What do you call the other bit of a word with a prefix
Let's say I have a word like unhappy.
The "un" is called the prefix. What is the other bit called?
Solution 1:
Root noun [C] (of a word):
- The root of a word is its most basic form, to which other parts, such as affixes, can be added: The root of the word "sitting" is "sit".
Cambridge Dictionary
Solution 2:
Stem noun:
- the part of a word that is left after you take off the ending
Although I'd disagree with that and allow "taking off the prefix" too, as per word stem:
- a stem is a form to which affixes can be attached
See also affix, suffix, infix, adfix.
Solution 3:
This may be the math talking, but the word 'base' is commonly used to describe the word that a prefix or suffix can be added to.
the root or stem of a word or a derivative.
- the uninflected form of a verb.
-Oxford [2010]
I would like to note that (take this maths) that derivative would not quite work, as it means
a word derived from another or from a root in the same or another language.