Unveiling the etymology of prefixes and suffixes (Part 2)

Last week, we looked at a number of English prefixes and suffixes and showed that these could be related to Setswana. In short, we demonstrated that they work in exactly the same way and do the same job as in Setswana.

We even went as far as showing that the very terms ‘prefix’ and ‘suffix’ can be directly related to Setswana…or rather to Bantu languages in general – all against the grain of conventional linguistics’ supposition that Indo-European bears no genetic relationship with any other language family. Instead, I have unearthed signs that there was once indeed a single global language, just as averred in Genesis 11.

To recap on the terms ‘prefix’ and ‘suffix’ themselves, we noted that the base word is ‘fix’ (make [something] adhere to a contact point). We related it to the Nguni term fikisa (now fitlhisa in Setswana) meaning ‘make arrive’ or ‘help reach a [contact] point’. We then sought to find out how the prefix pre can also be related to Setswana. Pre (‘before’) relates to the proto-term pere (before) which in turn relates to pele in Setswana, after duly factoring in the linguistically well-known sound-shift from l to r and vice-versa. As for the prefix su in ‘suffix’, this was a little more complicated. Su means ‘under’ (e.g. sous in French, pronounced ‘soo’) or, indeed, ‘after’, as in ‘suite’, and its old Setswana equivalent is s’oo – ‘selo’ (‘thing’) in full: se (it is like) + lo (you are) – thus something like, or after the fashion of’.

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