Transcript Word Parts
Prefixes, Roots, and Suffixes Vocabulary In English, vocabulary words include short words like run as well as longer word such as bibliography. Short words such as speak and solve are called base words. Base Words Base words cannot be reduced to smaller parts. Other words can be added to them to produce longer words that create various meanings. Prefixes or suffixes can be added to these words but base words are not made up of multiple parts. Roots and Affixes There are two kinds of word parts: roots and affixes. That means a word may have multiple parts. A root is a word part that comes from another language, such as Greek or Latin. An affix is a word part (specifically a prefix or a suffix) that can be attached to either a root or a base word to create a new word. Why is it important to learn word parts? When you can learn the meanings of various word parts, you will grow your vocabulary and learn to identify word meanings based on word part knowledge. Prefixes, roots, and suffixes, the parts that make up our words, come from many languages. Origins of the English Language Most words in the English language are based on Latin and Greek words. Other words come from a wide variety of other languages, including French, German, Spanish, and Italian. If you can teach yourself to recognize word origins you may be able to better recognize word part meanings as well How do you do this? Pay attention to spellings. Roots The main part of a word is the root. THINK LIKE A TREE: a tree grows from its roots, a word grows from its root as well Many roots are complete words. You can add a prefix or a suffix to a root to change its meaning. Some roots need a prefix or a suffix to make them complete words. Some examples of roots and their meanings are: audio (sound), bio (life), chrono (time), derma (skin), geo (earth), micro (small), and psycho (mind) Affixes Affixes can be divided into two categories: prefixes (appear at the beginning of words) suffixes (appear at the end of words) Common Prefixes Common Suffixes Bi- two -al adjectival suffix Anti- against -fy verb suffix Inter- between -ic adjectival suffix Pre- before -ion noun suffix Super- above -ism noun suffix Trans- across -ize verb suffix not -ous adjectival suffix Dis- Prefixes The prefix “pre” means before. A prefix is a word part that comes before the root. A prefix can change the meaning of the root slightly or even totally. For example, if you add the prefix “ab” (meaning not) to the root normal, the resulting word is abnormal (meaning not normal). Another prefix that means not is “a.” If you add the prefix “a” to the word vocation (meaning job or career), the resulting word, avocation, means hobby, the opposite of a job. Suffixes A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root. A suffix can change the meaning of a word and it can change the part of speech that word plays in a sentence. For example, if you add the suffix “ly” to an adjective, it will change the adjective to an adverb (soft— adjective; softly—adverb). Some common suffixes and their meanings are: “er”— used to compare two people or objects; “est”—the most or best of three or more people or objects; “ment”—a condition; “nes”—a state of being; “ous”— full of. Understanding meaning The meaning of a word is related to the meaning of its word parts. To figure out the meaning of an unfamiliar word, break the word down into its component parts; then think about the meaning of the word’s affixes and root. Let’s take a closer look… Let’s analyze the word intangible First break the word into its parts: PREFIX ROOT SUFFIX ENGLISH WORD In- + tang + -ible = intangible tang is a latin root meaning “touch” inis a prefix meaning “not” -ible is a suffix meaning “able to” ANYONE? What does the word mean? Read the meaning of the prefix, then the suffix, and then the root. Let’s take a closer look… Let’s analyze the word intangible First break the word into its parts: PREFIX ROOT SUFFIX ENGLISH WORD In- + tang + -ible = intangible tang is a latin root meaning “touch” inis a prefix meaning “not” -ible is a suffix meaning “able to” ANYONE? What does the word mean? Read the meaning of the prefix, then the suffix, and then the root. NOT ABLE TO BE TOUCHED Building vocabulary by recognizing Word Families A group of English words may be derived from (come from) the same word part or root. Such a group is called a word family. You can use this knowledge to help you determine the meaning of unknown words. Check it out… solo, solitary, solitude What do you think the root soli/o means = ? Answer: Alone Can you think of other words in the family? Solitare Soloist Based on ones knowledge of the word part (root) and the meaning of other words in the same family, you can more easily figure out the meaning of words! Solitare- a card game played by one person Soloist- one who performs alone Let’s see what you know: • The words divide and indivisible are members of the same word family. Which root do they share? A. –visB. -visibleC. -div• What is the meaning of this root? A. separate B. shrink C. junk • What is another member of the same word family? A. December B. dividend C. invisible In conclusion Word part knowledge can rapidly increase your reading vocabulary simply by memorizing the meanings of word prefixes, roots, and suffixes. By using this technique in combination with context clues, your reading vocabulary will grow tremendously. You will be MUCH more intelligent than your peers because not everyone is taught this. Use this year to your advantage!