A Study On The Mutual Constraints Of English Class 1 And Class 2 Affixes On Their Corresponding Stems

Affixes take up a large proportion in English. From the point of lexicon strata, affixes can be divided into two types:Class 1 and Class 2 affixes. This paper aims to study the mutual constraints of English Class 1, Class 2 Affixes and their corresponding stems. Then comes the conclusion that English Class 1, Class 2 affixes and their corresponding stems have mutual constraints which are embodied in these four aspects including phonological, morphological, semantic factors and lexicon strata.In the aspect of phonological constraint, English inflectional Class 1 affixes have their own specific constraint which is well embodied in the diachronic factor. Futhermore, this paper divides infixes into two types:Class 1 affixes and Class 2 affixes. Infixes have their inner prosodic structure which well illustrates their phonological constraint. In the aspect of morphological constraint, English Class 1 affixes and Class 2 affixes have a close relation with native morphemes or foreign morphemes that the stems are provided with. In the aspect of semantic constraint, English inflectional Class 1 affixes and Class 2 affixes have a correlative relation with markedness, the property of the stem, and the interrelative of core word and the stem. On the other hand, English Class 2 affixes are more predictable than Class 1 affixes. In other words, English Class 2 affixes are meaning-direct while Class 1 affixes are meaning-indirect. In the aspect of lexicon strata, English Class 1 and Class2 affixes experience different filtrating processes according to different strata existing based on the Stratal Optimality Theory. Moreover, English Class 1 and Class2 affixes that lie on different strata are inclined to abide by the "economic principle" in the process of affix usage.English learners will effectively understand the grammatical and lexical meaning of words if they learn the basic knowledge of the relation between Class 1 and Class 2 affixes and their corresponding stems, thus helping them to better understand and memorize English words.