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SpongeBarb Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

Dickensophile

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'?
  

Top answer

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...

— Notwen

  • 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...
  • g.
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8 Answers
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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
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Hi Jerome,

Xie Xie! (I trust that you speak Chinese?)
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Yi dian dian...
I learn it... but it's really hard !

Do you speak Chinese ?
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NotwenYi 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.]
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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 abl
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Notwen
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!

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SpongeBarb
Notwen
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 tha
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ColomboI 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.
S
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