Compound verbs in English consisting of Latin prefix and Latin verb

Some compound verbs in English consist of two morphemes: a Latin prefix and a Latin verb.

Table of contents

1 Morpheme boundary

2 Spelling

Morpheme boundary

The boundary between the prefix and verb is mostly unclear to English speakers unfamiliar with linguistics and Latin. For example, for a long time, "descend" (de- + scend) was thought to be made of des- and cend, hence it was also spelled dis- and dys-.

Spelling

Due to assimilation, the roots of some of the English verbs listed here are difficult to recognize. For example, ad- + ludo ("play") results in allude rather than *adlude. On the other hand, once a learner knows the rule they are less likely to make spelling mistakes: That the word aggressive is spelt with gg is due to the fact that it derives from ad + gredior, with -dg-, as it is more difficult to pronounce, having been turned into the easier -gg- (so that *agressive must be considered wrong).

Latin verbs

ago, egi, actus "do", "move"
cedo, cessi, cessurus "go"
cludo (claudo), clusi, clusus "close"
duco, duxi, ductus "pull", "lead"
facio, feci, factus "make", "do"
fero, ferre, tuli, latus "carry"
gradior (gredior) gressus "go", "pace"
iacio, ieci, iectus "throw"
ludo, lusi, lusus "play"
mergo, mersi, mersus "dip (in)", "sink"
mitto, misi, missus "send"
pono, posui, positus "put"
premo, pressi, pressus "press"
rumpo, rupi, ruptus "break"
scribo, scripsi, scriptum "write"
volvo, volvi, volutus "roll"

Latin prefixes

a(b)- "from"
ad- "towards", "in the direction of"
con- "together", "with"
de- "away from"
e(x)- "out of"
in- "in", "into"
inter- "between"
iuxta- "near", "close to"
ob- "towards"
prae- "before"
pro- "onward", "forward", "in favour of"
re- "again"
se- "away from"
sub- "beneath", "under"
trans- "beyond"

Some examples

	fero	mitto	pono	premo	scribo	volvo
a(b)-	---	---	---	---	---	---
ad-	---	admit admission	---	---	ascribe	---
con-	confer conference	commit commission	compose composition	compress compression	conscribe conscription	convoluted
de-	defer deference	---	depose deposition	depress depression	describe description	devolve devolution
e(x)-	---	emit emission	expose exposition	express expression	---	evolve evolution
in-	infer inference	---	impose	impress impression	inscribe inscription	involve involvement
inter-	interfere interference	intermittent	interpose	---	---	---
iuxta-	---	---	juxtapose juxtaposition	---	---	---
ob-	offer	omit omission	oppose opposition	oppress oppression	---	---
prae-	prefer preference	---	preposition	---	prescribe prescription	---
pro-	---	---	propose proposal	---	proscription	---
re-	refer relate	remit remission	repose	repress repression	---	revolve revolver, revolution
se-	---	---	---	---	---	---
sub-	suffer	submit submission	suppose supposition	suppress suppression	subscribe subscription	---
trans-	transfer translate	transmit transmission	transpose transposition	---	transcribe transcription	---