Building Word Part Awareness

Mack Gipson, Jr.

Tutorial and Enrichment Center

Gayla S. Keesee

Education Specialist

Vocabulary forms the building blocks of language

Learning is more than simply remembering

Building Word Awareness

Words Parts

RootsPrefixesSuffixes

What You Will Learn

Use roots, prefixes, and suffixes to figure out the meaning of words you do not know.

Some of this will seem basic. I can hear you saying, “but we studied this in elementary school.”

Did you retain it?

What You Will Learn

Memory aids and study techniques to help you recall and use vocabulary

1. Word parts cannot stand alone. prefixes re-, pre-, ab- suffixes -ish, -ate, -ness

2. Some roots/base word can stand alone. frost, heat, use, war

3. Some roots/base words cannot stand alone. -bio-, -sect-, -chron-

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes

4. A word is built upon at least one root

5. Words can have more than one root, prefix, or suffix. Two or more roots (geo / logy) Two prefixes (in / sub / ordination) Two suffixes (beauti / ful / ly)

6. Words do not always have a prefix and

a suffix. Neither a prefix nor a suffix (read)

Suffix and no prefix (read / ing)

Prefix and no suffix (pre / read)

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes

7. Suffixes change the part of speech nation (n) – national (adj) – nationally (adv)

8. The spelling of roots often change as

they are combined with suffixes.

9. Spelling does not change with prefixes.

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes

Root Words, Prefixes, Suffixes

10. Sometimes, what looks like a word part is not a word part. mis in missile is part of the root and not a

prefix.

11. Different word parts may have the same meaning. bi-, di-, and duo- all mean “two” un-, dis-, il, and contra- all mean “not”

Roots

Roots carry the basic or core meaning of a word.

Hundreds of root words are used to build words in the English language.

The most common roots are from Greek and Latin.

Common Roots

Aud/audit (to hear)

Bene (good, well)

Corp (body)

Mort/mor (die,death)

Path (feeling)

Port (carry)

Sen/sent (feel)

Spec/spic (look, see)

Terr/terre (land)

Ven/vent (come)

Vis/vid (see)

Voc (call)

Prefixes

Appear at the beginnings of many English words

Alter the meaning of the root to which they are attached

Root = placed (to put)

Prefix = mis (wrongly)

Misplaced = put in the wrong place

Common Prefixes(excerpt from handout)

“Not” A- Dis- Un- Contra-

Amount or Number Quad- Equi- Tri- Deci-

Direction, Location or Placement– Ab-– De-– Inter-– Retro-

Suffixes

Suffixes are word endings that often change the part of speech of a word.

Expand your vocabularyLearn the variations in meaning that occur

when adding suffixes to words you already know.

Suffixes

For Example: Class

– -ify Classify(verb)

– -cation Classification(noun)

– -ic Classic(adj.)

Common Suffixes(excerpt from handout)

One Who (noun)– -er, -or (teacher)– -ee (referee)

– -ist (activist)

State, Condition, Quality (adjectives)

– -able, -ible (touchable)– -ive (permissive)– -ish (foolish)

Pertaining to or Referring to (noun)

– -ship (friendship)– -hood (brotherhood)

Direction (adverb)– -ward (homeward)

State, Condition, Quality (noun)

– -ance (assistance)– -ation (confrontation)– -ment (amazement)

How to Use Word Parts

1. Look for the root (a word inside a larger word).

Example: non/adapt/able

2. If you do not recognize the root, then you will probably not be able to figure out the meaning of the word.

How to Use Word Parts

3. If you do recognize the root word, look for a prefix. Example: non/adapt/able

4. Locate the suffix. Example: non/adapt/able

How to Use Word Parts

5. Try out the meaning in the sentence in which the word was used.

The dodo became extinct because it was nonadaptable to changes in its environment.

Nonadaptable = not able to change