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    Prefixation
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    Prefixation is the process of adding a prefix at the left edge of a base word, thus deriving a prefixed word. A substantial number of Dutch prefixes are category-neutral, that is, they do not change the syntactic category of their base word, as illustrated by the following examples in which the category of the base word is preserved:

    zin sense > onzin nonsense

    aardig pleasant > onaardig unpleasant.

    Verbal prefixes, however, may change the syntactic category of the base word, as in the verb verhuis move derived from the noun huis house.

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    The category-neutral native prefixes of Dutch are listed in the following table:

    Table 1
    Prefix Meaning Base category Example
    aarts- intense/ top in hierarchy A/N/N aartslui very lazy, aartsschurk arrant villain, aartsbisschop archbishop
    her- again V/N/A herschrijven rewrite, herexamen re-examination, herbruikbaar reusable
    niet- negative N/A niet-roker non-smoker, niet-Christelijk non-Christian
    oer- intense/ original N/A oersterk very strong, oermens prehistoric man
    on- negative A/N ongezond unhealthy, onmens brute
    opper- upper N opperhoofd chief
    oud- former N oud-student former student
    According to (Trommelen and Zonneveld 1986), the category neutrality of prefixes follows from the Righthand Head Rule, which claims that the rightmost constituent of a complex word is its head and therefore determines its syntactic category. However, there are also a number of verbalizing prefixes that do change the syntactic category of the base word, and thus form a problem for the Righthand Head Rule.
    Table 2
    Prefix Base category Example base Example prefixed verb
    be- N/A/V dijk dike, zat drunk, kijk look bedijk to secure with a dike, bezat hit the bottle, bekijk look at
    ver- N/A/V huis house, bleek pale, koop buy verhuis move, verbleek pale, verkoop sell
    ont- N/A/V kurk cork, eigen own, bind bind ontkurk uncork, onteigen disown, ontbind dissolve
    ge- V leid lead geleid guide, conduct
    er- V ken know erken recognize
    A number of morphemes functioning as words by themselves are nevertheless considered prefixes, because they have a specific meaning when part of a complex verb, and because they have category-changing power, as illustrated by the verb doorspek inter-lard intersperse derived from the noun spek bacon, lard and the preposition door through. Other examples are the following prefixes:
    Table 3
    Prefix Example base Example prefixed verb
    aan- bid pray aanbid worship
    achter- haal fetch achterhaal find out
    door- snijd cut, spek lard doorsnijd cut through, doorspek intersperse
    mis- vorm form (V) misvorm deform
    om- sluit close, cirkel circle omsluit enclose, omcirkel encircle
    onder- breek break (V), titel title onderbreek interrupt, ondertitel subtitle (V)
    over- win win, brug bridge overwin defeat (V), overbrug bridge (V)
    vol- maak make volmaak bring to perfection
    voor- kom come voorkom prevent
    weer- schijn shine (V) weerschijn reflect
    Dutch prefixes are always non-cohering affixes.

    See Booij (2002 ch. 3) for more information about prefixation.

    References
    • Booij, Geert2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
    • Trommelen, Mieke & Zonneveld, Wim1986Dutch morphology: evidence for the right-hand head ruleLinguistic Inquiry17147-170
    About this article
    Author(s): Geert Booij
    Category: Dutch Morphology
    Keywords: derivationword formationprefix
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
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    1.0 Geert Booij December 2015
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