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Polisemy and homonymy
As is known, language is never stable: sounds, constructions, grammatical elements, word-forms and word-meanings are all exposed to alteration. Derivational affixes are no exception in this respect, they also undergo semantic change. Consequently many commonly used derivational affixes are polysemantic in Modern English. The following two may well serve as illustrations. The noun-suffix -er is used to coin words denoting
1. persons following some special trade or profession, e.g. baker, driver, hunter, etc.;
2. persons doing a certain action at the moment in question, e.g. packer, chooser, giver, etc.;
3. a device, tool, implement, e.g. blotter, atomiser, boiler, eraser, transmitter, trailer, etc.
The adjective-suffix -y also has several meanings, such as
1. composed of, full of, e.g. bony, stony;
2. characterised by, e.g. rainy, cloudy;
3. having the character of, resembling what the base denotes, e.g. inky, bushy.
The various changes that the English language has undergone in the course of time have led to chance coincidence in form of two or more derivational affixes. As a consequence, and this is characteristic of Modern English, many homonymic derivational affixes can be found among those forming both different parts of speech and different semantic groupings within the same part of speech. For instance, the adverb-suffix -ly added to adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -ly affixed to noun-bases, cf. quickly, slowly and lovely, friendly; the verb-suffix -en attached to noun- and adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -en tacked on to noun-bases, cf. to strengthen, to soften and wooden, golden; the verb-prefix -un1 added to noun- and verb-bases is homonymous to the adjective-prefix -un2 affixed to adjectival bases, cf. to unbind, to unshoe and unfair, untrue, etc.
On the other hand, there are two homonymous adjective-suffixes -ish1 and -ish2 occurring in words like bluish, greenish, and girlish, boyish. In some books on English Lexicology the suffix -ish in these two groups of words is regarded as one suffix having two different meanings. If We probe deeper into the matter, however, we shall inevitably arrive at the conclusion that we are dealing with two different homonymous suffixes: one in bluish, the other in girlish. The reasons are as follows: the suffix -ish, in bluish, reddish, etc. only modifies the lexical meaning of the adjective-base it is affixed to without changing the part of speech. The suffix -ish2 in bookish, girlish, womanish, etc. is added to a noun-base to form an adjective. Besides, the suffixes -ish1 and -ish2 differ considerably in the denotational meaning so that no semantic connection may be traced between them: the suffix -ish1 means 'somewhat like' corresponding to the Russian suffix -оват- in such adjectives as голубоватый, красноватый, etc.; the suffix -ish2 means 'of the nature of, resembling', often derogatory in force, e. g. childish — ребяческий, несерьезный (cf. childlike — детский, простой, невинный; hoggish — свинский, жадный, etc.)
Synonymy
In the course of its long history the English language has adopted a great many words from foreign languages all over the world. One of the consequences of extensive borrowing was the appearance of numerous derivational affixes in the English language. Under certain circumstances some of them came to overlap semantically to a certain extent both with one another and with the native affixes. For instance, the suffix -er of native origin denoting the agent is synonymous to the suffix -ist of Greek origin which came into the English language through Latin in the 16th century. Both suffixes occur in nouns denoting the agent, e.g. teacher, driller; journalist, botanist, economist, etc. Being synonymous these suffixes naturally differ from each other in some respects. Unlike the suffix -er, the suffix -ist is:
1. mostly combined with noun-bases, e.g. violinist, receptionist, etc.;
2. as a rule, added to bases of non-Germanic origin and very seldom to bases of Germanic origin, e.g. walkist, rightist;
3. used to form nouns denoting those who adhere to a doctrine or system, a political party, an ideology or the like, e.g. communist, Leninist, Marxist, chartist, Darwinist, etc. Words in -ist denoting 'the upholder of a principle' are usually matched by an abstract noun in -ism denoting 'the respective theory' (e.g. Communism, Socialism, etc.).
Sometimes synonymous suffixes differ in emotive charge. For instance, the suffix -eer also denoting the agent is characterised, in particular, by its derogative force, e.g. sonneteer — стихоплет, profiteer — спекулянт, etc.
There is also a considerable number of synonymous prefixes in the English language. Recent research has revealed certain rules concerning correlation between words with synonymous prefixes of native and foreign origin. It appears, for instance, that in prefixal-suffixal derivatives the general tendency is to use a prefix of Romanic origin if the suffix is also of Romanic origin and a native prefix in the case of a native suffix, cf. unrecognised — irrecognisable; unlimited — illimitable; unformed — informal; undecided — indecisive, etc. Though adequately reflecting the general tendency observed in similar cases this rule has many exceptions. The basic exception is the suffix -able which may often occur together with the native prefix un-, e.g. unbearable, unfavourable, unreasonable, etc. In fact, the pattern un- +(v + -able) —> A is wide-spread and productive in Modern English.