Two Bad Prefixes

Two Bad Prefixes Two Bad Prefixes Two Bad Prefixes By Maeve Maddox The English prefix caco- comes from a Latinized form of Greek kakos, â€Å"bad, evil.† The English prefix mal- derives from Latin malus, â€Å"bad, evil.† A familiar â€Å"caco† word in English is cacophony, which combines â€Å"bad† with phone, â€Å"sound.† One meaning of cacophony is â€Å"the use of harsh sounding words or phrases.† For example: â€Å"There are sounds in Gaelic which, though not guttural, are cacophony itself to English ears.† In the context of speech, the opposite of cacophony is euphony. Literally â€Å"good sound,† euphony is the quality of having a pleasant sound. Cacophony can also refer to a discordant combination of sounds produced in a musical context: â€Å"The song explodes into a grating cacophony of grimy analog synths.† Apart from speech and music, cacophony is used to refer to any unpleasant combination of noises or to a confused variety of anything. For example: [During the Nazi occupation of Paris] the cacophony of daily urban engagement - passersby, hawkers, street minstrels and performers, construction work, and especially traffic noise - was severely diminished. This [daily market] was a proper, brick, glass and wrought-iron hangar which stacked up the genuine southern France in a red-blooded cacophony of sensual abundance. Note: When the context relates to sound, the word cacophony is sufficient. Modifying the word with â€Å"of sound† in the following headline is unnecessary because the context clearly relates to musical sound: â€Å"Justin Timberlake’s New Song ‘Suit Tie’ is a Cacophony of Sound.† The main use of the prefix caco- in English is in the area of medical terminology. It’s combined with other Greek or Latin elements to create words to describe the bad state of bodily organs, for example: cacoglossia: putrid state of the tongue (glossia=tongue) cacophthalmia: malignant inflammation of the eyes (ophthalmos=eye) English words that begin with the other bad prefix- mal- (â€Å"bad, badly†)- are numerous. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, most Modern English words with this prefix are 19th century coinages. Here are just a few: maladroit: clumsy, the opposite of adroit. malapropism: the ludicrous misuse of words, especially in mistaking a word for another resembling it. The word is an eponym, derived from a character in a play. The character’s name, â€Å"Mrs. Malaprop,† is a combination of mal+appropriate. One of her lines is, â€Å"Illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory.† She’s reaching for the word obliterate. malaria: a disease spread by mosquitoes. The name originates from a belief that diseases were caused by bad air. Malaria is an Italian borrowing: mal+aria (air). malediction: a curse. Latin mal+dicere (to speak). maleficent: given to evildoing. Maleficent is the name of an evil Disney character. In the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent is unambiguously evil. I expect that in the new film, she’s just misunderstood. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What is the Difference Between "These" and "Those"?Flier vs. FlyerList of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!