List of Affixes
The careful teaching of letter combinations and affixes as preskills to multisyllable word-reading is a key feature of effective advanced word-reading programs (Archer et al., 2003). The table below lists some of the more common beginning affixes.
| Affix | Phonetic Pronunciation |
| a | afraid |
| able | drinkable |
| age | package |
| al | animal |
| be | behold |
| bi | bicycle |
| com | commit |
| con | confess |
| de | deport |
| dis | dismiss |
| er | hotter |
| est | saddest |
| ex | expand |
| ful | helpful |
| im | imperfect |
| in | inside |
| ing | dusting |
| ion | action |
| ish | punish |
| ive | captive |
| less | restless |
| ly | friendly |
| ment | shipment |
| mid | midterm |
| mono | monorail |
| ness | goodness |
| ous | monstrous |
| out | outlast |
| post | postseason |
| pre | pretend |
| pro | provide |
| re | resell |
| semi | semicircle |
| ship | friendship |
| teen | fifteen |
| un | unhappy |
| uni | uniform |
| ward | seaward |
| y | muddy |
Sources: Avery & Ehrich (2002); Celce-Murcia et al. (1996); Edelen-Smith (1997); Ladefoged (1975); McCormick et al. (2002); Singh & Singh (1976).
Excerpt from Reading Instruction for Students Who Are at Risk or Have Disabilities, by W.D. Bursuck & M. Damer, 2007 edition, p. 140.
© 2007, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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