There are just two extant English
words that use the Middle English suffix -head. What are they?
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Answer:
godhead and maidenhead
The suffix -head carries the same sense as the suffix
-hood. Thus, godhead is god-hood, the state of being a god, and
maidenhead is maidenhood, the state of being a
maiden - i.e. a virgin.
Note that the
suffix -head is not the same as the combining form
-head, as in masthead. Combining forms CREATE
the sense of the word (e.g., the bio- in
biology), whereas prefixes and suffixes modify a pre-existing
sense.
Feedback
What about bridgehead?
[Mootguy: The "-head" in
"bridgehead" isn't a suffix.]
gregfelton. at .shaw.ca
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Hey! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. And, what about Ayn Rand's
Fountainhead?
[Mootguy: The "-head" in
"Fountainhead" isn't a
suffix.]
EverPsyPgh. at .aol.com
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I liked your
explanation of prefixes and suffixes modifying a pre-existing sense as opposed
to combinations that create the sense of a word. Thanks.
belstrauss. at .yahoo.com
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I thought of beachhead and redhead, but I can
see now that they also don't qualify as suffixes.
jpmackay. at .sympatico.ca
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You're right in your distinction between words created through
suffixes and prefixes, where the newly coined words nevertheless have a single
discernible "stem," and compound words, where the constituent words are, shall
we say, equal partners in a joint venture.
jacko, at ,lycos.com
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