Prefix un- in English

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. Look at the following examples of prefix un- attached to adjectives: Prefix Base Derived word Meaning
(Adjective) (Adjective)

un - able unable ‘not able’
un - afraid unafraid ‘not afraid’
un - aware unaware ‘not aware’
un - fit unfit ‘not ft’
un - free unfree ‘not free’
un - happy unhappy ‘not happy’
un - important unimportant 'not important'
un - smooth unsmooth ‘not smooth’
un - true untrue ‘not true’

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 as follows:

Prefix Base Derived word Meaning
(Adjective) (Adjective)
un - acceptable unacceptable ‘not acceptable’
un - avoidable unavoidable ‘not avoidable’
un - believable unbelievable ‘not believable’
un - predictable unpredictable ‘not believable’
un - reachable unreachable ‘not reachable’
un - readable unreadable ‘not readable’
un - sinkable unsinkable ‘not sinkable’
un - touchable untouchable ‘not touchable’

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 following are the examples of the prefix un- which combines with verbs:

Prefix Base Derived word Meaning
(Verb) (Verb)
un- bind unbind ‘to do the opposite of binding’
un- cover uncover ‘to do the opposite of covering’
un- do undo ‘to do the opposite of doing’
un- dress undress ‘to do the opposite of dressing’
un- load unload ‘to do the opposite of loading’
un- lock unlock ‘to do the opposite of locking’
un- tie untie ‘to do the opposite of tying’

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’.


References:

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.