English Words
from Latin & Greek
Increase spelling, vocabulary, and
reading comprehension
Susan Ebbers 2005
1
How many words are there in the
English Language?
• The Second Edition of the Oxford English
Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words
in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words. To this
may be added around 9,500 derivative words
included as subentries. Over half of these words
are nouns, about a quarter adjectives, and about a
seventh verbs; the rest is made up of interjections,
conjunctions, prepositions, suffixes, etc.
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Yea, yea, so get to the point…
• This suggests that there are, at the very
least, a quarter of a million distinct English
words, excluding inflections, and words
from technical and regional vocabulary not
covered by the OED, or words not yet
added to the published dictionary, of which
perhaps 20 per cent are no longer in current
use. If distinct senses were counted, the
total would probably approach….
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Are you ready for this?
• Three quarters of a million
• 750,000
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Basic Terms
root form: a word with no prefix or suffix added; may
also be referred to as a base word inspector, thermal
affix: meaningful part of a word attached before or after
a root or base word to modify its meaning
prefix: an affix which is placed before the stem of a word
re-, un-, dissuffix: an affix which is placed after the stem of a word able, -ive, -ly
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Susan Ebbers 2005
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root + suffix
• I Do
astrology
astro = stars
-logy = study of
So it means:
"the study of stars”
How did I determine the meaning of
astrology?
Frame: “We determined the meaning of
astrology by ______________.”
P/S; NV
• We Do
biology
bio = life
-logy = study of
So it means:
“the study of life”
How did we know biology meant ‘the study of life’?
Frame: “We knew that biology meant ‘the study of life’
because _______________________.” P/S; NV
prefix + root
• We Do
• I Do
empathy
enamor
em- = having
pathy = feeling
So it means:
“having feeling”
en- = having
amor = love
What does enamor mean?
“having love”
How do you know that? P/S; NV
The soldier had empathy for the prisoner.
root + root
• I Do
• We Do
pseudonym
aqueduct
pseudo = false
nym = name
”false name”
aque = water
duct = to lead/pull
What is an aqueduct used for?
How do you know that?
P/S, non-volunteer
Samuel Clemens wrote under the
pseudonym “Mark Twain.”
prefix + root + suffix
• I Do
• We Do
retrospective
carnivore
retro = backwards
spect = look
-ive = having quality of
“quality of looking
backward”
carni = meat
vor = eat
-e = one who
“one who eats meat”
History is a retrospective way of
looking at life.
What does carnivore mean?
How did you know?
P/S, volunteer
20 Most Frequent Prefixes in School Texts
1.
unable
2.
review
inedible (impotent, illegal,
irresponsible)
distrust
enlighten
(empower)
nonsense
inside,
implant
overcome
misguided
submarine
prefix
interrupt
forewarn
derail
transfer
supersonic
semicircle
antitrust
midterm
underfed
Analysis: White, Sowell,
Susan Ebbers 2005
and Yanagihara 1989
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Meanings
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Un-not
Re-Again
Dis-Not/Opposite
Mis-wrongly
De-Opposite/Reverse
In/Im/Il/Irr-Not
Ante/Pre-Before
Semi-Partially
Non-Not
•
•
•
•
•
Sub-Under/Below
Mid-Middle
Inter-InAmong
En-Made of/ Related
Trans-Across/
Through
• Fore-Before
• Anti-Against
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Derivational Suffixes
Derivational suffixes change the part of speech
•
•
•
•
words ending with –tion are often nouns
words ending with –ive are often adjectives
words ending with –ish are often adjectives
words ending with –ity are often nouns
What about -ment, -ous, -ness?
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Common Suffixes
•
•
•
•
Able/ Ible-can be done
Ial/Ic-Characteristic of
En-Made Of
Er-Comparative/ one
who
• Ful-full of
• Ion/Ition/Ation/Itionact/ process
• Ity-State of
• Less-Without
• Ment-Action or
Process
• Ness-State/Condition
of
• Ous/Eous/Ious-Having
the qualities of
Susan Ebbers 2005
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What’s the Meaning
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Unmanageable
Redo
Transsiberian
Antebellium
Misbehave
Unafrid
Precook
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Admirable
Blacken
Cheerful
Collectible
Infection
Nervously
Thicknes
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Greek Combining Forms
Hydro-water
Geo-earth
Pyro-fire
Polis-city
Neuro-nerve
Orthostraight
Therm-heat
ScopeSee/ look
Photo-light
Chron-time
Phobefear
Onym-name Crypthidden
logy-to talk SphereSusan Ebbers 2005
ball
Psych-the
mind
Pseud-fake
Helio-sun
the, theo
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Counting in Greek and Latin
Mono-1
Uni-1
Di-2
Bi-2
du, duo-2
Tri-3
Tetra-4
Quadri-4
Penta-5
Hexa-6
Sept-7
Oct-8
Nove-9
Deca-10
Deci-10
Cent-100
Milli-1000
Poly-many
Multimany
Semi-half
Hemi-half
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Find the Meaning
•
•
•
•
•
Monotheism
Bicycle
Pentagon
Chronology
Pyromania
•
•
•
•
•
Hydrophobic
Anapolis
Pseudonym
Hexagram
Semicircle
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Developing content-specific,
academic vocabulary
depends on a basic
understanding of Greek
and Latin
Sixty percent of the words
in English texts are of Latin
and Greek origin
Bear et al., 1996; Henry, 1997
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Content-Specific Greek Terms
Anatomy and Medical Terms
esophagus, thyroid, diagnosis, psoriasis, dyslexia
Studies and Sciences
biology, seismology, morphology, geochronometry
Animals and Plants
arachnid, amphibian, chlorophyll, dinosaur, nectar
Theatre and the Arts
charisma, drama, chorus, muse, symphony, acoustics
Susan Ebbers 2005
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Look Inside—Look Outside
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
1. Look inside the word for known word parts:
prefixes, roots or combining forms, suffixes.
2. Use the analogy strategy—“I don’t know this word,
but I know pneumonia and I know volcano, so by
analogy, this word might have something to do with
lungs and heat.”
3. Look outside the word at context clues, visuals
The coal miners, coughing and wheezing, suffered
from pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
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Activity
• In groups of 2 you will play memory with
prefixes and suffixes.
• As we do this, groups will be called to the
front table to go through magazines to find
pictures representing an affixed word. Put
the picture and your word on the poster
board along with your initials.
• Example: Pyromaniac-fire
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