Susan Ebbers 2005 1
English Words
from Latin and Greek,
Increase spelling, vocabulary, and reading comprehension
Adapted from Susan Ebbers
Susan Ebbers 2005 2
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
phobos
http://www.phobialist.com/
phobos
Definition: unusual fearExamples:
claustrophobia: fear of closed places
acrophobia: fear of heights
arachnophobia: fear of spiders
myctophobia: fear of darkness
suriphobia- fear of mice
testophobia- fear of taking tests
Susan Ebbers 2005 5
Look Inside—Look Outside—Pull the Word Apartpneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
1. Look inside the word for known word parts: prefixes, roots or combining forms, suffixes.
2. 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.”
3. Look outside the word at context clues, visuals
The coal miners, coughing and wheezing, suffered from pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Susan Ebbers 2005 6
Romance
Romance Languages (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, etc.) share the same Latin roots as English does, so don’t be afraid to use your other language skills.
Morta: Roman goddess of deathExample: The Latin root for the word death is mort.
The French spell it morte and the Spanish, muerte. In English, we have a whole network of related words: mortal, immortal, mortality, mortician, mortuary, postmortem, etc.
CFU:Can you think of some other English, Spanish and French words
that share the same root?
Susan Ebbers 2005 7
Latin: Some Common Roots
trans port able
dis rupt ion
pre script ion
re tract or
inter cept ion
pro ject ile
de struct ion
con duct or
dis miss al
sub vers ive
e dict
to carry
to break
to write
to pull
to take
to throw
to build
to lead
to send
to turn
to speak
Susan Ebbers 2005 8
Basic Terms
root form: inspector, thermal
base word: unlikely
prefix: re-, un-, dis-
suffix: -able, -ive, -ly
Derivation--a word formed from an existing word, root, or suffix/prefix: electric, electricity
Susan Ebbers 2005 9
Prefixes: Meaning and Connotation
Somewhat Positive
pro- co- bene-
super- com- be-
en-, em-
ad-
Often Negative
dis-, de-
non- sub-
in- un- mis-
mal-anti,
contraa-
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Suffixes Are Like Units
• The letters work as a unit or team to add meaning.
• 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?
philiaRocky actor
Sylvester Stallone at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art
Philadelphia -- city of brotherly love
Philia (“feel-ya”)
Definition: love, friendship
Examples: Philadelphia, philosopher, Philip, philharmonic,
philanthropist
Syn (or sym)
syn
Definition: with, together
Examples: synonyms: words that go together symphony: sounds that go together
synchronize: do things at the same time synagogue: to bring people together for
Jewish worship
thesis
Thesis (3 Ps)
Definition: put, place, position
Examples: thesis: position taken in a
persuasive argument parentheses: symbols grouping words placed inside a sentence synthesizer: instrument that puts
sounds together
Draw a word tree. Select a root. Grow words.
Write the root word on the bottom near the
roots of the tree.
Write words that contain your root on the branches of the
tree. Include definitions.
television: box to see distant things telethon: long fundraising event telephone: sound from far away
telekinesis: making things move from a distance
telescope: device for seeing distant objects
Susan Ebbers 2005 18
Check for Understanding Use one of the following roots to create your own
tree:
Anim--lifeFlex--bendAud--hearAstr--starCide--kill
Struct--buildDem--people
Susan Ebbers 2005 19
Counting in Greek and Latin
mono uni di
bi du, duo tri
tetra quadri penta
hexa sept oct
nove deca deci
cent milli poly
multi semi hemi
Susan Ebbers 2005 20
photographpolygraphmimeographphonographtelegraphparagraph
telegrammammogramhistogramanagramcryptogrammonogramelectrocardiogram
photographercartographergeographercryptographerautobiographerxylographerpaleographerbiographer
graphitegraphemegraphologistgraphicgraphically
grammar schoolgrammar booksrules of grammargrammaticalgrammaticallyungrammaticalungrammaticallygrammatology
graph
grammar
gram, graphto write, written
Greek
gram
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Checks for Understanding
Create your own word. Don’t use a real word.
Make it up and make it fun based on your knowledge of roots, suffixes and prefixes