WORD ANALYSIS
To learn English words thoroughly we must spend some thought on the way in which they are made up, on the language from which they have been derived, and on the changes in meaning made by adding prefixes and suffixes. Three important influences in building the English have been the Anglo-Saxon, the Greek, and the Latin languages. The simplest words in the language are Anglo-Saxon. The following exercises illustrate how words have been multiplied by Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes.
Name as many words as you can that make use of each of the following prefixes. Give only such as are recognizable English words without the prefix.
a--aboard mis--misjudge
be--becalm un--unknown
fore--foretell up--uproot
Give the meaning of each of the prefixes used above.
What part of speech does each prefix make
Using the following Teutonic suffixes, form English words. Be careful that the root taken alone is an English word.
dom--kingdom ness--goodness
hood--manhood ship--friendship
What does each suffix mean?
What part of speech does it make?
As above, form words using the following suffixes:
en--darken ful--fearful
en--golden ly--smoothly
ish--sweetish like--childlike
less--fearless some--lonesome
Define each suffix.
What part of speech does it make?
Greek Roots
Below is given a list of common Greek roots with the English meaning of each. Form words using one or more of the roots for each word, and define the words you make. For instance, give the meaning of telephone, telegraph, and monarch.
Greek English Greek English
phon--hear chron--time
tele--far cycl--circle
graph--write geo--earth
scop--see polit--government
micro--small cra--rule
mono--one demo--people
arch--chief hydro--water
metr--measure poly--many
baro--pressure, weight pluto--riches
How many names of modern inventions have you made?
What words belonging to your vocabulary end in the following suffixes?
Choose only such as have an English word for the root.
Adjective Suffixes
1. able, ible--able to be, fit to be
Readable, fit to be read.
2. al, eal, ial--relating to, having to do with
3. ant, ent--being, inclined to
4. ate--having the quality of, inclined to
5. ic--like, relating to
6. ive--relating to, of the nature of, belonging to
7. ory, ary--relating to
8. ous--full of, abounding in
Verb Suffixes
To learn English words thoroughly we must spend some thought on the way in which they are made up, on the language from which they have been derived, and on the changes in meaning made by adding prefixes and suffixes. Three important influences in building the English have been the Anglo-Saxon, the Greek, and the Latin languages. The simplest words in the language are Anglo-Saxon. The following exercises illustrate how words have been multiplied by Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes.
Name as many words as you can that make use of each of the following prefixes. Give only such as are recognizable English words without the prefix.
a--aboard mis--misjudge
be--becalm un--unknown
fore--foretell up--uproot
Give the meaning of each of the prefixes used above.
What part of speech does each prefix make
Using the following Teutonic suffixes, form English words. Be careful that the root taken alone is an English word.
dom--kingdom ness--goodness
hood--manhood ship--friendship
What does each suffix mean?
What part of speech does it make?
As above, form words using the following suffixes:
en--darken ful--fearful
en--golden ly--smoothly
ish--sweetish like--childlike
less--fearless some--lonesome
Define each suffix.
What part of speech does it make?
Greek Roots
Below is given a list of common Greek roots with the English meaning of each. Form words using one or more of the roots for each word, and define the words you make. For instance, give the meaning of telephone, telegraph, and monarch.
Greek English Greek English
phon--hear chron--time
tele--far cycl--circle
graph--write geo--earth
scop--see polit--government
micro--small cra--rule
mono--one demo--people
arch--chief hydro--water
metr--measure poly--many
baro--pressure, weight pluto--riches
How many names of modern inventions have you made?
What words belonging to your vocabulary end in the following suffixes?
Choose only such as have an English word for the root.
Adjective Suffixes
1. able, ible--able to be, fit to be
Readable, fit to be read.
2. al, eal, ial--relating to, having to do with
3. ant, ent--being, inclined to
4. ate--having the quality of, inclined to
5. ic--like, relating to
6. ive--relating to, of the nature of, belonging to
7. ory, ary--relating to
8. ous--full of, abounding in
Verb Suffixes
1. ate--to make
2. fy, ify--to make
3. ise, ize--to make
Noun Suffixes
1. age--condition, act, collection of
2. ance, ancy, ence, ency--state of being
3. ary, ory--one who, place where, that which
4. ant, ent--one who
5. ist, ite--one who
6. ion, sion, tion--act of, state of being
7. ity, ty--quality of being
8. ment--that which, act or state of being
9. or, er, ar--one who
10. try--state of
11. tude, itude--condition of being
12. ure--condition of being, that which
The following is a list of the more commonly used Latin prefixes:
1. a, ab--away from 16. intro--toward the inside
2. ad--toward 17. mono--one
3. ante--before 18. non--not
4. anti--against 19. ob--in the way of, against
5. bi--two, twice 20. per--through
6. circum--around 21. pre--before
7. con--together with, against 22. post--after
8. contra--against 23. pro--before
9. de--from, apart from, down from 24. re--again, back
10. dis--apart, not 25. semi--half, partly
11. dia--through 26. se--away from
12. ex--out of 27. sub--under, below
13. in, en--into 28. super--above, more than
en--to cause to be 29. trans--across
14. in, un--not 30. uni--one
15. inter--between
Analyze the following words, telling prefix, root, suffix, part of speech, and meaning:
business package truthfulness unsuccessful
useless anteroom workmanlike agreement
prefix monotone nervousness uniformity
beautify breakage disrespectful misguidance
semicircle pleasant perfection crystallize
kingship sameness progressive precaution
incase subway undeniable imaginary
enrich disown displeasure supernatural
pianist readmit endurance melodious
bicycle adjuster reaction interlineal
When the prefixes ad, con, and in are used to form English words, the final consonant of each is often changed to the initial consonant of the root to which it is joined.
Ad assumes the forms ab, ac, af, ag, al, an, ap, ar, as, at, assimilating the d with the first letter of the word to
which it is prefixed; as,
ab-breviate al-literation ar-rest
ac-cept al-lot as-sign
ac-cumulate an-nex as-sist
af-fect an-nounce at-tract
af-flict ap-position at-tribute
ag-gregate ap-prove at-tune
Con assumes the forms col, cor, com, by assimilation; it takes the form com before p; and it drops the n before a vowel; as,
col-lateral com-mercial com-pose
col-lect cor-relate co-operate
com-mission cor-respond co-ordinate
In assumes the forms il, im, ir, by assimilation and takes the form of im before p.
il-lusion im-migrate ir-ruption im-port
Peculiar Adjective Endings
The suffixes able and ible are sometimes troublesome because it is difficult to know which ending to write. As a rule, if the new word was made from another English word, the ending is able, as blamable. The words ending in ible are derived from the Latin, and, as a rule, the ending cannot easily be separated from the root and still leave the latter an English word. Examples are:
divisible intelligible digestible audible
visible permissible flexible incredible
possible terrible horrible indelible
The suffixes ant and ent must also be carefully noted. No rule can be given for using one rather than the other. Whenever in doubt, consult a dictionary. Note the following:
ant ent
important independent
pleasant convalescent
triumphant competent
luxuriant convenient
stagnant confident
The endings eous and ious, where e and i are often confused, are illustrated in the following:
eous ious
hideous delirious
miscellaneous impious
courteous studious
The endings cious and tious are shown in the following:
cious tious
conscious fictitious
precious superstitious
delicious cautious
gracious ambitious
suspicious nutritious
The endings gious and geous are illustrated in the following:
gious geous
religious courageous
Peculiar Noun and Verb Endings=
Nouns in ance and ence:
ance ence
acceptance intelligence
appearance reference
annoyance patience
acquaintance negligence
remittance diligence
ignorance residence
Nouns in sion, cion, and tion:
sion cion tion
exclusion coercion acquisition
aversion suspicion precaution
Verbs in ise, yze, and ize:
ise yze ize
advise analyze baptize
supervise paralyze recognize
Verbs in ceed, sede, and cede:
ceed sede cede
exceed supersede concede
proceed intercede
succeed precede
What other words can you form from the following? Explain what prefixes or suffixes you use in each case and what part of speech you form.
success consider real change
please doubt publish attend
occur apply regular satisfy
emphasize industry operate assess
second busy practice resist
expense distribute organ define
depend locate work sense
attract install desire preside
effect vital count sign
There are many words the meanings of which are easily confused. The spelling and the definitions of such must be mastered. Analysis in this exercise and in the one following does not require separation into prefix, root, and suffix, but it necessitates a careful study of the words, first, to note the difference in spelling; second, to consult a dictionary, if necessary, for the difference in meaning.
Define each word clearly.
Use each in a sentence to illustrate its meaning.
accept--except common--mutual
add--annex complementary--complimentary
advice--advise continual--continuous
affect--effect contraction--abbreviation
after--afterward contradiction--denial
ascend--assent currant--current
assure--promise defective--deficient
attain--obtain deprecate--depreciate
benefit--advantage effective--efficient
brief--concise eligible--illegible
center--middle eminent--prominent
claim--maintain expect--hope
combine--combination intelligent--intelligible
As above, define each word carefully and use it in a sentence to illustrate its meaning.
healthful--healthy proficient--efficient
inventory--invoice proscribe--prescribe
invite--invitation purpose--propose
last--latest quiet--quite
later--latter recommend--recommendation
liable--likely--apt refer--allude
loose--lose repair--fix
need--want requirement--requisite--requisition
perspective--prospective respectfully--respectively
positive--definite scarcely--hardly
practicable--practical stationary--stationery
precede--proceed therefore--accordingly
principal--principle
No comments:
Post a Comment