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Invisible_Swan OP t1_ja58m83 wrote

Reply to comment by azuth89 in ELI5: Why are native Australians called Aboriginals when in English the prefix "a" usually means "not"- ex Abnormal, atypical, etc? by Invisible_Swan

See that's where my logic was coming from. I figured a- on a word that started with a vowel was awkward, hence ab-

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azuth89 t1_ja59xbs wrote

That's usually a- and an- like a-theist vs an-esthesia.

A- and an- are greek rooted and mean "not" as in a total nonexistence or rejection of. Like an atheist believes in zero gods.

Ab- is from latin and means away from, but still existing. Like... absent doesn't mean you don't exist, you're just away from here, absorb means to draw something away from where it is now not to destroy it, etc...

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Invisible_Swan OP t1_ja5ct7v wrote

This is the stuff I wish they taught me in English class.

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azuth89 t1_ja5fyr8 wrote

First time i took the SAT it still had the analogies section. Basically a vocab test and the best way to study for it was prefixes/roots/suffixes.

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