Words by Pat Eggleton
Prefixes and suffixes, as we have seen, are often a clue to meaning.
Today we are looking at the prefixes sopra- and sovra- which denote a surplus of something:
La sovrappopolazione – overpopulation
La sovraffollamento – overcrowding
Sovraffaticato / a – overtired
Soprannaturale – supernatural
Il soprannome – nickname [ie., an extra name]
And a person who is absent-minded is “soprappensiero”, ie., he has too many thoughts going round in his head!
