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Cunning linguists

Is there a word for this part of a word?!

6 replies

sunnywinters · 18/01/2024 14:39

In a word with a suffix, is there a word for the part of the word that's not the suffix?!

For example, with the word "wonderful", is there a term for the part that's "wonder"?

OP posts:
Unabletomitigate · 18/01/2024 15:05

The stem or base word.

doublewater · 18/01/2024 15:36

It is called the root word.

bluesky45 · 18/01/2024 16:12

Root word

ZiriForGood · 18/01/2024 17:58

Afaik root means the very central part of the word which brings the basic meaning, but it doesn't generally describe everything before the suffix.
Take a word "ungrateful" - the root is "grate", but simple removal of the suffix leaves "ungrate". I am not aware of any word for this.

As for the stem, afaik proper stem removes the prefixes as well (thought I met "stemming algorithms" which removed only the end of the word).

Btw:
"Ungratefully" - would you say it has two suffixes?
"Commanders" - would you say it has one suffix "er" and one ending "s", or two suffixes as well?

SkalengeckOrSiegbarste · 18/01/2024 20:39

Anything added to the front of the word is a prefix, anything added to the end is a suffix. The original is the root word.
Root word - happy
Add prefix un - unhappy
Add suffix ness - happiness
Add both prefix & suffix - unhappiness

owenjonescleanerreturns · 06/09/2025 07:40

The stem

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