alpha privative

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

alpha privative (plural alpha privatives)

  1. (grammar) The prefix a- (or an- when prefixing a root which begins with a vowel) found in some English words of Greek derivation. It expresses negation or absence. The prefix has cognates in other Indo-European languages, including in- in Latin and un- in English, all traceable back to Proto-Indo-European *n̥-.
    Synonyms: alpha privativum; privative a
  2. (grammar) Either the aforementioned privative a or the Greek ἀ- (a-) itself (from which the English descendant derives).
    Synonym: alpha privativum
    Hyponym: privative a
  3. (grammar) A word formed using such prefixes.
[edit]

Translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]