Properties of roots:
- main part of word
- must be at least one in a word
- in English, limited to two in a word (simple words have one, compound words have two); where roots are bound, as in Latin or Greek, more can occur in a word, but the number of roots in a particular word is generally small;
- can occur independently (free roots)--although bound roots , particularly classical, occur
- tend to have richer, more specific semantic content
- position is relatively free with respect to other roots (cf. photograph vs. telephoto)
Properties of affixes:
- subordinate part of word
- not necessarily present--some words occur without any
- multiple affixes can occur in a word (e.g. in-divis-abil-ity)
- are dependent (bound) elements (where independent form found, generally to some degree dissociated from the bound version)
- have more "schematic" (non-specific) content; often grammar-like function
- can either precede or follow their roots ( prefixes and suffixes ,respectively)
- position for a given affix with respect to root is fixed
