The History of English Podcast Episode 104: Prefix Preferences
Dec 19, 2017
Exploring the borrowing of words from French and Latin in English during the 1200s, the emergence of new prefixes and suffixes in the Ancrenoisa text, creating new words with prefixes and suffixes, the use of 'yer' prefix in Old English and German, the usage of Old English prefixes in modern English, the evolution of English prefixes during the Middle Ages, and the introduction and adoption of prefixes in Early Middle English.
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Be- Stayed Flexible Longer
- The Old English be- prefix survived in many inherited words but later appeared attached to French loans.
- Examples include be-seige, be-sample, and later bejewel and bedazzle in Early Modern English.
Native Prefix Survival Patterns
- Several native Old English prefixes (a-, to-, for-, with-) persisted but stopped forming new words by Late Middle English.
- Some like un- and spatial prefixes (over, under, in, out) remained productive into modern English.
Re- Enters English Through Ancrenoisa
- The Latin/French re- prefix entered English widely via texts like the Ancrenoisa and became the second-most common prefix.
- The text records early English uses of relic, recluse, recoil, record, remedy, remission, and relief.