The _root_ of a word is the shortest form in which it appears. Thus
_tal_, meaning number, speech, is the root of _tale_, a number
counted; _tale_, a story; _tell_, narrate; _toll_, something counted
out; _talk_, discourse.
The root of a word may undergo modification and become a _stem_. Thus
_love_ is the stem of the root _lov-_, and to this stem are added
such _inflections_ as _-est_, _-s_, _-d_, as loves, lovest, loved.
Again, to the root of a word may be added a _prefix_ or _suffix_,
thereby forming a new word called a _derivative_.
If to the root _dar-_, dear, the prefix _en-_ be added, we get
endear, and the same root with the suffix _-ling_ gives darling. As a
rule, English prefixes and suffixes are added only to English roots.
But there are many exceptions.
Word-making is often effected by _compounding_. A _compound_ word is
one made by uniting two words together, as _sea-lion_.
=Compound Nouns= are formed in various ways:--(_a_) by uniting a
noun with a noun: bridal = bride ale, daisy = day's eye, Gospel
= God's spell or story; (_b_) noun with adjective: redbird,
midnight, quicksilver, twilight = two lights; (_c_) noun with
verb: bakehouse, godsend, grindstone, spendthrift; (_d_) noun with
adverb: bystander, offshoot, uplift; (_e_) noun with preposition:
afterthought, byword, onset; (_f_) verb with adverb: drawback,
farewell, income, welcome.
=Compound Adjectives= are numerous:--(_a_) Noun with adjective:
barefoot, lily-white, purse-proud, sea-green, sky-blue; (_b_) noun
with participle: heart-rending, sea-faring, sea-girt, way-laid,
worm-eaten; (_c_) adverb with participle: bygone, everlasting,
far-reaching, high-strung, ill-pleased, well-bred; (_d_) noun with
noun: iron-side, lion-heart; (_e_) nouns with nouns, adjectives,
and adverbs, + _ed_: club-footed, gray-headed, tender-hearted,
under-handed.
=Compound Verbs= are few:--(_a_) Verb with noun: backbite,
browbeat, henpeck, hoodwink, kiln-dry; (_b_) verb with adjectives:
dumbfound, fulfil, whitewash; (_c_) verb with adverb: don = do on,
doff = do off, outdo.
=Compound Adverbs= are made by uniting (_a_) noun with noun:
endways, sideways; (_b_) noun with adjective: always, breast-high,
meanwhile, sometimes; (_c_) preposition with noun: outside,
overboard; (_d_) adverb with preposition: hereafter, therein,
whereupon.