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Date: 2023-09-18
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In this category, prefixes predominate. The only suffix of note is -ish, meaning ‘somewhat X’, as in GREENISH, SMALLISH, REMOTISH ‘rather remote’. By contrast, the prefix un- meaning ‘not’ is extremely widespread: for example, UNHAPPY, UNSURE, UNRELIABLE, UNDISCOVERED. Because it is so common, most dictionaries do not attempt to list all un- adjectives. This does not mean, however, that un- can be prefixed to all adjectives quite freely; we do not find, for example, ‘UNGOOD’ with the meaning ‘bad’ (though George Orwell included that word in the Newspeak vocabulary devised for Nineteen Eighty-Four).
Another negative prefix is in-, with allomorphs indicated by the variant spellings il-, ir- and im-, as in INTANGIBLE, ILLEGAL, IRRESPONSIBLE and IMPOSSIBLE. It is more restricted than un-, largely for historical reasons. For the present, it is worth noting the existence of pairs of more or less synonymous adjectives, one of which is negated with un- and the other with in- or one of its allomorphs:
(22) eatable/uneatable edible/inedible
readable/unreadable legible/illegible
lawful/unlawful legal/illegal
touchable/untouchable tangible/intangible
Such examples confirm that the use of in- is lexically restricted. As the negative counterpart of EDIBLE, UNEDIBLE sounds possible, especially if the speaker has limited education and has not encountered, or has momentarily forgotten, the form INEDIBLE. However, ‘INEATABLE’ as the counterpart of EATABLE is not a form that any English speaker would spontaneously use.
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5 علامات تحذيرية قد تدل على "مشكل خطير" في الكبد
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تستخدم لأول مرة... مستشفى الإمام زين العابدين (ع) التابع للعتبة الحسينية يعتمد تقنيات حديثة في تثبيت الكسور المعقدة
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