Transcript Document

Deconstruction - The
process of breaking
apart a word into
meaning chunks to figure
out the meaning of the
whole word.
What parts
contain
meaning?
Words Parts
Roots
Prefixes
Suffixes
What You Will Learn
Use roots, prefixes, and suffixes to
figure out the meaning of words you do
not know.
 Some of this will seem basic. I can hear
you saying, “but we studied this in
elementary school.”
 Did you retain it?

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes
1. Word parts cannot stand alone.


prefixes
suffixes
re-, pre-, ab-ish, -ate, -ness
2. Some roots/base word can stand alone.

frost, heat, use, war
3. Some roots/base words cannot stand
alone.

-bio-, -sect-, -chron-
Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes
4. A word is built upon at least one root
5. Words can have more than one root,
prefix, or suffix.
 Two or more roots (geo / logy)
 Two prefixes (in / sub / ordination)
 Two suffixes (beauti / ful / ly)
Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes
6. Words do not always have a prefix and
a suffix.
 Neither a prefix nor a suffix (read)
 Suffix and no prefix (read / ing)
 Prefix and no suffix (pre / read)
Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes
7. Suffixes change the part of speech

nation (n) – national (adj) – nationally (adv)
8. The spelling of roots often change as
they are combined with suffixes.
9. Spelling does not change with prefixes.
Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes
10. Sometimes, what looks like a word part
is not a word part.

mis in missile is part of the root and not a
prefix.
11. Different word parts may have the same
meaning.


bi-, di-, and duo- all mean “two”
un-, dis-, il, and contra- all mean “not”
Roots
 Roots
carry the basic or core meaning
of a word.
 Hundreds of root words are used to
build words in the English language.
 The most common roots are from
Greek and Latin.
Common Roots
Aud/audit Bene
(to hear)
(good,
well)
Path
Port
(feeling)
(carry)
Corp
(body)
Mort/mor
(die,death)
Sen/sent
(feel)
Spec/spic
(look, see)
Terr/terre Ven/vent Vis/vid
(land)
(come)
(see)
Voc
(call)
Prefixes
Appear at the beginnings of many English
words
 Alter the meaning of the root to which they
are attached

Root = placed (to put)
Prefix = mis (wrongly)
Misplaced = put in the
wrong place
Common Prefixes
(excerpt from handout)

“Not”
A Dis Un Contra

Amount or Number
Quad Equi Tri Deci

Direction, Location or
Placement
–
–
–
–
AbDeInterRetro-
Suffixes
 Suffixes
are word endings that often
change the part of speech of a word.
 Expand
 Learn
your vocabulary
the variations in meaning that occur
when adding suffixes to words you already
know.
Suffixes
For Example:

Class
–
–
–
-ify
-cation
-ic
Classify
Classification
Classic
(verb)
(noun)
(adj.)
Common Suffixes
(excerpt from handout)

One Who (noun)
–
-er, -or (teacher)
-ee (referee)
–
-ist (activist)
–

Pertaining to or
Referring to (noun)
–
–

Direction (adverb)
–

State, Condition, Quality
(adjectives)
–
–
–
-able, -ible (touchable)
-ive (permissive)
-ish (foolish)

-ship (friendship)
-hood (brotherhood)
-ward (homeward)
State, Condition,
Quality (noun)
–
–
–
-ance (assistance)
-ation (confrontation)
-ment (amazement)
How to Deconstruct to figure out
meaning.
1.
Look for the root (a word inside a
larger word).

2.
Example: non/adapt/able
If you do not recognize the root, then
you will probably not be able to figure
out the meaning of the word.
How to Use Word Parts
3.
If you do recognize the root word, look
for a prefix and think of its meaning.

4.
Example: non/adapt/able
Locate the suffix and think of its
meaning.

Example: non/adapt/able
How to Use Word Parts
5.
Try out the meaning in the sentence in
which the word was used.
The dodo became extinct because it
was nonadaptable to changes in its
environment.
Nonadaptable = not able to change