of four non-syllabic prefixes (∅, ł, d, l) to create a verb theme. Sunwar In the Sunwar language of Eastern Nepal, the prefix ma- म is used to create negative verbs. It is the only verbal prefix in the language. Russian As a part of the formation of nouns, prefixes are less common in Russian than suffixes, but alter the meaning of a word. {| |- |пред- and положение 'position' becomes предположение 'supposition' |- | пре- and образование 'formation (verb)' becomes преобразование 'transformation' |} German In German, derivatives formed with prefixes may be classified in two categories: those used with substantives and adjectives, and those used with verbs. For derivative substantives and adjectives, only two productive prefixes are generally addable to any substantive or adjective as of 1970: un-, which expresses negation (as in ungesund, from gesund), and ur-, which means "original, primitive" in substantives, and has an emphatic function in adjectives. ge-, on the other hand, expresses union or togetherness, but only in a closed group of words—it cannot simply be added to any noun or adjective. Verbal prefixes commonly in use are be-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, and zer- (see also Separable verb). be- expresses strengthening or generalization. ent- expresses negation. ge- indicates the completion of an action, which is why its most common use has become the forming of the past participle of verbs; ver- has an emphatic function, or it is used to turn a substantive or an adjective into a verb. In some cases, the prefix particle ent- (negation) can be considered the opposite of particle be-, while er- can be considered the opposite of ver-. The prefix er- usually indicates the successful completion of an action, and sometimes the conclusion means death. With fewer verbs, it indicates the beginning of an action. The prefix er- is also used to form verbs from adjectives (e.g. erkalten is equivalent to kalt werden which means "to get cold"). See also Affix Suffix Privative Bound and unbound morphemes English prefix List of Greek and Latin roots in English substring#Prefix Metric prefix References Works cited Affixes Lexical units Linguistics terminology