SpongeBarb  +  243907 Sun, 09 Jul 06 06:21 AM I guess  "Dickensophile" means Dickens fan/admirer/aficionado, but can't find this word in dictionary. Is 'ophile' a suffix? Thanks. ETA: Okey, I found 'phile' in the dictionary. The examples given under -phile all have an 'o' before the suffix- audiophile,Francophile, thermophile. .  Do you have to have an 'o' before 'phile'? Then why isn't the suffix 'ophile'? SpongeBarb Joined on Wed, Dec 14 2005 Full Member 144

	Notwen  +  243912 Sun, 09 Jul 06 08:15 AM Hello SpongeBarb, although I am not an English native speaker, I can help you, because -phile is indeed a suffix in many European languages.  It comes from the Greek and originally means friend or someone who loves.  The modern meaning is what you guessed : someone who likes/loves, amateur, aficionado... You can find this Greek root in many words, not always as a suffix : Philosophy : literally "the friendship of wisdom"  (this word could have been "sophiophile", sophia meaning wisdom in Greek) Philanthropist : "The friend of mankind" (anthropos = man) Philologist : "The friend of language" Philatelist... You also find it in names, e.g. Theophile (who likes God), and as a suffix in many words. You sometimes have an antonym by replacing -phile by -phobe.  For example an arachnophile loves spiders, an arachnophobe hates them. When used as a prefix, the antonym could be formed with "mis-", meaning "someone who dislikes". E.g. a misanthropist is someone who hates people. Theoretically, all the words formed with -phile should be made of a Greek root (e.g; arachnos= spider), but of course it's not an absolute rule.  You can put this suffix to any country name, as you said a Francophile loves France, a Germanophile loves Germany, a Sinophile loves China, etc.   SpongeBarb wrote: The examples given under -phile all have an 'o' before the suffix- audiophile,Francophile, thermophile. .  Do you have to have an 'o' before 'phile'? You often find an 'o' before, for euphonic reason : with a consonant before, it would be hard to pronounce. But the Greek root is "philos", then the suffix is -phile. Regards, Jerome Notwen Joined on Sat, Jul 8 2006 Shanghai New Member 42 Non-native speaker. Please correct me if you see any mistake in my messages. Thank you in advance. Regards, Antonyms, Consonants, Phonics

	Philip  +  244272 Mon, 10 Jul 06 04:10 PM  Notwen wrote: Yi dian dian... I learn it... but it's really hard ! Do you speak Chinese ?   Ni hau.  Because the action is still in progress, I'd use "I'm learning it".  Have a good day.  [Do I speak Chinese?  Bu.] Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,733 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen

	Notwen  +  244296 Mon, 10 Jul 06 05:11 PM Ni hao Philip ! Because the action is still in progress, I'd use "I'm learning it". Thank you !  You help me to improve my English !     Do I speak Chinese?  Bu. In Chinese the negation is always followed by the negated verb.  You'd then answer "Bu ***" (*** = to be able to). By the way... I learned 25 years ago that it was roughly the same in English, i.e. you couldn't answer "No", but you had to answer "No, I don't". I think the "No" is now widely accepted, isn't it ?  Or totally accepted ? Edit : Why is "h u i" replaced by 3 stars ???  Notwen Verbs

	SpongeBarb  +  244484 Tue, 11 Jul 06 05:17 AM  Notwen wrote: I think the "No" is now widely accepted, isn't it ?  Or totally accepted ? Jerome, I think you're asking  Philip this, but in case you're asking me- Sorry I don't know.  I've never been to China, but I'd like to! SpongeBarb

	Colombo  +  244544 Tue, 11 Jul 06 09:39 AM  SpongeBarb wrote:  Notwen wrote: I think the "No" is now widely accepted, isn't it ?  Or totally accepted ? Jerome, I think you're asking  Philip this, but in case you're asking me- Sorry I don't know.  I've never been to China, but I'd like to! I think he means in English, doesn't he? (Don't you, Jerome?) I cannot answer that question; I always try to say "no, I don't", or the like, since that's what I was taught, but I don't know whether a mere "no" is totally accepted or not. I don't speak Chinese. Not a word. Colombo Joined on Fri, May 5 2006 Spain Junior Member 80 Trying to learn English

	Notwen  +  244552 Tue, 11 Jul 06 09:58 AM  Colombo wrote: I think he means in English, doesn't he? (Don't you, Jerome?) Yes, I do. I wrote that it was not acceptable in Chinese (will it last ? Who knows...), but what about English ? I always try to say "no, I don't", or the like, since that's what I was taught, but I don't know whether a mere "no" is totally accepted or not. So do I... and that's why I'd like to hear natives about it. Notwen