English Prefix un-

There are two kinds of the prefix un- in English. The first is attached to adjectives to form new adjectives, and the second is attached to verbs to form new verbs. The two kinds of the prefix un- do not change the part of speech. The prefix un- attached to adjectives means ‘not’. Fromkin (1990: 130) calls this derivation antonym or negative. The examples of prefix un- attached to adjectives unable (un + able), unafraid (un + afraid), and unimportant (un + important)
The prefix un- can also be added to the adjectives of the derived words that have been formed by morphological rules (Fromkin, 1990 : 130). The examples are unacceptable (un + acceptable) unavoidable (un + avoidable), unbelievable (un + believable) unpredictable (un + predictable) and unreachable (un + readable).
Based on the examples above the rule of the prefix un- attached to adjectives can be stated as: {un-} + ADJECTIVE --> new ADJECTIVE. This rule says that the prefix un- attached to an adjective creates a new adjective. The new adjective is indicated by the change of meaning. In this case the prefix un- means ‘not’
The second prefix un- joins with verbs to form new verbs. In this case the prefix un- means ‘to do the opposite of ’ (Hornby, 1986: 935). The examples of the prefix un- which combines with verbs are unbind (un + bind), uncover (un + cover) undo (un + do) undress (un + dress) unload (un + load), unlock (un + lock) , untie (un +tie)
From the examples above, the rule of prefix un- attached to verbs can be stated as: {un-} + VERB --> new VERB. This rule says that the prefix un- attached to a verb creates a new verb. The new verb is indicated by the change of meaning namely ‘to do the opposite of’.

REFERENCE


Fromkin, Victoria A. 1990. An Introduction to Language. Sydney: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich Group (Australia) Pty Limited.

Hornby, AS. 1986. Oxford Advanced Dictionary of Current English. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.