Besides the above prefixes, there are certain other prefixes which are considered to be negative prefixes. Some grammarians do not classify them into the group of negative prefixes, and some scholars consider them to be negative prefixes. According to Jeff March et al (2003) there are 12 negative prefixes in English: anti-, de-, dis-, dys-, il-, im-, ir-, mal-, mis-, non-, and un-. Pavol Kvetko (2003) considers the following prefixes to be negative ones: a-, de-, dis-, in-, il-, im-, ir-, non-, un-. Therefore, this issue is so controversial, and much debate has been given about it. However, due to the limited time and conditions, each prefix won’t be studied separately and fully.
The prefix anti-, according to Thomas Tsoi (2008), is a highly productive prefix. It came from Old Greek and conveys the meaning of against, counter, opposite. For example, antibiosis, anti-black, antibody, antiasthma, antiauthoritarian. The Greek word antichristos is considered to be the first anti- word in English. Later the prefix anti- was also used with other words e.g. anti – duke, anti – creation, anti – music, anti – poison, anti – hero (Marchand, 1960). Nowadays anti- means opposed to a particular system or practice or to a particular group of people or their policies, culture or power. It expresses someone’s negative attitude, for example, anti – American, anti – religious, anti – social. In medical English, it means intended to prevent something from happening or to destroy something harmful, for example, anti – cancer, anti – infection, anti – seasickness, anti – nuclear (The American Heritage Book of English Usage).
The prefix counter- and contra- both derived from Latin. The word contra- has the meaning of against. Contra- means primarily against, opposite and
counter- means contrary, opposite. Thus, contraposition means an opposite position and countercurrent means a current flowing in the opposite direction. For example, counterplea, counterbond, counterstroke, countercharge counterevidence, contraception,and so on (The American Heritage Book of English Usage. Houghton Mifflin, 09-09-1996)
According to Laurie Bauer (1983), the prefix de- has a number of distinguishable meanings, and is often in competition with dis- and un- when added to verbs. As Dzuganova B (2007) mentions in the Oxford Encyclopedia English Dictionary, we can read that the prefix de- can be traced back through Middle English and Old English to Latin. Among these negative prefixes, it is not considered to be productive. The major meanings of de- are to do the opposite of, to reserve action or to remove from. For example, deactivate, decommission, decontaminate, and etc.
Although the prefix mis-, is considered to be not very productive, it is still used in both spoken and written English. Mis- carries the meaning of bad, wrong, wrongly, failure or lack, as in misaddress, misclassify, misadvise, misaim, misattribute, and so on. It had its origin from Old English and Middle English.
Thefreedictionary.com also states that the prefix dys- is borrowed from Greek with the meaning of abnormal like dysplasia, impaired such as dysgraphia, difficult like dysphonia. In other words, the prefix dys- means difficult or painful. For example, the combination of the root element lexia with the prefix dys- to create a new word: dyslexia which means an impaired ability to understand the written word. According to Dzuganova B (2007), in general English, the prefix dys- is used very rarely. It can combines with nouns and adjectives derived directly from these nouns, i.e.
dysfunction – dysfunctional, dyspepsia – dyspeptic, dyslexia – dyslexic/
dyslectic, and so on.
In his study, Dzuganova B (2007) also mentions the viewpoint of Susan Christensen (2000) from Swarthmore College USA, he has classified the prefixes ex- and extra- in French as negative ones. Both prefixes came from Latin but it does not seem probable that they are negative in French, and in English they would have lost their negative meaning completely. No other author has put them among negative prefixes. In general English, ex- only forms new words when it means previous, former, and it is always written with hyphen, e.g. ex – minister, ex – president, ex – wife, ex – husband, and so on , disregarding someone’s positive or negative attitude to these persons. Similarly, the form extra- or extro- means lying or existing outside, beyond, e.g. extra – axial, extra-nuclear electron, extraterrestrial, extragalactic, extra – marital relations, and so on ; or very, to an exceptional degree, beyond the scope, e.g. extraordinary, extra – thin, extra – sensitive, and so on .
In a similar situation there is the prefix mal-. It is considered by some linguists to be a negative prefix, by others a combining word or a negative root which came from the Latin adjective malus meaning ill. Besides these terms, the prefix mal- is found in words as mal-absorption (impaired intestinal absorption of nutrients), maladjustment (failure to fit one’s inner needs to the environment), mal-development (abnormal growth or development) (Dzuganova B, 2007).
In conclusion, discussing the prefixes mentioned above is still a controversial topic. Different scholars have different viewpoints. It is the best for learners to grasp both bidirectional opinions to have a comprehensive view about negative prefixes.