v i
r
o
F
“
m
y
eb
ol
ev
d
m
o
m
m
y
,
,y
d
d
a
d
e
m
os
d
n
a
h
y
M
b
tn
ai
g
y
M
r
to
eh
,r
,y
li
m
af
g
ib
y
M
,
sd
n
ei
rf
yl
ev
ol
y
M
ii x
{-ency} . Sedangkan duaperitga kata-kata sisanya itdak mengalam i fenomena {
l a s a k u t n e b n a k a n u g g n e m a g g n i h e s , t u b e s r e
t -cy} . Kata-kata dasa r lainnya n
e m g e s n a g n e d r i h k a r e
b –ate maupun beragam segmen lainnya .Seluruh kata n
a k a n u g g n e m t u b e s r e
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
As living creatures, humans need to communicate with each other. They
communicate by means of language. Language as the system of communication
has an important role in people‘s daily life. Language is used as the medium of
thought. In addition, it can be used as the media to share what people have in their
mind.
The usage of languages is also learned in a formal field of study.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language or of particular languages.
Linguistics discusses all aspects of language, such as word structures, sentence
structures, word meanings, sentence meanings, speech sounds, intonation, syllable
stresses, and many others. Those aspects are important in linguistics, because they
are closely related to each other and necessary to form good communication skills.
One of the topics that are predominantly learned in all branches of
linguistics is words. The choice of words is important in forming a good sentence.
Although many laypeople might consider a word as the smallest unit of their
language, a word actually has an internal structure which consists of smaller
meaningful units called morphemes. A morpheme is the ―minimal linguistic sign‖,
or ―a grammatical unit in which there is an arbitrary union of a sound and
Nina Hyams, 2003: 67). In a more simple way, we can define a morpheme as the
smallest unit of language that has a meaning and a function.
There are two different kinds of morphemes, namely free morphemes and
bound morphemes. A free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand alone, for
instance book, stand, and work. A bound morpheme is a morpheme that cannot
stand alone and has to be combined with one or more free morphemes to form a
word (O‘Grady, Wiliam, Michael Dobrovolsky, and Francis Katamba, 1997: 134).
The bound morpheme is classified into two kinds, namely the inflectional
morpheme and the derivational morpheme. An inflectional morpheme is a
morpheme that will not change the class of the resulting word if combined with a
base, while a derivational morpheme is a morpheme that will change the class of
the resulting word if combined with a base.
When a bound morpheme is attached to the base of a word to create a new
word, that bound morpheme is known as an affix, and the process is known as
affixation. Affixes can be divided into four categories based on their position
related to the base; prefixes, infixes, suffixes, and circumfixes. Prefixes are
attached to the beginning of the base, infixes are attached in the middle of the
base, suffixes are attached to the end of the base, and circumfixes are attached
around the base. Affixation is an important topic which is worth discussing,
because according to Bauer, affixation is the most frequent process to form words
(Bauer, 1988: 19).
In this thesis, the writer discusses one of the English derivational suffixes
is one of the popular and productive suffixes in English which can be found in
many common words, such as accuracy, agency, frequency, and vacancy. Even
Indonesian speakers with medium or low English abilitiy might still recognize
some English words containing the suffix {-cy} because they have been adopted
in Indonesian words such as akurasi, agensi, dan frekuensi.
This study aims to attain a deeper understanding of the words containing
the suffix {-cy}. Besides the bases, the meanings and the allomorphs of the suffix
{-cy}, the morphophonemic changes occurring in the affixation process will also
be discussed in this study. This study will also benefit all people who use the
English langauge to communicate, especially learners of English as a foreign
language, because it helps learners to identify every aspect of the nouns that result
from the addition of the suffix {-cy}. Therefore, people who communicate in
English and those who learn English can identify the proper usage of words
containing the suffix {-cy} and apply it in their everyday life.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three main problems in this study of the suffix {-cy}, which can
be formulated as follows.
1. What are the bases that receive the suffix {-cy}?
2. What are the meanings of the suffix {-cy}?
3. What are the allomorphs of the suffix {-cy} and what morphophonemic
C. Objectives of the Study
This thesis has three objectives. The first objective is to identify the base
in words that receive the suffix {-cy}. The second objective is to discover the
meaning of the suffix {-cy} in English words. The final objective is to identify the
allomorphs of the suffix {-cy} and the morphophonemic processes undergone in
the affixation of the suffix {-cy}.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid misunderstanding, the writer lists the definition of several
morphologically-related terms which are frequently used throughout this study.
1. Morphology
Morphology is one of the fields of linguistics. According to the book titled
Linguistics: An Introduction, morphology is a field that ―examines the internal
structure of words and processes of word formation‖ (Radford, Andrew, Martin
Atkinson, David Britain, Harald Clahsen, and Andrew Spencer, 2003: 162).
2. Morpheme
A morpheme is ―the smallest difference in the shape of a word that
correlates with the smallest difference in word or sentence meaning or in
grammatical structure‖ (Katamba, 1993: 24). In other words, a morpheme is the
3. Morphophonemic Process
The term ―morphophonemic process‖ is defined as the rule that ―accounts
for the realization of phonologically conditioned allomorphs of morphemes‖
(Katamba, 1993: 34).
4. Affix and Affixation
An affix is a bound morpheme that is attached to another morpheme or
several other morphemes which consist of a free morpheme. Affixation, which is
one of the most common processes to form words, is ―a process of adding an affix
to a base to form a new word‖ (Bauer, 1988: 19).
5. Suffix
A suffix is an affix ―which follows the root with which they are most
closely associated‖ (Gleason, 1961: 59). Some examples of suffixes in English are
/-iz/ in suffixes, /-iŋ/ in going, and /iš/ in boyish.
6. Base
A base is any unit to which any kind of affixes can be added. The affixes
attached to a base may be either inflectional affixes, which are used for syntactic
or grammatical reasons, or derivational affixes, which alter the meaning or the
word class of the base (Katamba, 1993: 45). In other words, all roots and stems
7. Stem
A stem is the part of a word that receives any inflectional affixes, namely
the affixes whose presence is required by the syntax, such as the singular and
plural markers in nouns, tenses in verb, and so on (Katamba, 1993: 45). The
examples of stems are cat in the word cats, and worker in the word workers.
8. Root
A root or a ―bare root‖ is the ―irreducible core of the word‖ (Katamba,
1993: 45). The examples of roots are cat in the word cats and work in the word
workers.
9. Nomina Actionis (NA)
As in Szymanek‘s book, he said that ―there exist in many languages more
or less productive derivational affixes used precisely for turning lexical verbs into
abstract nouns. The noun those derived, often called as a category Nomina Actionis (NA)‖ (Szymanek, 1989:120). In a simple way we can say that NA is a
noun word that derived from a verb.
10. Nomina Essendi (NE)
According to Szymanek‘s explanation in his book ―Another commonly
recognized transpositional category of word-formation are so called Nomina
Essendi i.e. abstract deadjectival nouns‖ (Szymanek, 1989:124). So NE is a noun
7 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter consists of two types of reviews, namely review of related
studies and review of related theories. The last part of this chapter is the
theoretical framework, which is used to show how the theories work to answer the
problem formulations.
A. Review of Related Studies
This part consists of a review of two previous studies from the field of
morphology that discuss the topic of English suffixes. Those studies are A
Synchronic Study on the Form of English suffix -ion by Bibit Nur Handono and A
Morphological Analysis of the Suffix –ic by Vivin Andhika Yuwono.
In the first study, Handono analyzed the English noun suffix {-ion}. He
formulated two problems; the first problem is about the allomorphs of suffix
{-ion} and their distribution based on the stems, while the second problem is
about the morphophonemic processes that occur in the attachment of suffix {-ion}
to the stems. As the result of the study, Handono found that the suffix {-ion} has
nine allomorphs, namely {-ion}, {-tion}, {-ition}, {-ation}, {-iation}, {-cation},
{-action}, {-sion}, and {-ution}. From those allomorphs, {-ation} is the most
productive one. The morphophonemic processes that occur in the suffix {-ion} are
stress shift, vowel change, consonant change, schwa epenthesis, deletion, and
In the second study, Yuwono analyzed another English suffix, namely the
suffix {-ic}. She formulated two problems in her study; the first problem is about
the process of the affixation of the suffix {–ic}, and the second problem is about
the morphophonemic processes that occur after the affixation of the suffix {–ic}.
As a result of the study, she found that the suffix {-ic} functions to form new
words with a change in grammatical category, namely creating adjectives from
nouns, but without any major change in meaning semantically. The suffix {-ic}
has some allomorphs, namely {-tic}, {-itic}, and {-atic}, which are found in the
stems that are borrowed directly from Greek and Latin, such as the words end in
the segments –sis, -ma, -x, -ite, -it is, and –m. However, Yuwono did not find any
definite answer on whether the variants {-tic}, {-itic}, and {-atic} are the
allomorphs of the suffix {–ic} because they are not in complementary distribution,
and it is difficult to determine the stem after the suffixation. The morphophonemic
processes that occur in the suffix {-tic} are stress shift, consonant and vowel
changes.
In the two related studies above, both researchers discuss an English
suffix. The first related study is about the noun suffix {-ion}, while the second
study is about the adjectival suffix {-ic}. The first study is related to this study
because both studies discuss a noun suffix, but this study discusses the suffix
{-cy}, which is different from the one discussed in the first study. The second
study also has the same object as this study, namely about the suffix. Furthermore,
object of this study. However, this study discusses a noun suffix, while the second
related study discusses an adjectival suffix.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Morphemes
In the book titled An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics, Gleason
described a morpheme as the smallest meaningful unit in the structure of the language. The morpheme as the smallest meaningful unit means that a morpheme
is a unit which cannot be divided without destroying or drastically altering the
meaning (Gleason, 1961: 53). There are two important traits to keep in mind about
morphemes; a morpheme is a recurrent phoneme or sequence of phonemes, and a
morpheme is not identical to a syllable or a word.
Firstly, a morpheme is generally a short, recurrent sequence of phonemes,
and it may even consist of only a single phoneme (Gleason, 1961: 52-53). For
example, the morpheme -s consists of only one phoneme, but it is still meaningful.
The morpheme -s has a big role in the word that it is combined with. When we
combine the morpheme -s with the word mango, it will result in the new word
mangoes. The new word produced this process is not *mangos, but mangoes, and
the morpheme -s serves an important function to change the word from a singular
noun into plural noun. On the other hand, not all recurrent sequences are
morphemes (1961: 53).
Secondly, although some short morphemes resemble a syllable, a
unit of sound and does not have any meaning, but a morpheme is a unit of
meaning and thus should be meaningful. For example, the word unpredictable has
five syllables; un, pre, dic, ta, and ble, but if we talk about the morpheme, it only
has three morphemes; un-, predict, and -able. The morpheme un- happens to
resemble the syllable un-, but the other morphemes are not identical to the
syllables.
Similarly, although some morphemes resemble a word, a morpheme is not
necessarily a word. A word is a sound or group of sounds that expresses a
meaning and forms an independent unit of a language, while a morpheme is the
smallest grammatical unit in a word (Finch, 2000: 104). In English, a word may
consist of several morphemes or just one morpheme. For example, the word polite
consists of only one morpheme. When combined with the noun suffix {-ness}, the
result is politeness, which is still one word but now consists of two morphemes,
namely polite and -ness. When further combined with the prefix {im-}, the result
is impoliteness, which is still one word but now consists of three morphemes,
namely im-, polite, and -ness.
Based on the independence to form a word, there are two types of
morpheme; free morpheme and bound morpheme. A free morpheme is a morpheme that ―can be a word by itself‖, while a bound morpheme is a morpheme that ―must be attached to another element‖(O‘Grady et al, 1997: 134).
Some examples of free morphemes are house and happy, while examples of
An affix is a bound morpheme that is attached to another morpheme or several other morphemes which consist of a free morpheme. Affixes are essential
in the English language, because affixation is the most frequent process to form
words in this language (Bauer, 1988: 19) and consequently many English words
are formed through affixation. Based on the position, affixes are classified into
four kinds, namely the prefix, the infix, the suffix, and the circumfix. A prefix is an affix that is placed before the stem. For example, in the word undo, the prefix
is {un-} and the stem is do, so undo {un-} + do. An infix is an affix that is placed inside or in the middle of a stem. In the Indonesian word kinerja, the infix
{-in-} is inserted in the middle of the stem kerja. A suffix is an affix that is placed after the stem. For example, the word economic comes from the stem economy
plus the suffix {–ic}, so economic economy + {–ic}. A circumfix is an affix that is placed around, namely before and after, a stem. For example, the word
kelaparan comes from the stem lapar plus the circumfix {ke—an}, so kelaparan {ke-} + lapar + {-an}. In English, only prefixes and suffixes are common.
Based on the function, the bound morphemes can be divided into two
functional categories; derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes
(Katamba, 1993: 47). Derivational morphemes are morphemes that form ―a word with a meaning and/or category distinct from that of its base‖ if attached to a base (O‘Grady et al, 1997: 144). When a derivational morpheme is attached to a
base, it can change the meaning or the class of the new resulting word. Some
example of the derivational morphemes are the noun suffix {-cy}, the adjectival
this kind of suffixes, it will change the class of the new word. When the word
private, which is an adjective, is combined with the derivational suffix {-cy}, it
becomes privacy, which is a noun, as shown in the process of private + {-cy}
privacy. An adjectival suffix {-ic} will change the word economy, which is a
noun, into economic, which is an adjective, in the process of economy + {-ic}
economic.
Meanwhile, inflectional morphemes are morphemes that are used for syntactic or grammatical reasons (Katamba, 1993: 45). It never changes the
meaning or the word class of the base. Some examples of the inflectional
morphemes are the plural suffix {-s}, the present tense suffix {-s}, and the past
tense suffix {-ed}. As discussed before, these suffixes will not change the word
class. When the word book, which is a noun, is combined with the inflectional
suffix {-s}, it results in the new word books, which is still a noun. The same thing
happens in the processes of walk + {-s} walks and walk + {-ed} walked.
When the word walk, which is a verb, is combined with the inflectional suffix {-s}
to mark the third-person singular present tense or the inflectional suffix {-ed} to
mark the past tense, the resulting words are walks and walked respectively, which
are still verbs.
Inflectional morphemes cannot be separated from stems. A stem is the part of a word that receives any inflectional affixes, namely the affixes whose presence
is required by the syntax, such as the singular and plural markers in nouns, tenses in verb, and so on (Katamba, 1993: 45). For instance, in the process cat + {-s}
the process work + {-er} + {-s} workers, the stem is worker, to which the
inflectional suffix {-s} is attached, instead of work.
On the other hand, a rootis the ―irreducible core of the word‖ (Katamba, 1993: 45), or in other words, the core of the word before it is combined with any
affixes. For instance, in the processes cat + {-s} cats and work + {-er} + {-s} workers, the roots are cat and work respectively. An unadorned root like boy
can be a base since it can have attached to it inflectional affixes like {–s} to form
the plural boys or derivational affixes like {–ish} to turn the noun boy into the
adjective boyish. A base is any unit to which any kind of affixes can be added, regardless of whether the affixes are inflectional or derivational (Katamba, 1993:
45). In other words, all roots and stems are also bases.
2. Review of the Suffix {-cy}
According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the suffix {-cy}
has two meanings. The first is ―quality, condition, state, or fact of being,‖ as seen
in the words accuracy and infancy. The second meaning is ―position, rank, or
office of,‖ as seen in the words baronetcy and chaplaincy (Webster, 2005: 359).
Similarly, according to Plag in the book Word Formation in English, derivatives
that receive the suffix {-cy} can denote ―states, properties, qualities, or facts,‖ or
metaphorically can refer to an ―office or institution,‖ for example in the word
presidency (Plag, 2002: 110-111).
Additionally, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary states that the suffix
be precise, as described further in Word Formation in English, the suffix {-cy}
attaches productively to nouns and adjectives that end in -ant/-ent sound, for
example presidency and efficiency respectively, as well as adjectives that end in
-ate sound, for instance adequacy and intimacy (Plag, 2002: 110).
Szymanek said that the form of the Nomina Essendi (NE) suffix involved
in such derivations is not quite transparent synchronically. According to
Marchand in Szymanek‘s book (1968: 232), ―in strictly descriptive terms, /si/ is
added to words in / nt/ whose final [t] is dropped in derivation‖. The process of
dropping the t into s is called spirantization. The examples of the morphological
type Xate Xacy are; accurate accuracy, adequate adequacy, delicate delicacy, immediate immediacy, private privacy, etc (Szymanek, 1989:
166-167)
3. Review of the Suffix {-ancy}/{-ency}
The Webster’s New World College Dictionary lists the suffixes {-ence}
and {-ency} together as one entry, and the suffixes {-ance} and {-ancy} together
as another entry. Unlike Webster’s, the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
lists the suffix {-ancy} and {-ency} together as one entry, thus considering them
as variants or allomorphs of the same suffix. Meanwhile, both Szymanek in
Introduction to Morphological Analysis and Plag in Word Formation in English
lists the suffix {-ancy}, {-ency}, {-ance}, and {-ence} together as variants of the
{-ancy}/{-ency} as the variants that are related to the suffix {-cy}, which is the
main topic of this study, the review in this part discusses all four variants as
necessary.
According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, the suffix {-ancy} means ―the act or process of; the quality or state of being‖ (Webster, 2005: 51),
while {-ency} means ―act, fact, quality, state, result, or degree‖ (Webster, 2005:
468). As we can see, both suffixes actually have similar definition or meaning.
Both {-ancy} and {-ency} derived from the Latin suffixes -antia and -entia
(Webster, 2005: 51).
This suffix can be attached to nouns, adjectives, and verbs to form nouns,
although {-ancy}/{-ency} formations tend to be ―de-adjectival,‖ unlike {-ance}/
{-ence} formations, which tend to be ―deverbal‖ (Marchand in Plag, 2002: 110).
Szymanek further discusses that the {-ancy}/{-ency} suffixes are often attached to
corresponding Latinate adjectives that end with -ant or -ent. The resulting
derivations with the {-ancy}/{-ency} suffixes are called the Nomina Essendy
(NE) forms of those -ant/-ent adjectives (1989: 163). However, not all adjectives
that end with -ant or -ent have corresponding nominalizations with the suffix
{-ancy}/{-ency}. Some -ant/-ent adjectives have corresponding nominalizations
with {-ance}/{-ence} instead, for example in elegant elegance (not *ellegancy), absent absence (not *abcency) (Szymanek, 1989: 164).
The suffix {-ancy}/{-ency} is described as ―closely related‖ to the suffix
110). As a result, there are many derivatives that can be analyzed as having two
suffixes, namely {-ant}/{-ent}+{-cy}, or only one suffix, namely {-ancy}/
{-ency}. For example, the word dependency can be analyzed either as depend +
{-ent} + {-cy} or depend + {-ency}. This argument is supported by Szymanek‘s
first explanation about affixation process with the suffix {-ancy}/{-ency}.
Szymanek argues that the form of the suffix {-ancy}/{-ency} is difficult to
determine synchronically, but there are at least two interpretations; the first
interpretation is that the basic shape of the suffix is phonologically /si/, which is
added to the adjective only after its final /-t/ has been dropped, and the second
interpretation is that the aforementioned phonological shape /si/ is represented underlyingly as a glide /y/, changed into [i] and then [ɪ] in the course of
phonological derivation, so that it may trigger the process of spirantization (ts)
stem finally. Before the suffixal glide is deleted, it causes spirantization of the base‘s final consonant: ts (Szymanek, 1989: 163-164).
Plag proposes a way to determine whether all the results of {-ancy}/
{-ency} suffixation always contain two suffixes like in the example of depend +
{-ent} + {-cy} above, namely that ―we would find -ance/-ence/-ancy/-ency
nominals only if there are corresponding -ant/-ent adjectives‖ (Plag, 2002: 110).
As the result, the words riddance and furtherance do not have the corresponding
adjectives *riddant and *furtherant, so Plag concludes that there is ―an
independent suffix -ance, in addition to a suffix combination -ant -ce‖ (Plag,
2002: 110). However, Plag‘s finding only applies to the {-ance}/{-ence} nouns,
adjectives. Therefore, the suffix {-ancy}/{-ency} remains closely related to the
suffix {-cy}.
In Introduction to Morphological Analysis, Szymanek also discusses two
problems concerning the {-ancy}/{-ency} suffix.
Yet, the nature of derivational relations characterizing many other Xence/Xance nouns is rather more obscure, precisely in those cases where the putative adjectival base is relatable to an independently existing verb. Then the abstract nominalization can often be interpreted as both a NA and a NE (Szymanek, 1989: 164-165).
Some examples of the abstract nominalizations above are:
persist persistent persistence
resist resistant resistance
The present participle verb form can be persisting and being persistent in the first
example, and it can be resisting and being resistant in the second example.
The variants of the former kind [Xce] are, as a rule, more commonly used in present-day English, whereas those in -cy are rarer and more likely to have secondary, idiosyncratic meanings; cf. brilliancy ‗quality or state of being brilliant‘ but also ‗an instance of brilliance‘. Having outlined the formal inconsistencies observable in the derivation of NE from adjectives in –ant/-ent, we now proceed to illustrate the regular derivations where the abstract noun has the form Xancy/Xency only and does not contain a verbal stem (Szymanek, 1989: 165).
The other examples are (1) Xence, Xency: complacent complacence
complacency, consistent consistence consistency; (2) Xance, Xancy:
abundant abundance abundancy, flamboyant flamboyance
flamboyancy. And the examples of the abstract noun that has the form
Xancy/Xency only and does not contain a verbal stem are (1) Xant, Xancy: militant
militancy, redundant redundancy; (2) Xent, Xency: adjacent adjacency,
4. Theory of Allomorphs
In the book titled Linguistics: An Introduction, morphs are ―the shapes of
morphemes as they are actually pronounced in a word‖ (Radford et al, 2003: 175).
In many cases, a morpheme can have more two morphs or more, which are known
as allomorphs of that morpheme (Radford et al, 2003: 175). Allomorphs are defined as ―variants of a morpheme which occurs in a certain definable environment‖ (Gleason, 1961: 61) or ―the variant forms of a morpheme‖
(O‘Grady et al, 2005: 114). In other words, allomorphs are different forms of the
same morpheme. This phenomenon is called allomorphy.
Of course, the allomorphs of a morpheme are not used randomly or
interchangeably at each language user‘s will. Distribution refers to the concept
that governs which allomorph must be used in a given linguistic context (Plag,
2002: 35). Complementary distribution occurs when one allomorph is exclusively found in one environment and the other allomorph is exclusively
found in a different environment, despite having the same meaning or serving the
same grammatical function (Plag, 2002: 37).
A variant of a morpheme is called an allomorph. They can be
orthographically different and or phonemically different. Katamba said, ―if
different morphs represent the same morpheme, they are grouped together and they are called allomorph of that morpheme‖ (Katamba, 1993: 26). Allomorphs
or serve the same grammatical function, and they are never found in an identical
context.
In relation to the concept of complementary distribution, it is important to
know in what condition we should use one allomorph, and in what condition we
should use the other. There are four types of allomorph conditioning;
phonological conditioning, grammatical conditioning, lexical conditioning, and
suppletion (Katamba, 1993: 28).
Phonological conditioning means the choice of allomorph for a particular context depends on the phonological properties or in other words the sound
structure. For example, the definite article the has three allomorphs; [ðɘ], [ði], and
['ði]. The first allomorph is used when it is followed by a consonant sound, the
second allomorph is used when it is followed by a vowel sound, and the last is
used if it is not followed by any word. Grammatical conditioning means the choice of allomorph for a particular context depends on the existence of a
particular grammar element. For example, the verb take has three allomorphs;
take, took, and taken. In a past tense sentence, grammatical rule dictates the choice
of the verb took (Katamba, 1993: 30). Lexical conditioning means the choice of allomorph for a particular context depends only on the presence of a certain word.
For example, the allomorph -en to indicate plural form can occur in the words
oxen and children, but cannot occur in the words *foxen or *beden (Katamba,
better, and best; and the present, past, and past participle allomorphs sing, sang,
and sung.
5. Theory of the Morphophonemic Process
Morphophonemic process is defined as the rule that ―accounts for the realization of phonologically conditioned allomorphs of morphemes‖ (Katamba,
1993: 34). In other words, the morphophonemic process is a process where the
morphological changes influence phonological condition. Therefore, both
morphology and phonology can determine the distribution of allomorph in a
particular context.
There are many kinds of morphophonemic processes; the common ones
are assimilation, dissimilation, insertion, deletion, metathesis, stress shift, vowel
change, and consonant change.
Assimilation is the process in which a sound takes on the characteristics of a neighboring sound (Wolfram and Johnson, 1982: 88). In other words,
assimilation is a way to make pronouncing words easier by making two different
sound segments more similar. The process of assimilation has two components;
the first is a sound that changes (the assimilating sound), and the second is the
sound that causes the change (the conditioning sound). For example, the prefix
{in-} takes the allomorph {il-} in the word illogical and {im-} in the word impolite. In the process of {in-} + logical illogical, the sound segment /n/ is the
assimilating sound and /l/ is the conditioning sound. Thus, the sound segment /n/
impolite, the sound segment /n/ is the assimilating sound and /p/ is the
conditioning sound. Here, the sound segment /n/ changes into /m/ to be more
similar to /p/, which is a labial consonant. There are two types of assimilation; the
first is the regressive assimilation and the second is progressive assimilation. In
regressive assimilation, the assimilating sound becomes more like the following
sound, like the examples of illogical and impolite above. On the contrary, in
progressive assimilation, the assimilating sound becomes more like the preceding
sound.
Dissimilation is ―the process in which segments change to become less like a neighboring segment‖ (Wolfram and Johnson, 1982: 88). In this process,
one of two similar or identical sounds in a word becomes less like the other. For
example, in the process of pole + {-al} polar and nodule + {-al} nodular,
the sound segment /l/ in the suffix {-al} changes into /r/, which sounds less like
the neighboring sound segment /l/. However, with the other bases that do not end with the sound segment /l/, such as cause + {-al} causal and inflection + {-al}
inflectional, there is no dissimilation.
Insertion, which is also known as epenthesis, is the process of inserting a segment or feature in a word (Wolfram and Johnson, 1982: 89). For example, in
spoken English, the words sherbet and realtor are sometimes pronounced as
sherbert and realator respectively. The word sherbet undergoes insertion of the
segment /r/, while the word realtor undergoes insertion of the segment /a/, which
Deletion is the process of deleting a segment or a feature from a word. For example, in spoken or informal English, the words I will [ay wil] undergo the
process of deletion and become I’ll [ayl]. Here, the sound segment /w/ undergoes
deletion. There are three types of deletion; aphesis, syncope, and apocope.
Aphesis is ―the loss of an unstressed initial vowel or a syllable‖, syncope is ―the
loss of a medial vowel or syllable‖, and apocope is ―the loss of a final vowel or syllable‖ (Wolfram and Johnson, 1982: 97).
Stress shift is the process of changing the stress in a syllable into another syllable. For example, in the processes 'Hungary + {-an} Hu'ngarian and
'Egypt + {-an} E'gyptian, there is a stress shift from the first syllable in
'Hungary and 'Egypt to the second syllable in Hu'ngarian and E'gyptian.
As suggested by the names, vowel change is the process of changing a vowel sound into another vowel sound, and and consonant change is the process of changing a consonant sound into another consonant sound. For example, the
words man and woman undergo vowel changes in their plural forms, men and
woman. In the former word, the vowel sound /æ/ changes into /e/, while in the
latter word, the vowel sounds /u/ and /ə/ both change into /i/. Meanwhile, a
consonant change occurs from the word house as a noun to house as a verb. The
final consonant sound changes from /s/ in the noun to /z/ in the verb.
C. Theoretical Framework
In this analysis, there are three questions in the problem formulation that
the suffix {-cy}. The second question is about the meanings of the suffix {-cy}.
The last question is about the morphophonemic processes that occur in the
suffixation of the suffix {-cy} and the allomorphs of the suffix {-cy}. To answer
all the questions in the problem formulation, the theories mentioned in the review
of related theories will be used as the background.
The theories about morphemes, which include relevant concepts such as
free and bound morphemes, derivational and inflectional morphemes, suffixes,
and base, as well as the reviews of the suffixes {-cy}, {-ancy}/{-ency} and
{-acy}, combined with the data from dictionary references, will be used to answer
the first problem formulation about the bases in words that receive the suffix
{-cy}. These theories are useful because by understanding the definitions and the
examples of morphemes, especially the affixes, the writer can distinguish the
words which have undergone affixation with the suffix {-cy} or its allomorphs,
and which words have not undergone affixation despite containing the segment
-cy. Furthermore, the knowledge about base in affixation as well as the suffixes
{-cy}, {-ancy}/{-ency} and {-acy} help the writer to identify the base of words
containing the suffix {-cy}, the class of the words, as well as the origin of the
word and the suffixes.
The reviews of the suffixes {-cy}, {-ancy}/{-ency} and {-acy} will still be
used to answer the second problem formulation about the meanings of the suffix
{-cy}, combined with the data from dictionary references. These theories are
the suffixes‘ etymological information, the suffixes‘ meanings and the words‘
meanings from the dictionary.
Finally, the theories about allomorphs and morphophonemic processes
will be used to answer the last problem formulation about the allomorphs of the
suffix {-cy} and the morphophonemic processes which occur in the affixation of
the suffix {-cy}. These theories are useful because they help us examine each of
the processes undergone by the words as they receive the suffix {-cy}, and thus
25 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
This chapter contains descriptions of the methodology used in conducting
this study. This chapter consists of three parts; the first part explains about the
data used in this study as well as the source of data, the second part explains about
the approach used to analyze the data, and the last part details the process and the
steps taken by the writer to conduct this study.
A. Data of the Study
The data for this study are comprised of English words that end with the
suffix {-cy} or the allomorphs of the suffix {-cy}. The data for any academic
study must be taken from valid sources; in this study, the data are taken from two
reliable English dictionaries, namely the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English and the Webster’s New World College Dictionary. The fifth edition of the
Longman Dictionary, which was published by Pearson Education Limited in
2009, and the fourth edition of the Webster’s Dictionary, which was published by
Wiley Publishing in 2005, were used for this study. This study uses the latest
edition of both dictionaries, thus ensuring that all the data taken from the
dictionaries are up to date. The dictionaries provide definitions, etymologies, as
well as the phonetic transcriptions of the words, which are to help the writer
B. Approach of the Study
In writing A Study of the Meaning and Allomorphs of the English Suffix
{-cy}, two approaches are employed in this study; the first is the morphological
approach itself and the second is the phonological approach.
Morphological approach is the primary approach used in this study.
Morphology is a branch of linguistics which studies the internal structure of words
and processes of word formation. Most of the theories used in this study come
from the field of morphology, for example the theories about morphemes, prefixes
and suffixes, affixation process, and allomorphs. This approach is thus suitable for
this study since this study analyzes one of the English suffixes, namely the suffix
{-cy}.
However, discussing the process of suffixation inevitably involves some
aspects of phonology. Therefore, phonological approach is also used in this study.
Phonology is a part of linguistics that studies about the sounds patterns of human
language. The phonological approach is suitable for this study because it helps to
reveal the changes in sound patterns and stress patterns after the process of
suffixation. Both morphological and phonological approaches are equally useful
when analyzing the morphophonemic process, the combination of morphological
process and phonological process in which changes in spelling and changes in
sound will be seen very clearly.
C. Method of the Study
Library research was applied as the method of this study, which means that
all the data used in this study were obtained from written materials, such as
dictionaries and books about relevant theories. This method was chosen as the
suitable method for this study because the object of this study is words containing
the suffix {-cy}, which cannot be separated from written materials and
standardized in the form of dictionaries. Explanation on the method of this study
is grouped into two processes, namely the data collection and data analysis
process.
1. Data Collection
The data for this study were collected from two dictionary sources, namely
the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and the Webster’s New World
College Dictionary. The data were collected by scanning the Longman Dictionary
of Contemporary English and listing all dictionary entries that end with the suffix
{-cy} or its allomorphs, namely {-ancy} and {-ency}, as well as the bases of those
words. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English was also used to collect the
phonetic transcriptions and word classes of each entry, while Webster’s New
World College Dictionary was used to collect the definitions and etymology of
each entry. At the end of the process, the writer collected 76 words that end with
2. Data Analysis
Several steps were taken by the writer to analyze the data and answer the
problems formulated in the first chapter. Firstly, the data were collected through
the process described above. In this step, the data were obtained from Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English and Webster’s New World College
Dictionary in the form of words that end with the suffix {-cy} or its allomorphs,
{-ancy} and {-ency}.
Secondly, the data were sorted and examined in order to identify the bases
and the meanings of the words. The bases were further analyzed and categorized
based on word classes and etymological origins. The meanings of the words were
also analyzed and categorized based on word classes.
In some cases, some words have more than one word class or more than
one etymological origin. If a word is listed as having more than one word class,
the more common word class is chosen, while considering the meaning after
suffixation. For example, the base of the word captaincy, which means ―the job of
being a captain‖, is captain. The word captain itself has two word classes; a noun,
which means ―someone who leads a team or other group of people‖, and a verb, which means ―to lead a group or team of people and be their captain‖. Not only
the word captain is more common as a noun rather than the verb and listed first in
the dictionary entry, but it also makes more sense when the meaning is combined;
captaincy means ―the job of being someone who leads a team or other group of
their captain‖. Therefore, the base of captaincy is captain as a noun. Meanwhile,
if a word has more than one etymology, the oldest one is used.
Thirdly, the underlying forms, which consist of the bases combined with
the suffix {-cy}, and the phonetic forms of the resulting words were transcribed
and compared in order to identify the morphophonemic processes undergone in
the suffixation. All changes of forms in each morphophonemic process were also
transcribed. All phonetic transcriptions were made using the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols, based on the Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English pronunciation guide. Finally, all the findings were
30 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter contains the analysis of the problems formulated in the first
chapter. After the data collection was carried out, one hundred and two words
ending with the segment -cy were collected. Out of those words, only seventy six
words qualify to be analyzed because they have the suffix {-cy}, including its
possible allomorphs {-ancy}/{-ency}, as the derivational ending. Meanwhile, the
other twenty nine words cannot be analyzed in this study because in some cases
the segment -cy is an inseparable part of the word and thus not a bound morpheme
at all, such as the word fancy, and in other cases the segment -cy is part of another,
unrelated suffix, such as the Greek suffix {-cracy} in democracy and technocracy.
As an exception, some words with the prefix {in-} are not analyzed here
because the analysis will be redundant. The prefix {in-} means not, so the prefix
{in-} simply changes the meaning of the word from positive into negative, while
the other features remain the same as the base before receiving the prefix {in-}. If
words with the prefix {in-} are analyzed, the analysis will be mostly the same as
the base without the prefix {in-}.
The first part of this chapter discusses the bases that receive the suffix
{-cy}. The second part discusses the meanings of the suffix {-cy} and the
resulting words, and the last part discusses the allomorphs and the
A. The Bases Attached to the Suffix {-cy}
Seventy seven words which are comprised of a base and the suffix {-cy}
or its variants are analyzed in this part. With regards to the etymological origins,
most of the bases were derived from Latin according to the Webster’s New World
College Dictionary, for example accurate (2005: 10), advocate (2005: 20), and
private (2005: 1142). Only few of the bases were derived from the Indo-European
languages, Spanish, Greek, Celtic, French, and English itself. The examples of
these bases will be discussed in detail below. With regards to the word classes, the
bases can be classified into three word classes; adjectives, nouns, and verbs, as
shown in the following table.
Base Word Classes
Base Etymology
Subtotal
Latin I-Eur Sp Greek Celtic Fr Eng
Adjective 45 3 1 0 0 0 0 49
Noun 18 2 0 1 1 1 1 24
Verb 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Total 66 5 1 1 1 1 1 76
Table 1. Bases Attached to the Suffix {-cy}
1. Adjective Bases
The adjective bases that are attached to the suffix {-cy} have some
characteristics. Etymologically, these bases are derived from Latin, Spanish, and
Indo-European languages. Most of these adjectives end with the segments -ate,
-ant, and -ent, but there are some exceptions; some adjectives end with -c, -me, -pt
The Latinate adjective bases dominate the findings in this part. There are a
total of forty-five words with Latinate adjective bases, including two bases from Old Latin and three bases from Late Latin, in the data collection.
Bases Words Origin
accurate accuracy Latin
adequate adequacy Latin
ascendant ascendancy Latin
bankrupt bankruptcy Latin
belligerent belligerency Latin
coherent coherency Latin
competent competency Latin
complacent complacency Latin
confederate confederacy L. Latin
consistent consistency Latin
constant constancy Latin
constituent constituency Latin
contingent contingency Latin
deficient deficiency Latin
delicate delicacy O. Latin
delinquent delinquency Latin
dependent dependency Latin
discrepant discrepancy Latin
efficient efficiency Latin
excellent excellency Latin
expectant expectancy Latin
expedient expediency Latin
false fallacy Latin
frequent frequency Latin
hesitant hesitancy Latin
immediate immediacy L. Latin
incumbent incumbency Latin
infant infancy Latin
insurgent insurgency Latin
intimate intimacy Latin
intricate intricacy Latin
legitimate legitimacy Latin
literate literacy Latin
lunatic lunacy Latin
malignant malignancy L. Latin
numerate numeracy Latin
pregnant pregnancy O. Latin
private privacy Latin
proficient proficiency Latin
redundant redundancy Latin
secret secrecy Latin
sufficient sufficiency Latin
supreme supremacy Latin
transparent transparency Latin
vacant vacancy Latin
Table 2. Latinate adjective bases attached to suffix {-cy}
From the bases listed in Table 2 above, there are thirty Latinate adjective
coherent, competent, complacent, consistent, constant, constituent, contingent,
deficient, delinquent, dependent, discrepant, efficient, excellent, expectant,
expedient, frequent, hesitant, incumbent, infant, insurgent, proficient, redundant,
sufficient, transparent, and vacant, as well as pregnant from Old Latin and
malignant from Late Latin.
Referring to Szymanek‘s theory, these Latinate adjective bases are turned
into Nomina Essendi. Nomina Essendi is a noun that is created from an adjective
by means of suffixation, as elaborated in the quotation below.
The traditional categorical designation ―Nomina Essendi‖ (NE) denotes a class of abstract deadjectival nominalizations meaning, roughly, ‗quality/state of being A‘. As has already been noted, the function of the process in question is transpositional. This means that an adjective is turned into a noun precisely for the purpose of changing its word-class membership, which is conditioned by the syntax. Unless the product of such a syntactic shift undergoes semantic lexicalization, no specific meaning modification is involved in its derivation (Szymanek, 1989: 154-155).
The Latinate bases that end with -ant/-ent have corresponding Nomina Essendi
forms in -ancy/-ency. For example, the adjective ascendant receives the suffix
{-cy} to form the noun ascendancy; belligerent belligerency; coherent
coherency; competent competency; pregnant pregnancy; redundant
redundancy; vacant vacancy, and so on.
The suffix {-cy} can also be found attached to Latinate adjective bases that
end with the segment -ate. From the bases listed in Table 2 above, there are nine
Latinate adjective bases that end with -ate; namely accurate, adequate, intimate,
intricate, legitimate, literate, numerate, as well as delicate from Old Latin and
the suffix {-acy}. This is supported by Szymanek in his statement, ―In any event,
the formal limitation on Xacy derivations is quite evident: the base adjective must
be of the form Xate‖ (Szymanek, 1989: 166), as exemplified in
accurateaccuracy adequateadequacy delicatedelicacy immediateimmediacy intimate intimacy
intricateintricacy legitimatelegitimacy literateliteracy numerate numeracy
There are only few Latinate adjective bases that do not end with -ant/-ent
and -ate. From the bases listed in Table 2 above, there is only one base that ends
with -t (secret), one base that ends with -k (lunatic), one base that ends with -pt
(bankrupt), and one base that ends with -m (supreme).
Since the segments -ate and -t both have the voiceless stop /t/ as final
sound, the base secret undergoes a nearly identical affixation process as the nine
bases that end with -ate. While the segment -ate is replaced with the suffix {-acy},
for example in delicate delicacy, the segment -t is replaced with the suffix
{-cy}, as seen in secret secrecy. It is interesting to note that another segment
undergoes a partly similar process; -atic is replaced with the suffix {-acy}, thus
producing lunatic lunacy. Unlike other bases, bankrupt and supreme do not
lose their final sound before receiving the suffix {-acy} and {-cy} respectively,
thus producing bankrupt bankruptcy rather than *bankrupcy or *bankrupacy
and supreme supremacy rather than *supremency or *suprecy. The base
supreme is also unique because it is the only Latinate adjective base that ends with
Non-Latinate adjective bases which are attached to the suffix {-cy} are
quite few in number. Only three words with Indo European adjective bases were found in the data collection.
Bases Words Origin of Base clement clemency Indo European
decent decency Indo European
potent potency Indo European
Table 3. Indo European adjective bases attached to suffix {-cy}
Webster’s New World College Dictionary lists the three bases above as
originating from Indo-European bases, although the Indo-European bases are hypothetical because ―there is no written record of Indo-European‖ (Webster,
2005: xvii). Clement came from Latin word clemens, which was probably derived
from Indo European base klei- (Webster, 2005: 273). Decent came from Middle
French decent, which was derived from Latin decens, which was derived from
Indo European base dek- (Webster, 2005: 374). Potent came from Latin potens,
which was derived from another Latin word potis, which was derived from Indo
European base potis (Webster, 2005: 1126). All Indo European adjective bases
end with the segment -ent. Despite their Indo European origins, the principle of
Nomina Essendi still applies to them. For example, the adjective clement receives
Finally, only one word with Spanish adjective base was found in the data collection. This base can be seen in the table below.
Bases Words Origin of Base buoyant buoyancy Spanish
Table 4. Spanish adjective bases attached to suffix {-cy}
As presented in Table 4 above, the only Spanish adjective base ends with
the segment -ant, namely buoyant. Similar to the Indo European bases above, the
principle of Nomina Essendi still applies to the Spanish base. The adjective
buoyant receives the suffix {-cy} to form the noun buoyancy.
2. Noun Bases
Compared to the adjective bases, the noun bases that are attached to the
suffix {-cy} have slightly more varying etymological origins. The bases are
derived from Latin, Greek, Indo-European, Middle English, and Celtic. Just like
the adjective bases, most of the noun bases also end with -ate and -ant/-ent, but
there are some noun bases which end with -ain, -ct, -t, -l, and -p. In this study,
twenty-four noun bases were found in the data collection.
Determining noun bases and verb bases may present a problem which is
not found when finding adjective bases, because many words have identical forms
as a noun and as a verb. In this study, the word class of bases is determined by
looking for the most common word class and comparing the definition. For
a noun and a verb. As a noun, captain means ‘someone who leads a team or other group of people’, while as a verb it means ‘to lead a group or team of people and
be their captain’. Captaincy itself means ‘the job of being a captain’. To choose
which class of word that match into the word captaincy, the writer looks at the
most common word class that the suffix {-cy} usually takes and the meaning after
the bases are attached to the suffix {-cy}. From the data, the writer can see that the
suffix {-cy} is usually attached to the adjective, the noun, and the verb. The most
common base of the suffix {-cy} is the adjective, the second is the noun, and the
last is the verb. So here the writer decides to take the word captain as a noun as
the base of the word captaincy because the noun is more common than the verb.
The meaning of the word captaincy will be strange if the writer takes the word
captain as a verb as the base of the word captaincy, *the job of being to lead a
group of people and be their captain. The meaning of the word captaincy should
be, ‘the job of being someone who leads a team or other group of people’.
According to Quirk et al (1985: 45), nouns are categorized into four
classifications; they are concrete noun, abstract noun, countable noun, and
uncountable noun. By looking at the data of the noun bases that the writer found
in the dictionary, most of the noun bases of the suffix {-cy} can be classified as
concrete countable nouns while some bases can be classified as abstract noun.
As with the adjective bases, the Latinate noun bases also dominate the
Bases Words Origin of Base Classification accountant accountancy Latin concrete countable advocate advocacy Latin concrete countable agent agency Latin concrete countable candidate candidacy Latin concrete countable captain captaincy Latin concrete countable chaplain chaplaincy Mid Latin concrete countable consultant consultancy Latin concrete countable curate curacy Latin concrete countable current currency Latin concrete countable effect efficacy Latin abstract uncountable magistrate magistracy Latin concrete countable occupant occupancy Latin concrete countable president presidency Latin concrete countable primate primacy Latin concrete countable prophet prophecy Late Latin concrete countable regent regency Latin concrete countable resident residency Latin concrete countable vagrant vagrancy Latin concrete countable
Table 5. Latin noun bases attached to suffix {-cy}
From the bases listed in Table 5, there are eight Latinate noun bases that
end with the segment -ant/-ent, namely consultant, occupant, vagrant, accountant,
agent, president, regent, and resident. All these Latinate noun bases can be
classified as concrete nouns, to be specific concrete nouns related to occupations.
The affixation of these noun bases completely resemble the affixation of the
similarity, these noun bases do not undergo Nomina Essendi, because Nomina
Essendi is defined as ―deadjectival nominalizations‖ (Szymanek, 1989: 154). If
the resulting nouns are not created from adjective bases, then the process cannot
be considered as Nomina Essendi.
Just like the adjective bases, besides -ant/-ent, there are also five Latinate
noun bases that end with the segment -ate, namely advocate, candidate, curate,
magistrate, and primate. These noun bases are also concrete nouns which are
related to occupations. Again, although not directly discussed in Szymanek‘s
theory, which focuses on affixation from adjective bases, the affixation of these
noun bases actually resembles the affixation of similar adjective bases in form.
After the affixation, the segment -ate is replaced by the suffix {-acy}, for example
in advocate advocacy, candidate candidacy, curate curacy, magistrate magistracy, and primate primacy.
There are only few Latinate noun bases that do not end with ant/ent or
-ate; there are two bases that end with -ain, namely captain and chaplain, two
bases that end with -et, namely prophet and tenet, and one base that ends with -kt,
namely effect. Those words are comprised of both abstract and concrete nouns,
both countable and uncountable. The bases captain, chaplain, and prophet are still related to a person‘s occupation or position, but tenet and effect refer to a more
abstract concept. The suffix {-cy} is directly attached to the two bases that end with -ain, as shown in captain captaincy and chaplain chaplaincy, but each
of the other bases receive the suffix {-cy} differently. For example, the base tenet
effect does not become *effectcy, but becomes effifacy instead. These unique
patterns are not repeated with other bases.
Non-Latinate noun bases which are attached to the suffix {-cy} are also
few in number. Only two words with Indo European noun bases were found in the data collection, as shown in the following table.
Bases Words Origin of Base Classification pirate piracy Indo European concrete countable
tenant tenancy Indo European concrete countable
Table 6. Indo European noun bases attached to suffix {-cy}
Just like the bases in Table 3, the two bases above are listed as originating
from Indo-European bases hypothetically. Pirate came from Latin word pirata,
which was derived from Greek peirates and peiran, which was derived from Indo
European base per- (Webster, 2005: 1096). Tenant came from Middle English
tenaunt, which was derived from Old French tenant and tenir, which was derived
from Latin tenere, which was derived from Indo European base ten- (Webster,
2005: 1474). As shown in the table above, one of the noun bases ends with the
segment-ate, namely pirate, while the other base ends with the segment -ant,
namely tenant. Both can be classified as concrete countable nouns, which are related to a person‘s occupation or status. Just like their Latinate counterparts,
these bases are not regarded as Nomina Essendi, but they do resemble the
While none of the adjective bases and verb bases was derived from Greek,
one word with Greek noun bases were found in the data collection, as shown in the following table.
Bases Words Origin of Base Classification idiot idiocy Greek concrete countable
Table 7. Greek noun bases attached to suffix {-cy}
Unlike the other bases, the Greek noun bases do not end with common
segments such as -ant/-ent or -ate. This of the base ends with -t (idiot).
Subsequently, the way they receive the suffix {-cy} is also different from one
another. The only base that resembles the other bases in the affixation is idiot,
which loses the final /t/ sound and receives the suffix {-cy}, thus producing idiot idiocy, which mirrors for instance secret secrecy. These bases can be
classified as concrete countable nouns.
Only one word with Middle English noun base, one word with French noun base, and one word with Celt noun base were found in the data collection. Because there is only one data for each origin, the data are presented together in
next page.
Base Word Origin of Base Classification baronet baronetcy Middle English concrete countable diplomat diplomacy French concrete countable truant truancy Celtic concrete countable
As shown in the table above, one of the Celt noun base ends with the
segment -ant, namely truant, while the other bases end with the segment
-t, namely diplomat and baronet. All the bases can be classified as concrete
countable nouns, which are related to a person‘s position or status. Although it
does not count as Nomina Essendi, the Celtic noun base truant resembles the
adjective bases and other noun bases that end with -ant in terms of affixation
form, as seen in truant truancy compared to elegant elegancy. The French
noun base diplomat loses the segment -t, while the base baronet directly receives
the suffix {-cy}.
3. Verb Bases
The verb bases in this study are not really productive. In fact, the writer
only found three verb bases which are attached to the suffix {-cy} in this study. Etymologically, these bases are solely derived from Latin. The findings are
presented in the next page.
Base Word Origin of Base
conserve conservancy Latin
conspire conspiracy Latin
tend tendency Latin
