Editing Morphological derivation (section)

==Derivational patterns==
Derivational [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] often involves the addition of a derivational suffix or other [[affix]]. Such an affix usually applies to [[word]]s of one [[lexical category]] (part of speech) and changes them into words of another such category. For example, one effect of the [[English language|English]] derivational suffix ''-ly'' is to change an [[adjective]] into an [[adverb]] (''slow'' → ''slowly'').

Here are examples of English derivational patterns and their suffixes:

* adjective-to-[[noun]]: ''-ness'' (''slow'' → ''slowness'')
* adjective-to-[[verb]]: ''-en'' (''weak'' → ''weaken'')
* adjective-to-adjective: ''-ish'' (''red'' → ''reddish'')
* adjective-to-[[adverb]]: ''-ly'' (''personal'' → ''personally'')
* noun-to-[[adjective]]: ''-al'' (''recreation'' → ''recreational'')
* noun-to-verb: ''-fy'' (''glory'' → ''glorify'')
* verb-to-adjective: ''-able'' (''drink'' → ''drinkable'')
* verb-to-noun ([[deverbal noun|abstract]]): ''-ance'' (''deliver'' → ''deliverance'')
* verb-to-noun ([[agent noun|agent]]): ''-er'' (''write'' → ''writer'')

However, derivational affixes do not necessarily alter the lexical category; they may change merely the meaning of the base and leave the category unchanged. A prefix (''write'' → '' re-write''; ''lord'' → ''over-lord'') rarely changes the lexical category in English. The prefix ''un-'' applies to adjectives (''healthy'' → ''unhealthy'') and some verbs (''do'' → ''undo'') but rarely to nouns. A few exceptions are the derivational prefixes ''en-'' and ''be-''. ''En-'' (replaced by ''em-'' before [[labial consonant|labials]]) is usually a transitive marker on verbs, but it can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verbs: ''circle'' (verb) → ''encircle'' (verb) but ''rich'' (adj) → ''enrich'' (verb), ''large'' (adj) → ''enlarge'' (verb), ''rapture'' (noun) → ''enrapture'' (verb), ''slave'' (noun) → ''enslave'' (verb).

When derivation occurs without any change to the word, such as in the conversion of the noun ''breakfast'' into the verb ''to breakfast'', it's known as [[conversion (word formation)|conversion]], or zero derivation.

Derivation that results in a noun may be called [[nominalization]]. It may involve the use of an affix (such as with ''employ → employee''), or it may occur via conversion (such as with the derivation of the noun ''run'' from the verb ''to run''). In contrast, a derivation resulting in a verb may be called verbalization (such as from the noun ''butter'' to the verb ''to butter'').

Some words have specific exceptions to these patterns. For example, ''inflammable'' actually means ''flammable,'' and ''de-evolution'' is spelled with only one ''e,'' as ''devolution.''