Roots and Affixes
How words are created
Vocabulary
• (n.) Body of words used in a particular
language
• English language consists of a almost
200,000 words
• Words range in length from “a” to
“antidisestablishmentarianism”
Base Words
• Words that cannot be reduced down
to smaller words
▫ Ex.) Speak, dog, happy
• Other words or word parts can be
added to them to make longer words
▫ Ex.) Happiness
▫ Ex.) Speaker
Word Parts
There are two kinds of word parts: roots
and affixes.
A root is a word part that comes from another
language, such as Greek or Latin.
An affix is a word part that can be attached to
either a root or a base word to create a new
word.
AFFIXES can be divided into two
categories…
1. Prefixes
(appear at the beginning of
words)
2. Suffixes
(appear at the end of
words)
Common Prefixes
Common Suffixes
Bi-
two
-ist
Person who does action
Anti-
against
-less
Without
Inter-
between
-ize
Cause, treat, become
Pre-
before
-ism
State or quality
Super-
above
-ship
State or condition of
Trans-
across
-ward
Specifies direction
Dis-
not
-ular
Relating to/resembling
Many (not all) English words can be
broken down like this…
Root
For example…
In-cred-ible
Prefix +Root +Suffix
Affix
Prefix Suffix
*Without a root word, affixes have
nothing the change the meaning of.
Meaning
• The meaning of a word is related to the meaning
of its word parts.
• To unlock 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.
Check it out
Roots
Affixes
Latin Root: tang,
meaning “touch”
Prefix: in-, meaning
“not”
Suffix: -ible, meaing
“able to”
Apply
• For example one could analyze the word
intangible, using the chart shown previously.
• First break the word into its parts:
PREFIX ROOT SUFFIX ENGLISH WORD
In- + tang + -ible = intangible
Tang
In-ible
is a latin roots meaning “touch”
is a prefix meaning “not”
is a suffix meaning “able to”
Word Families
• A group of English words may be derived from
the same word part of root. Such a group is
called a word family.
• You can use this knowledge to help you
determine the meaning of unknown words.
Example: Sol
Solitary, soloist,
desolate, solitaire,
soliloquy
What might SOL
mean?
ALONE
Word Family Practice Questions:
• Word family: ethnicity, ethnic, ethnographer
Root: ethn
Meaning:
▫ Ocean
▫ Nation
▫ Hesitation
Word Family Practice Questions:
• Word family: maniac, maniacal
Root: mania
Meaning:
▫ Education
▫ Sanitation
▫ Madness
Word Family Practice Questions:
• Word family: epidermis, dermatology
Root: derm
Meaning:
▫ Skin
▫ Body
▫ Mind
Word Family Practice Questions:
• Word Family: laboratory, labor
Root: lab
Meaning:
▫ Work
▫ Good
▫ Weak
Let’s see what you know:
• Divide and indivisible are members of the same
word family. Which root so 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
Vocab Scattegories!
1. Individually, come up with as many root
and affix c0mbinations as you can.
2. After time is up, you will share your list
with the four people around you.
3. Then your group of four will share the
words that they had that no one within
the group had.
Vocab Scattegories!
Within groups of four share your lists.
ALSO – cross check the list on the
handout to make sure no one used an
example word.
Have a list of your unique words ready to
share to the class.
Example)
Consecutive
Con + secu + ive
Con: With
Secu(t): To Follow
Ive: Having the nature of