Study notes for Latin Connective i
There are 4 Latin connectives (i, u, ul, and ol) but the connective i is the most common.
Latin connective i is pronounced like ē before a vowel suffix: helium, appreciate
This Latin connective i combines with a preceding c, t, s, or, x to create the /sh/ sound.
artificial, action, expansion, anxious
Identifying the ti and the ci (si or xi are less common) helps us
 locate the accent
 pronounce the vowel that is immediately preceding the ti or ci
technician
adoption
The syllable before the i is the accented syllable (tech ni’ cian, a dop’ tion
The vowel is not immediately preceding the ti so the o is short in dop
We can predict the vowel sound in the syllable that precedes the ti and ci by coloring in the vowels. If
the shape of the vowel will hold the scribble, it is a long vowel. Note e can go either way.
a
e
i
o
u
Now we can
 read the final syllable
 pronounce the accented syllable that precedes the ti or ci with the correct vowel sound
 deal with the syllable that precedes the accented syllable because its vowel will be a schwa
sound. This is helpful but not always reliable.
word
suffix is
ci or ti
accented syllable is
vowel sound in the accented syllable
first syllable’s vowel sound
vuh vay shus
vivacious
ous
sounds like sh
va
long a
schwa
word
suffix is
ci or ti
accented syllable is
vowel sound in the accented syllable
first syllable’s vowel sound
consociate (hint: use the verb form)
ate
sounds like sh
so
long o
schwa
cən sō shē’ āte
Try these:
brecciate
minacious
silicious
tendencious
penitential
cadential*
exponential
antenuptial*
sclerotial
Test these with an online dictionary that pronounces the words for you. Why did I put a * next to two of
them?
Look up more challenging words that end in sion, tion, cian, tious, cious, tiate, ciate, tient, cient, tial, cial,
cient, ciency
www.scrabblefinder.com and search for words ending in…
www.morewords.com type * and then the ending