International Language, Past, Present & Future / With Specimens of Esperanto and Grammar

by Walter John Clark

I. Prefixes

bo- denotes relation by marriage: bopatro = father-in-law.

dis- denotes dissemination, division: dismeti = to put apart, about, in pieces.

ek- denotes sudden action or beginning: ekdormi = to fall asleep; ekiri = to start.

ge- denotes both sexes: gepatroj = parents; geviroj = men and women.

mal- denotes the opposite: bona = good; malbona = bad.

re- denotes back, again: repagi = to repay; rekomenci = to begin again.

II. Suffixes

-ad denotes continuation: penadi = to keep striving, to make continued effort.

-aĵ denotes something concrete, made of the material, or possessing the qualities of the root to which it is attached: bovo = ox; bovaĵo = beef; okazi = to happen; okazaĵoj = happenings, events. (For English speakers a good rule is to add "thing" or "stuff" to the English word; propra = one's own, propraĵo = own-thing, property; vidindaĵoj = see-worthy-things, notable sights. N.B.: -aĵ added to transitive verbal stems generally has a passive sense: tondi = to clip, tondaĵo = clipped-thing, clippings; whereas tondilo = clipping-thing, shears.) See Zamenhof's explanation of -aĵ, La Revuo, Vol. I., No. 8 (April), pp. 374–5.