English Words from Latin & Greek Roots

1. English Words from Latin & Greek Roots Increase vocabulary, spelling, and reading comprehension Susan Ebbers 2005

2. Learning Objective • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel). “I can use Greek and Latin word roots to *determine the meaning of words.” *determine = figure out What are we going to do today?

3. A root is a set of letters that have meaning. It is the most basic form . Affixes are added to the root to create a new word. • A root can be at the front, middle or end of a word. • Many words in the English language are based on Greek & Latin word roots. • What is a word root? • Example: • The Latin root ject means “throw” • So project can mean “to throw forward” Concept

4. Shrinking personal vocabularies • The average sixth grade student knows approximately 25,000 words. • The average high school graduate knows approximately 50,000 words. • This means that average students learn roughly 2000-3,000 words a year (Graves, 2007). • This translates to 8 words a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year - including weekends or summers. Susan Ebbers 2005

5. Importance • Knowing and using Greek and Latin word roots can help you figure out the meaning of words you don’t recognize. • This will make you a better reader and writer. Why is it important to know how to use Greek and Latin word roots? Can anyone share a different reason?

6. 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 wordre-, un-, dis- • suffix:an affix which is placed after the stem of a word-able, -ive, -ly • derivation-a word formed from an existing word, root, or affix: electric, electricity Susan Ebbers 2005

7. 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

8. We know that words are broken into parts that help us figure out their meaning. Prefixes Suffixes APK Tell your partner: An example of a prefix is ______ which means ______. How do word parts like prefixes and suffixes help us _______?

9. We know that words are broken into parts that help us figure out their meaning: Suffixes: -ful joyful -ly sadly -ness kindness Suffixes are at the end of words. So, “prefix” means “attached before.” Prefixes: un- undo re- refill pro- for, forward Prefixes are at thebeginningof words. pre- means before fix means attach, repair Which word part is found at the end of words?

10. English words can have all three parts: prefix + root + suffix ab + duct + ed away from + to lead/pull + verb: past tense abducted means ”pulled or lead away from” i.e. The general was abducted by masked stranger. Roots can appear more than once, and anywhere in the word. Concept

11. prefix + root + suffix • I Do retrospective retro = backwards spect = look -ive = having quality of “quality of looking backward” History is a retrospective way of looking at life. • We Do carnivore carni = meat vor = eat -e = one who “one who eats meat” What does carnivore mean? How did you know?

12. Prefixes: Meaning and Connotation Susan Ebbers 2005

13. prefix + root • I Do empathy em- = having pathy = feeling So it means: “having feeling” The soldier had empathy for the prisoner. • We Do enamor en- = having amor = love What does enamor mean? “having love” How do you know that?

14. root + root • I Do pseudonym pseudo = false nym = name ”false name” Samuel Clemens wrote under the pseudonym “Mark Twain.” • We Do aqueduct aque = water duct = to lead/pull What is an aqueduct used for? How do you know that?

15. root + suffix • I Do astrology astro = stars -logy = study of So it means: "the study of stars” • 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 _______________________.” How did I determine the meaning of astrology? Frame: “We determined the meaning of astrology by ______________.”

16. A List of Greek and LatinWord Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes

17. Skill Steps • Highlight the word root (or roots). • What does the word root mean? • Look at the remainder of the word: • What does the prefix mean? • What does the suffix mean? • Use the word root table to determine the meaning. Skill

18. Look Inside—Look Outside • pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis • Look inside the word for known word parts: prefixes, roots or combining forms, suffixes. • 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.” • Look outside the word at context clues, visuals • The coal miners, coughing and wheezing, suffered from pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Susan Ebbers 2005

19. 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

20. 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

21. Counting in Greek and Latin Susan Ebbers 2005

22. Learning Objective • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.7.4b Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel). “I can use Greek and Latin word roots to *determine the meaning of words.” *determine = figure out What are we going to do today?

23. Closure • What do we call the most basic form of a word that has meaning? • What does portable mean? • Why do you think knowing and using Greek and Latin word roots is important?