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etymology - Origins of negative prefixes like in-, un-, il-, ir-, dis-, a-


I've read here about origins of in- and un- negative prefixes. Are there any known origins of other negative prefixes such as il-, ir-, dis-, a-?



Answer



The prefix in- can be assimilated: il- before an l; im- before b, m or p; ir- before r.


The prefix dis- is of Latin origin, where it had a privative, negative, or reversing force.


a- is the trickier of all, because it has many origins and variants (I learnt a lot reading the answers to the question linked). In the sense of “not” or “without”, a- comes from the Greek, where it had the same meaning.


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