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Affixes and Roots of Words1 Many English words are formed by taking basic words and adding combinations of prefixes and suffixes to them. A basic word to which affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are added is called a root word because it forms the basis of a new word. The root word is also a word in its own right. For example, the word lovely consists of the word love and the suffix -ly. In contrast, a root is the basis of a new word, but it does not typically form a stand-alone word on its own. For example, the word reject is made up of the prefix re- and the Latin root ject, which is not a stand-alone word. Building your vocabulary is important to speak English. Adding affixes to root words is an easy and interesting way to develop your vocabulary quickly. Many new words are formed by adding an affix to the beginning or end of a root word. Let us see the meaning of root words, prefix and suffix. A root word is a word in its simplest form. A root word has nothing added to it. Root words are also called base words. For eg: do/ heat/ write/ happy/ pack, etc. If you add an affix to a root or base word, you change the meaning of the word. For Example: Cook is a base word. Affixes are word that are added before or after the root word and change the meaning of a root or base word. Prefixes and Suffixes are both Affixes. Prefixes are word parts that come at the beginning of the root wood. Suffixes are word parts that come at the end of the root or base words. Un+ Cook+ ed = UnCookEd Un —- Prefix / Cook —– Root or Base Word / Ed —– Suffix Let us look at few more examples to understand root words, prefixes and suffixes. Let us take the letter “A”. By adding a as prefix to a word, its meaning changes. The meaning derived by adding a as prefix is “Not or without”. Examples are Amoral/ Apolitical/ Asocial. What we observe here is by just adding ‘a’ before these words we mean that they don’t have moral standards, they are not interested in political affairs and they are not social. Let us take another example where we add “Ab” as prefix we mean “Away from”. Examples are “Abduction, Abstain, Abnormal. By just adding “a” before these 1
McEwan, E.K. (2008). The Reading Puzzle: Word Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/using-affixes-roots-and-base-words-to-improveenglish-learners-language-ski/education https://thepaperbagteachers.blogspot.com/2013/06/word-wednesday-affixes-and-rootsbingo.html
words they become negative. They mean to kidnap, to stop from doing something and someone who does not behave normally. In a similar way when we add certain words at the end of a root word as a suffix, we change the meaning of the word. Let us learn through some examples. When we add “cide” as a suffix to the root word it means “kill (ing). Examples are Suicide, Pesticide, and Infanticide. By just adding a “cide” at the end of a base word we give a new meaning to the words. They mean to take your own life, to kill the pests in the fields and to kill an infant. The second example we learn is to add “ed” at the end to the root words. By adding ‘”ed” the words it means past tense verbs are formed. Examples are walked, jumped and bathed. By adding ‘ed’ at the end of the words we can convert them into past tense. Let us learn through one more examples. Let us add “ing” at the end of the root word as a suffix. Examples are sleeping, walking, jumping and bathing. By just adding ‘ing’ at the end of the words we can convert them into present participles called as continuous form. We can also learn some examples where we have prefix and suffix attached to a root word: Uncomfortable == Un – prefix, Comfort – root word, able – suffix. Irregularly — Ir == prefix, Regular – root word and arly is the suffix Disorganised – dis – prefix , organize – root word and ed is the suffix. They are all opposite of the words comfortable, regularly and organized. In the same way latin words and greek root words are formed by adding affixes to it. An example of a latin word would be ‘cent’ means one hundred. We can form two words by adding cent as a prefix – century meaning 100 years and suffix — percent meaning out of hunderd. A greek root would be ‘graph’ means writing. We can form two words by adding graph as a prefix — graphology meaning the study of handwriting and as a suffix – autograph meaning a signature of someone you admire.
Common Latin Roots Latin Root
Definition
Examples
ambi
both
ambiguous, ambidextrous
aqua
water
aquarium, aquamarine
dict
to say
dictation, dictator
duc/duct
to lead
conduct, induce
fac
to do; to make
factory, manufacture
form
shape
conform, reform
fort
strength
fortitude, fortress
fract
to break
fracture, fraction
ject
throw
projection, rejection
jud
judge
judicial, prejudice
mal
bad
malevolent, malefactor
Common Greek Roots Greek Root
Definition
Examples
anthropo
man; human; humanity
anthropologist, philanthropy
auto
self
autobiography, automobile
bio
life
biology, biography
chron
time
chronological, chronic
dyna
power
dynamic, dynamite
dys
bad; hard; unlucky
dysfunctional, dyslexic
gram
thing written
epigram, telegram
graph
writing
graphic, phonograph
hetero
different
heteronym, heterogeneous
homo
same
homonym, homogenous
Affixes One method of understanding the meanings of new words is to analyze the different parts of the word and the meanings of those parts. Many new words are formed by adding an affix to the beginning or end of a Latin or Greek root or root word. When affixes are added to the beginning of roots or root words, they are called prefixes For example, the most common prefix is un-, which meant not oropposite of. If you add un- to the word happy, the new word becomes unhappy, which means not happy. When affixes are added to the end of roots or root words, they are called suffixes. The most common suffixes are s and -es, which mean more than one (or the plural) of the word. Adding es to wish, changes the meaning o the word to more than one wish.
Common Prefixes Prefix
Definition
Examples
anti-
against
anticlimax
de-
opposite
devalue
dis-
not; opposite of
discover
en-, em-
cause to
enact, empower
fore-
before; front of
foreshadow, forearm
in-, im-
in
income, impulse
in-, im-, il-, ir-
not
indirect, immoral, illiterate, irreverent
inter-
between; among
interrupt
mid-
middle
midfield
mis-
wrongly
misspell
non-
not
nonviolent
over-
over; too much
overeat
pre-
before
preview
Common Suffixes Suffix
Definition
Examples
-able, -ible
is; can be
affordable, sensible
-al, -ial
having characteristics of
universal, facial
-ed
past tense verbs; adjectives
the dog walked, the walked dog
-en
made of
golden
-er, -or
one who; person connected with
teacher, professor
-er
more
taller
-est
the most
tallest
-ful
full of
helpful
-ic
having characteristics of
poetic
-ing
verb forms; present participles
sleeping
-ion, -tion, -ation, -tion
act; process
submission, motion, relation, edition
-ity, -ty
state of
activity, society
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https://www.englishhints.com/prefixes-and-suffixes.html https://www.speakwell.co.in/root-words-prefixes-suffixes/ https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-root-words.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5niBOyRS8I