb: cause tobegraduate, ameliorate, amputate, colligatebene- good, well,gentlebenefactor, beneficial, benevolent,benediction, beneficiary, benefit-ess female actress, goddess, poetesshetero- other, different heterodox, heterogeneous, heterosexual, heterodynehyper- over, above hyperactive, hypertensive, hyperbolic, hypersensitive, hyperventilate, hyperkineticinfra- beneath infrared, infrastructuremega- great, million megaphone, megaton, megaflop, megalomaniac, megabyte, megalopolismicro- small, millionth microscope, microfilm, microcard, microwave, micrometer, microvoltsemi- half, partial semifinal, semiconscious, semiannual, semimonthly, semicircletri- three tripod, triangle, trinity, trilateral-y marked by,havinghungry, angry, smeary, tearybut they can be divided into several parts through the analysis of the rootsand affixation, which are stable and short. After you are quite familiarwith them, it will be hyper-effective for you to memorize the words,which can save you a lot of energy and time, and can do a greatcontribution into your English study. Since then, you will more like thisforeign language.5 Some long and difficult words for you to analyzeTelecommunication /e.g. Telecommunications developments enable thesending of messages via television, radio, and very shortly, electronicmail to bombard people with multitudes of messages.Transcendentalist /e.g. Ralph Waldo Emerson and other transcendentalistphilosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnaturalrestraints on children.Differentiation /e.g. A rather similar process of differentiation has led toprofessional geologists coming together nationally within one or twospecific societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain inlocal societies or to come together nationally in a different way.Hydroelectric /e.g. Hydroelectric power and flood control and irrigationare possible without building monster dams.Dispassionate /e.g. Social science is that branch of intellectual enquirywhich seeks to study humans and their endeavors in the same reasoned,orderly, systematic, and dispassionate manner that natural scientists usefor the study of natural phenomena.Conclusion:Above is what I want to mainly express in this paper,however, there are still much deserving t o be learnt in this field. It’sundeniable that words play an important role in our foreign languageessential for us to learn word formation, especially for the students of English major. It’s the most useful and practical way for us to broaden English vocabulary.Reference:[1] 张维友. 英语词汇学教程[M]. 华中师范大学出版社2004.[2] 蒋争. 英语词汇的奥秘[M]. 中国国际广播出版社1999.[3] 林承章. 英语词汇引论[M]. 武汉大学出版社1997.。