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A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix un- is added to the word happy, it creates the word unhappy. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.
Prefixes, like other affixes, can be either inflectional, creating a new form of the word with the same basic meaning and same lexical category (but playing a different role in the sentence), or derivational, creating a new word with a new semantic meaning and sometimes also a different lexical category. Prefixes, like all other affixes, are usually bound morphemes.
In English, there are no inflectional prefixes; English uses suffixes instead for that purpose.
The word prefix is itself made up of the stem fix (meaning “attach”, in this case), and the prefix pre- (meaning “before”), both of which are derived from Latin roots.
As a part of the formation of nouns, prefixes are less common in Russian than suffixes, but alter the meaning of a word.
в- and ложение ‘position’ becomes вложение ‘investment’
пре and образование ‘formation (verb)’ becomes преобразование ‘transformation'
In German, derivatives formed with prefixes may be classified in two categories: those used with substantives and adjectives, and those used with verbs. For derivative substantives and adjectives, only two prefixes are still in use as of 1970: un-, which expresses negation (as in Ungesund from Gesund), and ur-, which means “original, primitive” in substantives, and has an emphatic function in adjectives. ge- expresses union or togetherness.
On the other hand, verbal prefixes are still much in use: be-, er-, ent-, ge-, ver-, zer-, and miß- (see also Separable verb). be- expresses strengthening or generalization. ent- expresses negation. ge- indicates the completion of an action, and that’s why its most common use has become the forming of the past participle of verbs; ver- has an emphatic function, or it is used to turn a substantive or an adjective into a verb. In some cases, the prefix particle ent- (negation) can be considered the opposite of particle be-, while er- can be considered the opposite of ver-.
The prefix er- usually indicates the successful completion of an action, and sometimes the conclusion means death. With fewer verbs, it indicates the beginning of and action. The prefix er- is also used to form verbs from adjectives (e.g. erkalten is equivalent to kalt werden which means to get cold)
The most commonly used prefix in Japanese, お o-, is used as part of the honorific system of speech. It is a marker for politeness, showing respect for the person or thing it is affixed to.
In the Bantu languages of Africa, which are agglutinating, the noun class is conveyed through prefixes, which is declined and agrees with all of its arguments accordingly.