An Analysis of Derivational Suffixes in Novel The Great Gatsby

Sarah Fitri Rabbani

1211503125

BSI/IV/D

An Analysis of Derivational Suffixes in Novel The Great Gatsby

1.      Background

English as an international language must be used in all fields including in the literature works. Many of literature works, such as novel,  use English in recent day. However in English, affixation of a word greatly influence the meaning of that word. It will emerge a problem for nonnative speaker of English. Misunderstandings will occur when a nonnative speaker of English misinterpreted a word just because of the affixation of a word. In this case, for example, there is a difference between the words murder, murderer and great, greater in which murder is a verb and the doer is called murderer which is a noun, but great is an adjective and  greater indicates the comparative of great. Thereby the understanding of affixation in English is crucial.

The affixation in English is divided into inflectional and derivational. Inflectional is the affixation which leads a changing of grammatical meaning without change the word class, for example the word great and greater, whereas derivational is the affixation which leads a formation of new lexemes, a changing of word class, and a changing of meaning, for example the word murder and murderer. In this case derivational is more complex than inflectional, thus derivational affixation requires an understanding which is more profound. Affixation is divided into prefixes and suffixes. According to Plag (2003) suffixes is divided into nominal suffixes, verbal suffixes, adjectival suffixes, and adverbial suffixes. Morphology process of derivational suffixes in the novel is very interesting and need to be discussed.

2.      Statement of the Problem

Based on the background above, in this paper the researcher researches and analyzes about derivational suffixes. The researcher researches and analyzes about derivational suffixes particularly in the novel The Great Gatsby. The analysis is according to the theory of derivational suffixes from Plag (2003).

3.      Research Questions

1.      What are the derivational suffixes which emerge in the novel The Great Gatsby?

2.      How is the process of derivational suffixes in the novel The Great Gatsby?

3.      What is the category of the derivational suffixes in the novel The Great Gatsby? (the nominal, verbal, adjectival, or adverbial suffixes).

4.      Significance of the Research

1.      To know the derivational affixes which emerge in the novel The Great Gatsby.

2.      To know the process of derivational suffixes in the novel The Great Gatsby.

3.      To know the category of the derivational suffixes (nominal, verbal, adjectival, or adverbial suffixes).

5.Framework of Thinking

5.1 Definition of Morphology

Hamawand (2011) clearly defined morphology as a one of the fields in linguistics in which studies about how words are built of form-meaning units. Similar to Hamawand, Booij (2007) strongly emphasized that morphology has two definition and function, first as a sub-field of linguistics, second as part of the word grammar which is the rules for word-formation. In different word from Hamawand and Booij, Lieber (2009), as a professor of Linguistic in the English Department at the University of New Hampshire, stated that morphology is the study of word formation, including the formation ways of new words which is depending on the use of that word in a sentence.

Different from the definitions of morphology above, McManis (1988) obviously argued that word formation from smaller parts is the main object of morphology. Similar to McManis, Nida (1978) revealed that morphology is the study of morphemes and their arrangements in word formation. From the definitions above, thereby morphology is the study of morphemes and its arrangements in word formation.

5.2 Definition and Types of Morphemes

5.2.1 The Definition of Morphemes

Minkova and Stockwell (2009), as the expert in English and Linguistics, argued that morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. Similar to Minkova and Stockwell, Plag (2002) simply defined morphemes as the smallest meaningful units. Hocket (1962) clearly added that morphemes are the smallest meaningful elements of language. Thereby morphemes are the smallest units of a language which are meaningful.

5.2.2 The Types of Morphemes

Yule (2006) strongly stated that morphemes are divided into two types, they are:

a.       Free morphemes which can stand alone, for example child, hope, bracelet, wipe.

b.      Bound morphemes which are the contrary of free morpheme, for example –ness, un-, -ation, -ize.

5.3 Definition, Properties, and Types of Words

5.3.1 The Definition of Words

Lieber (2009) clearly stated that words are consists of one or more morphemes which can stand alone in a language. In contrast to Lieber, Beard (1995) strongly emphasized that word is a symbol which contains of sound and meaning. Different from Lieber and Beard, Syal and Jindal (2007) strongly argued that word is a single unit which can be spoken and written. McCarthy (2002) added that words are the units of language as the building-blocks of the phrases and sentences formation. From some definitions above, hence words can be defined as a unit of symbols which consist of one or more morphemes, can be spoken and written.

                        5.3.2 The Properties of Words

Plag (2002) explicitly stated that there are some properties of the words, they are:

a.       Words are entities having a part of speech specification. Words belong to certain parts of speech or word classes such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, etc. It uses to specify the word class they belong to. For example, the is said to belong to the class called articles.

b.      Words are syntactic atom. In this case, as the smallest elements in a sentence.

c.       Words usually have one stress. The words has a sound so that can be pronounced, and they are at least have one stress to indicate the purpose of the words. For example the stressing of word grilfriend is in girl and it indicates that the word is a compound.

d.      Words usually are indivisible units.

5.3.3 The Types of Words

Meanwhile Verhaar (1982) divided words into two types, monomorphemic words and polymorphemic words. Monomorphemic words are the words which contain just one morpheme, for example the words dog, like, knickerbocker, catamaran and write. Albeit the words knickerbocker and catamaran is a long word but they just contain one morpheme. Whereas polymorphemic words are the words which contain more than one morpheme, for example the words dogs, cats, likes, and writing.

5.4 Definition and Types of Affixation

5.4.1 Definition of Affixation

Katamba (1994) palpably stated that affixation as the commonest method of forming words. In other word with Katamba, Hamawand (2011) clearly defined that affixation is the morphological process of creating new words by adding the affixes. Affixes are bound morphemes which cannot stand alone, so must be joined to other morphemes. Similar to Hamawand, Plag (2002) argued that affix is a bound morpheme that attaches to the base. Thereby affixation can be stated as a morphological process of forming word in which the affixes are attached to the base.

5.4.2 The Types of Affixation

Lieber (2009) clearly divided affixation into some types, they are:

a.       Prefixes are a bound morpheme which come before the base, for example un-, re-, il-. im- .

b.      Suffixes, are a bound morpheme which come after the base, for example –ion, -ment, -ish.

c.       Infixes, are the affixes that are inserted right into a root or base, for example fan-bloody-tastic.

d.      Circumfixes, is a form of parasynthesis, a phenomenon in which a particular morphological category is signaled by the simultaneous presence of two morphemes.

5.5 Definition and types of Suffixes

5.5.1 The Definition of Suffixes

McCarthy (2002) simply defined suffixes as the bound morphemes which follow the root. Similar to McCarthy, Hamawand (2011) clearly defined that suffix is a bound morpheme which is added to the end of a free morpheme for creating a new word. Suffixation is the process of deriving a new word by attaching a suffix to the end of a root or base. The definition of suffixes from Hamawand is more clearly than the definition of suffixes from McCarthy, hence suffixes can be defined as a bound morpheme which attaches to free morpheme with the aim of forming word. Minkova and Stockwell (2009) argued that suffix of a word as a determinant of what part of speech the word belongs to, whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb.

5.5.2 The Types of Suffixes

Plag (2003) palpably divided suffixes into some types, they are:

a.       Nominal Suffixes

Nominal suffixes are often employed to derive abstract nouns from verbs, adjectives, and nouns. For example -age, -al, -ance ,-ence/-ancy/-ency, -ant, -ce/-cy, -dom, -ee, -eer, -er, -ess, -ful,  -hood, -(i)an, -ing, -ion, -ism, -ist, -ity, -ment, -ness, and -ship.

b.      Verbal Suffixes

There are four suffixes which derive verbs from other word class, however mostly from adjectives and nouns. For example –ate, -en, -ify, and –ize.

c.       Adjectival Suffixes

This suffixes can be subdivided into relational adjectives whose role is simply to relate the noun the adjective qualifies to the base word of the derived adjective. For example, colonial officer means ‘officer having to do with the colonies, on the other hand qualitative adjectives is a large group of derived adjectives which express more specific concepts. Example of adjectival suffixes are –ible/-able, -ary, -ed, -ful, -ic/-ical, -ing, -ish, -ive, -less, -ly, and -ous.

d.      Adverbial suffixes

This suffix is divided into manner or dimension adverbs and viewpoint adverbs The example of adverbial suffixes are –ly, -ward, and -wise.

5.6 Derivational Suffixes

Medwell et al. (2009) clearly defined derivational suffixes are adding the suffixes to a word which can change the function of that word in a sentence. Similar to Medwell, McCarthy (2002) argued that the term ‘derivation’ is used for all aspects of word-structure involving affixation that is not inflectional; it means that the affixes can form a new word. Plag (2003) added that derivational is one of the process of word-formation. Thereby derivational suffixes are the suffixes which attach to a word with the aim of changing that function or word class of that word.

5.7 Definition of Novel

Lewis (1999) simply defined novel is the long story which is as the subgenre of fiction in literature. Abrams (1999) explicitly defined novel as a great variety of writings, including in fiction work, which written in prose. Novel is different from short story and novelette; its magnitude permits a greater variety of characters, greater complication of plot (or plots), ampler development of milieu, and more sustained exploration of character and motives than do the shorter, more concentrated modes. Thereby novel can be defined as a literary work, including in fiction genre which contains of long story and has a complex plot.

6.      Methodology of the Research

6.1 Research Method

In this research, the researcher used descriptive analysis method with the qualitative approach. It means that the data are not the form of numbers, but the data are derived from notes, memos, and official documents. Thereby the purpose of this qualitative study is to describe the empirical reality behind the phenomenon in depth.

6.2 Data and Source Data

In this research researcher use the data of derivational suffixes in the novel The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is a work by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. This novel published in 1926 by Penguin Books Ltd in England.

6.3 Collecting Data

      The researcher collected the data by analyzing the derivational suffixes from the novel The Great Gatsby. Subsequently the data were selected and categorized based on the types of suffixes. Afterwards the researcher analyzed the data one by one.

6.4 Analysis Data

The data of derivational suffixes from the novel The Great Gatsby were categorized according to the suffixes theory from Plag (2003).

7.      Data Analysis

7.1 Nominal Suffixes

This table below indicates the derivational suffixes which emerge in The Great Gatsby. That words are categorized as the nominal suffixes derives from other word class. In the free morpheme column N is noun, V is verb, Adj is adjective, and Adv is adverb.

Words	Free Morphemes (N,V,Adj,Adv)	Bound Morphemes (Suffixes)
Judgement	Judge (V)	-ment
Revelation	Revel (V)	-ion
Plagiarism	Plagiarize (V)	-ize
Personality	Personal (Adj)	-ity
Sensitivity	Sensitive (Adj)	-ity
Responsiveness	Responsive (Adj)	-ness
Readiness	Ready (Adj)	-ness
Founder	Found (V)	-er
Practical	Practice (V)	-al
Freedom	Free (Adj)	-dom
Conviction	Convict (V)	-ion
Accomplishment	Accomplish (V)	-ment
Turbulence	Turbulent (Adj)	-ce
Fractiousness	Fractious (Adj)	-ness
Wistfulness	Wistful (Adj)	-ness
Stranger	Strange (Adj)	-er
Sufficiency	Sufficient (Adj)	-cy
Arrangement	Arrange (V)	-ment
Excitement	Excite (V)	-ment
Suddenness	Sudden (Adj)	-ness
Checker	Check (V)	-er
Expression	Express (V)	-ion
Absence	Absent (Adj)	-ce
Anticipation	Anticipate (V)	-ion
Hesitation	Hesitate (V)	-ion
Concentration	Concentrate (V)	-ion
Interruption	Interrupt (V)	-ion
Confirmation	Confirm (V)	-ion
Decency	Decent (Adj)	-cy
movement	Move (V)	-ment
Introduction	Introduce (V)	-ion
Darkness	Dark (Adj)	-ness
Operation	Operate (V)	-ion
Blindness	Blind (Adj)	-ness
Speculation	Speculate (V)	-ion
Privacy	Private (Adj)	-cy
Isolation	Isolate(V)	-ion
Suggestion	Suggest (V)	-ion
Happiness	Happy (Adj)	-ness

The table above indicates that there is a changing of word class and the function of the words, hence it is included the derivational suffixes. The word judgment is noun, it derives from judge which is verb and is added by suffix –ment. The formula of the word-formation from derivational suffixes below illustrates the process of forming word

Judge (verb) + the suffix -ment → Judgment (noun)

Blind (adjective) + the suffix -ness → blindness (noun)

Decent (adjective) + the suffix -cy → decency (noun)

Sensitive (adjective) + the suffix –ity → sensitivity (noun)

            There is a changing letter in the word readiness. Readiness derives from ready which is adjective and is added by the suffix –ness. However the y in ready changes becomes i in readiness. It caused by the suffix –ness which attaches to ready. The changing of the letter also happens in word happiness. Happiness derives from word happy (adjective), but after the suffix –ness attaches to that word the y changes become i in happiness (noun).

            The simple way of word-formation as can be seen from the table above is some words are changing into other word class only with the adding of suffix. The word suggest (verb) changes become noun only with the adding of suffix -ion, thus become suggestion. Similar with suggestion, the words interruption, isolation, speculation, expression, revelation, movement, convict, and arrange change only with adding the suffixes without there is the changing in letter such as the word happiness and readiness.

Happy (adjective) + -ness → happiness (noun)

Ready (adjective) + -ness → readiness (noun)

The formula of word-formation above indicates that there is a changing in letter y which is replaced with i.

7.2 Verbal Suffixes

Words	Free Morphemes (N,V,Adj,Adv)	Bound Morphemes (Suffixes)
Heighten	Height (N)	-en
Purify	Pure (N)	-fy
Shorten	Short (Adj)	-en

                                      

The table above indicates that the word from other word class can form verbal words. The suffixes –en, and –ify changes the word class of height, pure, and short just because the suffixes attach to that word. Height which is noun is added by the suffix –en, so that results the word heighten which is verb. Similar with heighten, the word shorten derives from noun which is then changes become verb after the suffix –en attaches to that word. The formula of the word-formation from derivational suffixes below illustrates the process of forming word

Height (noun) + the suffix –en →heighten (verb)

Short (adjective) + the suffix –en → shorten (verb)

Different from the words heighten and shorten, there is a changing letter in word purify. Purify derives from pure which is noun. Changing the word pure become purify has made a changing in letter also, in this case e changes become i. The changing indicates that in forming word there is omission and replacement of the letter.

Pure (noun) + the suffix -fy → purify.

7.3 Adjectival Suffixes

Words	Free Morphemes (N,V,Adj,Adv)	Bound Morphemes (Suffixes)
Communicative	Communicate (V)	-ive
Successful	Success (N)	-ful
Restless	Rest (V)	-less
Helpless	Help (V)	-less
Powerful	Power (N)	-ful
Windy	Wind (N)	-y
Contemptuous	Contempt (N)	-uous
Breathless	Breath (N)	-less
Pointless	Point (N)	-less
Hopeless	Hope (V)	-less
Wasteful	Waste (V)	-ful
Careless	Care (V)	-less
Doubtful	Doubt (V)	-ful
Spiritless	Spirit (N)	-less
Powdery	Powder (N)	-y
Relentless	Relent (V)	-less
Sleepless	Sleep (V)	-less
Desirable	Desire (N)	-able
Ceaseless	Cease (V)	-less
Penniless	Penni (N)	-less
Perceptible	Percept (V)	-ible
Respectful	Respect (V)	-ful
Endless	End (N)	-less
Shiftless	Shift (V)	-less
Comprehensible	Comprehend (V)	-ible

            As can be seen from the table above, for the forming word of adjectival mostly use the simple way. With the adding the suffix to the words then the word class and the word function of that word will change. The word communicative derives from the word communicate which is verb, and then the suffix –ive is added. The suffix which is the most frequently appearing is the suffix –less. It indicates that every word from other word class if it is attached by the suffix –less, thus it can be identified as adjectival. The formula of the word-formation from derivational suffixes below illustrates the process of forming word

End (noun) + the suffix –less → endless (adjective)

Sleep (verb) + the suffix –less →sleepless (adjective)

Powder (noun) + the suffix –y → powdery (adjective)

            There is the omission of the letter d in comprehend when the suffix –ible is attached to that word. Comprehensible derives from the word comprehend which is noun. However the letter d in comprehend is omitted when it changes become adjective. The formula of the forming word of comprehensible is below:

Comprehend (Verb) + the suffix –ible → comprehensible the letter d is omitted and replace by the letter s.

7.4 Adverbial Suffixes

Words	Free Morphemes (N,V,Adj,Adv)	Bound Morphemes (Suffixes)
Equally	Equal (N)	-ly
Temporarily	Temporary (Adj)	-ly
Recently	Recent (Adj)	-ly
Thoroughly	Thorough (Adj)	-ly
Casually	Casual (Adj)	-ly
Scarcely	Scarce (Adj)	-ly
Aggressively	Aggressive (Adj)	-ly
Abruptly	Abrupt (Adj)	-ly
Completely	Complete (V)	-ly
Slowly	Slow (Adj)	-ly
Slightly	Slight (Adj)	-ly
Quickly	Quick (Adj)	-ly
Obviously	Obvious (Adj)	-ly
Lightly	Light (N)	-ly
Ecstatically	Ecstatic (Adj)	-ly
Shortly	Short (Adj)	-ly
Absolutely	Absolute (Adj)	-ly
Sharply	Sharp (Adj)	-ly
Violently	Violent (adj)	-ly
Perfectly	Perfect (Adj)	-ly
Relevantly	Relevant (Adj)	-ly
Evidently	Evident (Adj)	-ly
Heavily	Heavy (Adj)	-ly
Faintly	Faint (Adj)	-ly
Consciously	Conscious (Adj)	-ly
Alertly	Alert (Adj)	-ly
Innocently	Innocent (Adj)	-ly
Honestly	Honest (Adj)	-ly
Miserably	Miserable (Adj)	-ly
Hesitantly	Hesitant (Adj)	-ly
Pleasantly	Pleasant (Adj)	-ly
Blindly	Blind (Adj)	-ly
Reluctantly	Reluctant (V)	-ly

The table above indicates a tendency in which adverbial suffixes mostly derives from adjective. In forming adverbial words, the words from other class, except adjective, are very few. The adverbial suffixes above indicate that mostly the suffix which forms the adverbial word is the suffix –ly. The word reluctant which is the verb are added with the suffix ly which attaches to that word indicate that there is a changing of word class. The formula of the word-formation from derivational suffixes below illustrates the process of forming word

Reluctant (verb) + the suffix –ly → reluctantly (adverb)

Evident (adjective) + the suffix –ly → evidently (adverb)

Light (noun) + the suffix –ly → lightly (adverb)

Pleasant (adjective) + the suffix –ly →pleasantly (adverb)

Absolute (adjective) + the suffix – ly →absolutely (adverb)

Different from the word-formation above, in word miserable there is a changing in e which is replaced with y after the word miserable is added by the suffix –ly. In word-formation formula, it can be illustrated as Miserable (adjective) + the suffix –ly → miserably, not miserabely.

8.      Conclusion

The understanding of affixation, in this case derivational suffixes, is important because affixation can change the word class, particularly changes the meaning of a word. After analyzing derivational suffixes in the novel The Great Gatsby, the researcher find that mostly the derivational suffixes which emerge in that novel include in adverbial suffixes.

            8.2 Suggestion

Realizing about the importance of affixation in English, the researcher suggests the reader to improve the understanding of affixation in English. It will be useful for improving language skill. Besides that it will be avoid misinterpreting and misunderstanding.

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