NOTES IN Recognizing Word Roots and Prefixes
While using the dictionary is an excellent way to increase your vocabulary one word at a time, if you would like to learn whole clusters of words in one stroke, you should get to know the most common roots and prefixes in English.
It has been estimated that 60 percent of the English words in common use are made up partly or entirely of prefixes or roots derived from Latin and Greek. The value of learning prefixes and roots is that they illustrate the way much of our language is constructed. Once learned, they can help you recognize and understand many words without resorting to a dictionary. With one well-understood root word as the center, an entire "constellation" of words can be built up.
Although knowing the meanings of prefixes and roots can unlock the meanings of unfamiliar words, this knowledge should supplement, not replace, your dictionary use. Over the centuries, many prefixes have changed in both meaning and spelling. While some prefixes have a single and fairly invariant meaning, most prefixes have more than one meaning each.
For example, the prefix de- means "of' or "from"; yet the dictionary lists four different meanings for it. So learn as many of the common prefixes and roots as you can, but learn them for better and more precise understanding of words you already know and words that you have yet to look up in the dictionary. When you go to the dictionary, make sure that you spend some time on the prefixes and roots that make up each word. You will soon become convinced that a word is not an assemblage of letters put together like an anagram, but the true and natural outcome of. evolution. (Pauk, p. 310)
While using the dictionary is an excellent way to increase your vocabulary one word at a time, if you would like to learn whole clusters of words in one stroke, you should get to know the most common roots and prefixes in English.
It has been estimated that 60 percent of the English words in common use are made up partly or entirely of prefixes or roots derived from Latin and Greek. The value of learning prefixes and roots is that they illustrate the way much of our language is constructed. Once learned, they can help you recognize and understand many words without resorting to a dictionary. With one well-understood root word as the center, an entire "constellation" of words can be built up.
Although knowing the meanings of prefixes and roots can unlock the meanings of unfamiliar words, this knowledge should supplement, not replace, your dictionary use. Over the centuries, many prefixes have changed in both meaning and spelling. While some prefixes have a single and fairly invariant meaning, most prefixes have more than one meaning each.
For example, the prefix de- means "of' or "from"; yet the dictionary lists four different meanings for it. So learn as many of the common prefixes and roots as you can, but learn them for better and more precise understanding of words you already know and words that you have yet to look up in the dictionary. When you go to the dictionary, make sure that you spend some time on the prefixes and roots that make up each word. You will soon become convinced that a word is not an assemblage of letters put together like an anagram, but the true and natural outcome of. evolution. (Pauk, p. 310)
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