Prefixes, Suffixes, and Self-explaining Compounds.--The English
tongue lost much of its power of using prefixes. A prefix joined to a
well-known word changes its meaning and renders the coining of a new
term unnecessary. The Anglo-Saxons, by the use of prefixes, formed ten
compounds from their verb _fl=owan_, "to flow." Of these, only one
survives in our "overflow." From _sittan_, "to sit," thirteen
compounds were thus formed, but every one has perished. A larger
percentage of suffixes was retained, and we still have many words like
"wholesome-ness," "child-hood," "sing-er."

The power of forming self-explaining compounds was largely lost. The
Saxon compounded the words for "tree," and "worker," and said
_tr=eow-wyrhta_, "tree-wright," but we now make use of the single word
"carpenter." We have replaced the Saxon _b=oc-craeft_, "book-art," by
"literature"; _=aefen-gl=om_, "evening-gloom," by "twilight";
mere-sw=in, "sea-swine," by "porpoise"; _=eag-wraec_, "eye-rack," by
"pain in the eye"; _leornung-cild_, "learning-child," by "pupil." The
title of an old work, _Ayen-bite of In-wit_, "Again-bite of In-wit,"
was translated into "Remorse of Conscience." _Grund-weall_ and
_word-hora_ were displaced by "foundation" and "vocabulary." The
German language still retains this power and calls a glove a
"hand-shoe," a thimble a "finger-hat," and rolls up such clumsy
compound expressions as _Unabhängigkeits-erklärung_.

We might lament this loss more if we did not remember that Shakespeare
found our language ample for his needs, and that a considerable number
of the old compounds still survive, as _home-stead, man-hood,
in-sight, break-fast, house-hold, horse-back, ship-man, sea-shore,
hand-work_, and _day-light_.