Name ______

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Word Study 1 Lesson Background

Prefixes, roots, and suffixes are the essential building blocks of all words.[1]Learning prefixes, roots and suffixes help you understand the meaning behind different vocabulary words and break down unfamiliar words so you can get an idea of what they might mean given their context. This will help you become a better reader because you will understand more words.

This first lesson will be on Latin prefixes. The next few lessons will be on Latin roots.

Latin was the language spoken by the ancient Romans. As the Romans conquered most of Europe, the Latin language spread throughout the region. Over time, the Latin spoken in different areas developed into separate languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. These languages are considered “sisters,” as they all descended from Latin, their “mother” language.

In 1066 England was conquered by William, Duke of Normandy, in northern France. For several hundred years after the Norman invasion, French was the language of court and polite society in England. It was during this period that many French words were borrowed into English. Linguists estimate that some 60% of our common everyday vocabulary today comes from French. Thus many Latin words came into English indirectly through French.

Many Latin words came into English directly, though, too. Monks from Rome brought religious vocabulary as well as Christianity to England beginning in the 6th century.

From the Middle Ages onward many scientific, scholarly, and legal terms were borrowed directly from Latin. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dictionary writers and grammarians generally felt that English was an imperfect language whereas Latin was perfect. In order to improve the language, they deliberately made up a lot of English words from Latin words. For example, fraternity, from Latin fraternitas, was thought to be better than the native English word brotherhood.

Your Required Tasks (There are three.)

In this lesson, to become familiar with many Latin prefixes,you will need to supply an example for each. Not every word that begins with the same letters is derived from the Latin, so you must check in the school dictionaries or the American Heritage College Dictionary (4th ed.) or any other source that lists the etymology of the words. An online source to check the etymology of words is:

Dictionary Example

absent (adj.) 1) away, not present 2) lacking; not existing 3) absent-minded [Latin absentem being away < ab away + else be]

The etymology, or the origin of the word, is usually listed at the end of the dictionary entry.

This example does not work:

abide (v.t.) 1) put up with; endure; tolerate 2) submit to 3) await o withstand defiantly 4) ARCHAIC wait for….[Old English adidas stay on, and onbidan wait for]

Warnings: Do not just guess…and, of course, the word must be spelled correctly and the writing legible - If not, the work will be returned for you to redo and resubmit the day after you get it back.

#1 - Fill in your own examples

PrefixMeaningExamplesYour Example

(choose a word you know)

abaway, from, away fromabsent______

aud, aur hearaudience ______(the dictionary often uses

the Latin word audire not just the prefix)

circumaroundcircumstance ______

co, con, col, cor with, togethercoexist______

contra, counteragainstcontradict______

extrabeyond, outsideextraordinary______

hyperover, above, exceedinglyhyperbola______

hypounder, beneath, belowhypocrite______

interbetween, one with anotherinterchange______

postafter, later in timepostnasal______

prebefore in time prefix______

reagain, anew, once morerepay______

#2 Use 10 of your 12 example words in separate, complete sentences that show you know the meaning of the word. Remember, you need to write legibly or you will get this back to redo!

Example: (using one of the example words)

Acceptable: My postnasal drip kept me awake because the back of my throat was sore. [This demonstrates that I know the meaning of “postnasal drip.”

Unacceptable: I had a postnasal drip. [This example does not work because you could equally well have a poodle or a taco.]

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# 3Personal Study Guide (Completion Required)

By filling in this chart accurately (and legibly) you will reinforce your understanding of the meaning of each prefix.

ab
aud, aur
circum
co, con, col, cor
contra, counter
extra
hyper
hypo
inter
post
pre
re

PrefixMeaning

Your evaluation for this lesson will be a matching test of prefixes and meanings.

1

[1] A prefix is a group of letters attached to the beginning of a root or word (or even group of words) serving to modify and/or extend meaning. Prefixes generally have an easily understood meaning in and of themselves, which they apply to the root word to which they are affixed. For example, “un” is a negative prefix which will change the otherwise positive word “happy” into “unhappy”

A suffix is a group of letters attached to the end of a root or word (or even group of words) serving a grammatical function. For example, a suffix can indicate the part of speech of a word just as it can modify and extend meaning.The suffix “ism”, for instance, means “a belief in.”So when you take the word commune and add the suffix “ism”, you create the new word (and new meaning) communism.