Word parts make meaning

Glossary of Terms and Terminology Relating to Determining the Meaning of Words by Analyzing Word Parts

• The root of a word: Also referred to as the base of a word and the stem of a word, is the main part of a word without any syllables before the root of the word, which is a prefix, or after the root of the word, which is a suffix.
• Prefixes: The part of a word that is connected to and before the stem or root of a word
• Suffixes: The part of a word that is connected to and after the stem of the word. Some suffixes, like «s», «es», «d» and «ed» which make words plural or of the past tense, are quite simple but others are more complex.

Word Stems

Vocabulary can be acquired and somewhat mastered knowing about the meanings of word stems, word prefixes and word suffixes.

As mentioned previously, the stem of a word, which is also referred to as the base of a word and the root of a word, is the main part of a word without any syllables before the stem of the word, which is a prefix, or after the stem of the word, which is a suffix.

For example, examine the word «reinstatement». The root of the word is «instate»; the prefix for the word reinstatement is «re» and the suffix for the word «reinstatement» is «ment». The meaning of the root of the word is to place or put into a position ; the meaning of the prefix is to redo or do again ; and the meaning of the suffix is the result of some action or occurrence. Based on these definitions, you should now be able to discover and determine the meaning of the word «reinstatement» as the placing something again in a position or place.

As you can see in the word above, word roots or stems are typically entire words. For example, here is a list of word stems or roots with an added prefix and/or suffix:

• Word stem: Engage

Word stem with a prefix: Reengage

Word stem with a suffix: Engagement

• Word stem: Tangle

Word stem with a prefix: Entangle:

Word stem with a suffix: Entanglement

• Word stem: Sweet

Word stem with a prefix: Hypersweet

Word stem with a suffix: Sweetener

Word stem with a suffix: Sweeter

Word stem with a suffix: Sweetest

• Word stem: Mystery

Word stem with a suffix: Mysterious

• Word stem: Discover

Word stem with a prefix: Rediscover

Word stem with a suffix: Rediscovery

• Word stem: Ceremony

Word stem with a suffix: Ceremonial

• Word stem: Festive

Word stem with a prefix: Unfestive

Word stem with a suffix: Festival

• Word stem: Section

Word stem with a prefix: Dissection

Word stem with a suffix: Sectional

• Word stem: Thermal

Word stem with a prefix: Hypothermal

Word stem with a suffix: Hypothermia

• Word stem: Political

Word stem with a prefix: Apolitical

Word stem with a suffix: Politicism

• Word stem: Establish

Word stem with a prefix : Disestablish

Word stem with a suffix: Disestablishment

• Word stem: Call

Word stem with a prefix : Recall

Word stem with a suffix: Caller

• Word stem: Large

Word stem with a prefix : Enlarge

Word stem with a suffix: Larger

Word stem with a suffix: Largest

• Word stem: Establish

Word stem with a prefix : Disestablish

Word stem with a prefix : Disestablishment

Word Prefixes

As previously stated, vocabulary can be acquired and somewhat mastered knowing about the meanings of prefixes and suffixes which are attached to the beginning of a word stem and after a word stem, respectively.

Some of the most commonly used prefixes, examples of words with these prefixes and the meaning of these words are listed below.

Mono: One or singular

Example: Monopoly which means under the control and possession of one individual or one group

A and an: Not or without

Example: Apathetic meaning without emotion and anemic meaning without blood or a component of blood

Anti: Against or before

Example: Antiseptic meaning an agent that fights against germs

Auto: Self

Example: Autobiographical meaning a story about self or one self

Co, com and con: With and together

Example: Concurrent meaning together and at the same time, conjoined meaning joined together and communicate meaning to convey a message with others

Uni: One

Example: Unicycle meaning a one wheeled cycle and unicellular meaning one celled

Bi: Two

Example: Bifocals meaning two lenses for eye glasses and bicycle meaning a two wheeled cycle

Tri: Three

Example: Triples meaning three infants born at the same time by the same mother and tricycle meaning a three wheeled cycle

Quad: Four

Example: Quadruplets meaning four infants born at the same time by the same mother and quadrilateral meaning a four sided figure

Circum: Around

Example: Circumcision meaning the surgery that a new born baby boy gets around the tip of the penis and circumference which is the measurement around a circle

Contra: Against

Example: Contraindicated meaning against indications and not appropriate

De: Undo

Example: Decrease meaning to lower and undo

Hyper: More than normal

Example: Hyperglycemia meaning more than normal blood sugar and hyperactive meaning more active than normal

Inter: Between

Example: Intersection meaning the spot between two streets or other things

Inter: Between

Example: Interaction meaning an action, such as a conversation, between two people of things

In: Into and not

Example: Internal meaning inner and inactive meaning not active

Peri: Around

Example: Perimeter meaning the length around a geometric figure like a square, triangle or rectangle and perioral meaning around the mouth

Ex: Out of

Example: External meaning outside and exit meaning a way to leave an area

Homo: The same

Example: Homogeneous meaning a group of people or things that are the same in terms of gender, age, or shape for example

Hetero: Different

Example: Heterogeneous meaning a group of people or things that are different in terms of a characteristic such as gender, age, or shape for example

Micro: Small

Example: Microscopic meaning very small and microscope meaning a scientific instrument that is used to see verify small things

Macro: Large

Example: Macroeconomics meaning the study of economics on a large scale, such as global economics

Pre: Before

Example: Prenuptial meaning before marriage

Sub: Under

Example: Subway meaning a means of transportation that is underground and substandard meaning not up to and less than the standard

Word Suffixes

As stated previously, suffixes are connected to and after the stem of the word. Some suffixes, like «s», «es», «d» and «ed» which make words plural or of the past tense, are quite simple but others are more complex.

Unlike prefixes, many suffixes do not have a specific meaning; instead many suffixes change a part of speech to another part of speech. For example, the suffix «ish» often changes a noun into an adjective and the suffix «ly» often changes an adjective into an adverb. The word child is a noun but when «ish» is added to the end of the word child, it becomes childish which is an adjective that means like a child; and when «ly» is added to the end of an adjective like generous, the word is now an adverb as generously.

Like prefixes and word stems or roots, knowing the meaning of suffixes can improve one’s vocabulary acquisition and vocabulary mastery.

Below is a list of suffixes, their meanings and examples of each:

Er: More than

Example: Sweeter meaning more sweet than something else. This suffix is used with comparative adjectives which compare two things.

Est: Most

Example: Sweetest meaning the most sweet of more than two things. This suffix is used with superlative adjectives that compare more than two things.

Ing: Continuing or continuous

Example: Running meaning that the person or thing is continuing to run.

Ish: Like or similar to

Example: Childish meaning like a child and foolish meaning like a fool

Less: Without

Example: Childless meaning without children

Ful: With or full of

Example: Beautiful meaning full of beauty

Ible and Able: Can or able to

Example: Enjoyable meaning that something can be enjoyed. These suffixes often changed a word that is a verb into an adjective.

Ness: With

Example: Kindness meaning with being kin. This suffix usually changes adjectives like kind into a noun like kindness.

Ment: State of

Example: Sentiment meaning in the state of feeling. This suffix typically changes a verb into a noun.

Al: Like

Example: Capable meaning able to do something in the correct manner or with competency

Pulling it All Together to Decipher the Meaning of Difficult Words

In this final section of your English and Language TEAS examination review, we have listed some sentences with difficult vocabulary words. Read each of the sentences and try to determine the meanings of these difficult vocabulary words.

If you have difficulty with these sentences, look the words up in a dictionary. You may also prepare yourself for these types of TEAS examination questions by flipping through a dictionary, looking for difficult words and then trying to determine its meaning while you cover and hide the definition with your finger .

As the detectives investigated the mass murder and arson case, it was determined that one of the chief suspects had an alibi about their whereabouts the night of these crimes that was corroborated by several people and the suspect’s time card at his place of employment.

What does the word corroborated mean?

One of the chief witnesses for the suspect’s defense told confusing and illogical stories; therefore, the jurors felt that the witness was capricious and not predictable.

What does the word capricious mean?

Nancy, who has known Karen for over 20 years, recently learned that Karen was the antithesis of selflessness which was quite a surprise to Nancy.

What does the word antithesis mean?

An example of synergism is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

What does the word synergism mean?

Throughout the ages, there have been many people who have been shunned and even persecuted for thinking differently and coming forward with a new paradigm. For example, Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher, was rejected when he said that the earth was round and not flat.

What does the word paradigm mean?

Mary was far less loquacious than her gregarious friends were.

What does the word gregarious mean?

Mary was far less loquacious than her talkative friends were.

What does the word loquacious mean?

Although many people go to college after high school to learn about and major in theoretical subjects that they are not able to apply immediately, there are others that choose to go to a vocational school to learn pragmatic skills that they are able to use immediately in the real world.

What does the word pragmatic mean?

During a conversation with my friend, she stated, «Judy must be very wealthy; she lives in Beverly Hills.» I told my friend that that statement was a nonsequitur.

What does the word nonsequitur mean?

One of the primary reasons that authors should know who their target audience of readers will be prior to beginning the piece of writing because a failure to know the target audience and their characteristics may lead to the author’s use of esoteric terms and terminology that the readers are not able to understand and comprehend. For example, the words and abbreviations of NPO, a definitive diagnosis and immunoassay are usually incomprehensible to general population.

What does the word esoteric mean?

When Suzie’s children wanted a puppy for Christmas, Suzie was ambivalanet about getting one because she thought it would be nice to have the children learn about caring for a pet but she did not want to have to house break and train a puppy at this time.

What does the word ambivalent mean?

Many professional authors experience writer’s block which makes them less prolific than they want to be.

What does the word prolific mean?

Angina, a disease of the heart, is characterized with intermittent chest pain.

What does the word intermittent mean?

Despite the fact that the Jones family donated to the new church building fund, their small donation was not nearly as magnanimous as many thought it would be.

What does the word magnanimous mean?

One of the cruelest characteristics of a bully is their belligerence.

What does the word belligerence mean?

RELATED TEAS VOCABULARY ACQUISITION CONTENT:

• Using Context Clues to Determine the Meaning of Words or Phrases 
• Determine the Meaning of Words by Analyzing Word Parts (Currently here)

What are word parts?[edit | edit source]

First, try to answer these questions by filling in the blanks:

1. To ‘redo’ means: to do ____ (Answer)

2. The word which starts the same as ‘careful’, but means its opposite is: ____ (Answer)

3. If John is 2 metres tall and Harry is 1.8 metres tall, then John is tall__ than Harry. (Answer)

If you answered these questions right, then this shows that you already know a bit about word parts.

Knowing what they mean and how they work is a very powerful tool.

What types of word parts are there?[edit | edit source]

Prefixes[edit | edit source]

Look at these words:

rename, restart, redesign

1. Where does ‘re-‘ go in these words and what does it mean? (Answer)

A word part which always features at the front of a word is called a prefix (pronounced: PREE-fikz).

Place a possible prefix before these words and start to think about how it changes the meaning of the word (the first one has been done for you):

2. kind

(unkind)

The prefix is: un- (make sure you remember the dash after a prefix)

3. polite

(________)

The prefix is: (Answer)

4. fire

(_______)

The prefix is: (Answer)

5. come

(________)

The prefix is: (Answer)

6. mature

(_________)

The prefix is: (Answer)

Suffixes[edit | edit source]

Now look at these words:

fearless, careless, hatless

1. Where does ‘-less’ go in these words and what does it mean? (Answer)

A word part which always features at the end of a word is called a suffix (pronounced: SUFF-ikz).

Test your suffix knowledge and continue thinking about how it changes the meaning of the word (the first one has been done for you):

2. If Alex is heavier than everyone, then he is the: heaviest

The suffix is: -est (make sure you remember to write the dash «-» before a suffix)

3. The process of attracting is called: ______

The suffix is: _____ (Answer)

4. If someone takes a lot of care, then they are described as: ________

The suffix is: _____ (Answer)

5. If someone is without fear, then they are: ________

The suffix is: _____ (Answer)

6. If someone is kind, they they usually show: ________

The suffix is: _____ (Answer)

Roots[edit | edit source]

Finally, there are the main parts of words called roots.

Roots usually appear in the middle of words, but that’s NOT a good way to think about them.

Look at these examples to see why:

• -dict- is the root of: predict, dictate, and diction
  • In these examples, -dict- is at the front and end of words.

• -port- is the root of: imports, exported, and transportation
  • In these examples, -port- is in the middle of words.

(Notice how when we write a root, we put a dash «-» on both sides. Beware that some authors don’t and would just write ‘port’, though.)

Here are two key points to help you tell if a word part is a root:

POINT 1

First, notice how prefixes and suffixes can never stand on their own.

We don’t say: un-, re-, -ness, or -tion

On the other hand, roots might stand on their own.

We do say: kind, fear, and come.

We don’t say: dict

(We do say over- as ‘over’ and ‘-less’ as ‘less’, but this is an example of a prefix and suffix which have the same spelling as a root. Now you see a reason why we ALWAYS put the dashes with them.)

POINT 2

Second, notice how roots carry the main meaning of a word and are what we attach the prefixes and suffixes to.

Try to identify the roots in these words (the first one has been done for you):

1. For antimatter, the root is -matter-

2. For misfire, the root is: ______ (Answer)

3. For transport, export, and support, the root of all of them is: ______ (Answer)

4. For talk, talked, and talking, the root of all of them is: ______ (Answer)

5. For success, access, and recession, the root of all of them is: ______ (Answer)

So, remind yourself that the three types of parts of words are:

6. ______, ______, and ____ (Answer)

Watch out for rules![edit | edit source]

You may have been thinking about rules which tell you how prefixes, suffixes, and roots work.

Remember that English has no rules that work in ALL cases.

For instance, we get the plural of egg, tree, and hand by putting the suffix -s on the end:

eggs, trees, hands

But, we DON’T get the plural of goose that way (after all, it’s geese).

Here are 5 key points for you to remember about making and applying rules concerning word parts.

Make sure you think of other cases where they apply.

Rule 1: Use sense and not just spelling[edit | edit source]

re- is a prefix that means ‘again’, right?

So, what about ‘red’, ‘reck’, and ‘really?’

Well, spelling doesn’t tell you everything!

You can look for clues in pronunciation.

For instance, we usually say re- as «REE»; but this isn’t foolproof either, because of how we say ‘really.’

Start thinking about things to do with the sense of a word such as whether or not you can replace re- with other prefixes (like how ‘redo’ could be changed to ‘undo’).

Is it like this for suffixes, too?

Absolutely. Just think about how -ing is a suffix, but how it clearly isn’t a suffix for the words ‘sing’ and ‘thing.’

Rule 2: You cannot add prefixes and suffixes to everything[edit | edit source]

For the root -do-, we can attach prefixes and get:

redo, undo, overdo

Think for a moment about some prefixes we can’t attach to it (and look in the answer key for some possible answers):

1. _________ (Answer)

Is it like this for suffixes, too?

Just consider the word ‘fun.’

If an activity is more fun than every other activity, do we say it is the ‘funnest’ activity? No.

Rule 3: You cannot take prefixes and suffixes off everything[edit | edit source]

Which one can you NOT take the prefix anti- off?

antimatter, anticipate, antisocial

1. __________ (Answer)

Which one can you NOT take the prefix re- off?

redesign, resend, receive

2. __________ (Answer)

So, we cannot always take prefixes off words and be left with words.

Suffixes are a bit more complicated, because there are two types; one which you can nearly always take off, and one which you nearly always can’t.

We will talk more about this later; but for now, just don’t assume that you can always take a suffix off a word.

(Okay, that’s three helpful rules learned. I hope you are remembering to think of your own examples or this stuff won’t stick!)

Rule 4: Word parts can have more than one meaning[edit | edit source]

The ‘un-‘ in ‘unhappy’ has a different meaning to the un- in ‘undress’.

In the first case, ‘un-‘ means ‘not.’

In the second case, it just means ‘reversal.’

So, don’t make the mistake of believing that you will know the meaning of a word part after meeting it just once.

Rule 5: A word part can be spelled in more than one way[edit | edit source]

For prefixes, look at ‘in-‘, which means ‘not’, as in ‘injustice.’

1. What do we put before ‘possible’ to mean ‘not possible?’ (Answer)

For roots, look at ‘-vis-‘, which means ‘see’, as in ‘visual.’

Now consider that it can also be spelled ‘-vid-‘, as in ‘video.’

For suffixes, look at ‘-s’, which makes plurals, as in ‘eggs.’

2. But, what do we put at the end of ‘box’ to make it plural? (Answer)

So, remember that a word part can be spelled in more than one way.

Go over these five rules again before moving onto the next subsection.

In summary:

Be careful, because word parts CAN have multiple meanings, multiple spellings, and CAN’T be swapped, chopped off, or attached haphazardly.

The parts of speech[edit | edit source]

Sentences are made up of different types of words and each type has its own job to do in the sentence.

We call these types ‘parts of speech.’

There are lots of different ones, but we will look at the four main types.

Noun[edit | edit source]

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

A common noun names a general item (like ‘dog’ or ‘happiness’).

A proper noun names a particular item (a particular person, particular place, particular thing,…) and always begins with a capital letter (like ‘Josh’ or ‘London’).

Anna is going to Germany on Friday and will take her bicycle on the journey.

The common nouns in this sentence are:

1. __________ (Answer)

The proper nouns in this sentence are:

2. __________ (Answer)

Nouns have a singular form (like: egg, hand, goose) and a plural form (like: eggs, hands, geese).

Finally, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun (so we don’t have to repeat it).

Examples include: she, he, they, it

When she goes to Germany, she will take her bike, because it has excellent cycling roads.

The pronouns in this sentence are:

3. __________ (Answer)

Adjective[edit | edit source]

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

When it is cold and snowy, wear thick, black clothes.

The adjectives in this sentence are:

1. __________ (Answer)

Adjectives can be modified to make comparisons:

The comparative (pronounced: kom-PAH-ruh-tiv) of:

• tall is taller
• red is redder
• fun is more fun
• difficult is more difficult

The superlative (pronounced: soo-PURR-luh-tiv) of:

• tall is tallest
• red is reddest
• fun is most fun
• difficult is most difficult

Verb[edit | edit source]

A verb is a doing or action word.

Jack always runs to school while Anna eats her breakfast.

1. What are the verbs in this sentence? (Answer)

Verbs are quite complicated.

What is most important to us is learning the FORMS of a verb, because this is where suffixes feature.

As an example, the forms of ‘initiate’ are: initiate, initiates, initiated, initiating

We will look further into this in lesson 2.

Adverb[edit | edit source]

An adverb is a word that that modifies a verb, adjective, or even another adverb.

An adverb answers how, when, where, or to what extent.

I always do my work extremely carefully.

The adverbs in this sentence are:

1. __________ (Answer)

Notice how they often end in the suffix ‘-ly’.

Here are some more examples of adverbs: daily, completely, almost, often, never, soon, cleverly

Lesson 1 Quiz[edit | edit source]

If there was anything you didn’t understand, read it once more, because here’s a quiz (that you should try to get perfect before lesson 2):

1. What are the three main types of word parts?

2. What is the common root of ‘audio’, ‘audible’, and ‘audience’, and what do you think it means?

3. Deconstruct the word ‘prefixes’ into its word parts.

4. Which prefix can be found in the opposite to ‘increase?’

5. ‘non-believer’ features the prefix ‘non-‘ but keeps the dash. Are there examples where id doesn’t?

6. Does ‘over-‘ just mean ‘physically above’, as in ‘overhang’?

7. How else can you spell the suffix ‘-y’ (as in mess -> messy)?

8. What are the four main types of parts of speech?

9. Think of examples of adverbs that don’t end in ‘-ly.’

10. Think of three words that have more than one type of part of speech.

(Answers)

Answer Key[edit | edit source]

What are word parts? (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. again

2. careless

3. er (making the word ‘taller’)

What types of word parts are there? (Answers)[edit | edit source]

Prefixes (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. At the front and it means ‘again’.

2. (Already done as an example)

3. impolite; the prefix is: im-

4. misfire; the prefix is: mis-

5. overcome; the prefix is: over-

6. premature; the prefix is: pre-

Suffixes (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. At the end.

2. (Already done as an example)

3. attraction; the suffix is: -tion

4. careful; the suffix is: -ful

5. fearless; the suffix is: -less

6. kindness; the suffix is: -ness

Roots (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. (Already done as an example)

2. -fire-

3. -port-

4. -talk-

5. -cess-

6. prefix, suffix, and root

Watch out for rules! (Answers)[edit | edit source]

Rule 2: You cannot add prefixes and suffixes to everything (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. subdo, interdo, predo

Rule 3: You cannot take prefixes and suffixes off everything (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. anticipate

2. receive

Rule 5: A word part can be spelled in more than one way (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. im-, as in ‘impossible’

2. -es, as in ‘boxes’

The parts of speech (Answers)[edit | edit source]

Noun (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. bicycle, journey

2. Anna, Germany, Friday

3. she, it

Adjective (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. cold, snowy, thick, black

Adverb (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. extremely, carefully

Lesson 1 Quiz (Answers)[edit | edit source]

(Go back to questions)

1. prefix, root, suffix

2. -audi-, it means ‘hearing’ or ‘listening’

3. ‘pre-‘ is the prefix; ‘-fix-‘ is the root; ‘-es’ is the suffix

4. ‘de-‘ is the suffix, as in ‘decrease’

5. ‘nonprofit’ (if your example was different, check a dictionary)

6. No. It may also mean ‘excess’, as in ‘overambitious’, or ‘outer’, as in ‘overcoat.’

7. ‘-ey’, as in ‘clayey.’

8. noun, verb, adjective, adverb

9. often, soon

10. ‘abstract’ can be a noun or adjective. ‘fool’ can be a noun or verb. ‘set’ can be a noun, adjective, or verb.

Word-meaning is made up of
various components described as meaning types. There are several
types of meaning.

Lexical
meaning is the meaning proper to the given linguistic unit in all its
forms and distributions.
The most significant features of the lexical meaning of the word are:
the word’s interrelationship with the denoted objects and phenomena
of the world; the word’s interrelationship with the conceptual
matter that appears in people’s mind on perceiving a language unit;
the word’s interrelationship with the other words in a context so
lexical meaning possesses several aspects.

According
to D.
Crystal,
lexical
items are viewed upon as signs within the sign system of the language
vocabulary
so
signification
is that aspect of the word’s meaning which stresses the sign
function of the word, in other words, it is the relation between sign
and thing or sign and concept.

Denotation
involves the relationship between a linguistic unit (a lexical item)
and the non-linguistic entities to which it refers. Denotational
meaning is the part of lexical meaning that makes communication
possible. Denotational
meaning conceptualises
and classifies our experience and names objects so that our knowledge
of reality is embodied in words having essentially the same meaning
for all speakers of the language. Denotational meaning can be
segmented into semes
(seme is a minimal unit of the matter).
This procedure is known as componential analysis which seeks to set
up minimal semantic oppositions in order to arrive at meaning
differentiating features.

When words are used in their
factual direct meanings denotation and signification coincide

Connotational
meaning comprises the emotive charge and the stylistic value of the
word that are closely connected and even interdependent. In
other words, connotation is supplementary emotive, evaluative,
expressive and stylistic shade which is added to the word’s
denotational meaning and which serves to express the emotional
content of the word — that is its capacity to evoke or directly
express emotion.

The
list and specification of connotational meanings varies with
different linguistic schools and individual scholars and includes
such entries as pragmatic
(directed at the perlocutionary effect of utterance), associative
(connected, through individual psychological or linguistic
associations, with related and non-related notions), ideological,
or conceptual (revealing
political, social, ideological preferences of the user), evaluative
(stating the value of the indicated notion), emotive
(revealing the emotional layer of cognition and perception),
expressive
(aiming at creating the image of the object in question), stylistic
(indicating «the register», or the situation of the
communication).

Let’s
illustrate four
main components of connotational meaning: emotive,
evaluative, expressive (intensifying), stylistic.

Emotive
meaning or charge is associated with emotions.
In the following sets of words with the same denotational meaning to
like, to love, to worship; big, large, tremendous; girl, girlie;
dear, dearie — to
worship, tremendous, girlie, dearie
have
heavier emotive charge than others members of sets. We shouldn’t
confuse the emotive
charge
with emotive
implications:
what is thought and felt when the word hospital
is used by an architect who built it, a doctor or a nurse working
there, the invalid staying there after an operation.

Evaluative
meaning expresses approval or disapproval, e.g.,
magic
has
attractive connotation while its synonym witchcraft
has sinister accentuation.

Expressive
component serves to
emphasise
the subjective attitude to the content of the utterance or the person
addressed, e.g.,
magnificent,
splendid, superb
may be viewed as exaggerations.

Stylistically
words
can be subdivided into literary
(bookish), neutral and colloquial layers (parent
— father — dad).

Literary
words can be subdivided into general literary words (harmony,
calamity);
scientific terms; poetic words and archaisms (albeit
— although);
barbarisms and foreign words (bon
mot — a clever or witty saying, bouquet). The
colloquial words may be subdivided into common colloquial (dad);
slang (gag
for a joke);
professionalisms (lab); jargonisms (a
sucker — a person who is easily deceived);
vulgarisms (shut
up);
dialectical words (lass);
colloquial coinages (allrightnik).

The
above-mentioned meanings are classified as connotational not only
because they supply additional (and not the logical / de­notational)
information, but also because, for the most part, they are observed
not all at once and not in all words either. Some of them are more
important for the act of communication than the others. Very often
they overlap (частично совпадают). So, all words
possessing an emotive meaning are also evaluative (rascal,
ducky),
though this rule is not reversed, as we can find non-emotive,
intellectual evaluation (good,
bad).
Also, almost all emotive words are also expressive, while there are
hundreds of expressive words which cannot be treated as emotive
(take, for example the so-called expressive verbs, which not only
denote some action or process but also create their image, as in to
gulp — to swallow in big lumps, in a hurry; to sprint — to run fast).

The number, importance and the
overlapping character of connotational meanings incorporated into the
semantic structure of a word, are brought forth by the context, i. e.
a concrete speech act that identifies and actualizes each one. More
than that: each context does not only specify the existing semantic
(both denotational and connotational) possibilities of a word, but
also is capable of adding new ones, or deviating rather considerably
from what is registered in the dictionary. Because of that all
contextual meanings of a word can never be exhausted or
comprehensively enumerated.

Grammatical
meaning is the component of meaning recurrent in identical forms of
individual forms of different words.
On the one hand, grammatical meaning unites words in such large
groups as parts of speech, e.g., the grammatical meaning of
substuntivity
for
nouns, the grammatical meaning of process
for
verbs, and so on. On the other hand, it is the property of identical
sets of word-forms. It may be defined as the indication in certain
grammatical categories, e.g., such word-forms as tables,
books
manifest the grammatical meaning of plurality. Grammatical meaning
may also de defined as the realization of a concept or a notion by
means of a definite language system, e.g., the word forms go,
goes, went, gone, going
express one and the same concept, that of the process of movement,
which is restricted in their lexical meaning. It follows that by
lexical meaning we understand the meaning proper to the linguistic
unit in all its forms, by grammatical meaning we understand the
meaning proper to the sets of word-forms common to all words of a
certain class, e.g., the word takes
has the same lexical meaning as took,
taken,
but its grammatical meaning is that which is shared by works,
stands;
the same is true about grammatical meaning of the following examples:
boys, girls; boy’s, girl’s; helped, met; better, smaller.

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While teaching roots and affixes may help students make sense of unfamiliar words, supplying students with long lists of «word parts» can sometimes be overwhelming and unproductive. In this excerpt from Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools, academic vocabulary expert Robert J. Marzano explains how to focus instruction on those affixes and roots that will give you the most vocab-enriching bang for your buck!

Teaching of roots and affixes has traditionally been a part of regular vocabulary instruction. The logic behind this instructional activity is that knowledge of roots and affixes enables students to determine the meaning of unknown words. Commenting on the work of Dale and O’Rourke (1986), Stahl (1999) explains:

While words like geologist, interdependent, and substandard can often be figured out from context, decomposing such words into known parts like geo-, -logist, inter-, depend, etc., not only makes the words themselves more memorable, but, in combination with sentence context, may be a useful strategy in determining the meaning of unknown words. (p. 44)

Adams (1990) also attests to the logic of teaching word parts, noting that it is important «to teach [students], for example, that such words as adduce, educe, induce, produce, reduce, and seduce are similarly spelled because they share a common meaning element: duce, ‘to lead’ » (p. 151). However, she adds the following cautionary note: «Although teaching older readers about roots and suffixes of morphologically complex words may be a worthwhile challenge, teaching beginning or less skilled readers about them may be a mistake» (p. 152).

Affixes include prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes commonly augment the meaning of the words to which they are attached. Suffixes commonly change the part of speech of the words to which they are attached. Some vocabulary researchers and theorists argue against teaching long lists of affixes. Indeed, one of the most comprehensive sources of lists of prefixes and suffixes is The New Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists (Fry, Fountoukidis, & Polk, 1985). It identifies more than 40 prefixes that indicate where something is (e.g., in-, intra-, off-).

Fortunately, studies have identified those affixes that occur most frequently in the English language. Specifically, White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989) identified the most common prefixes based on a study of words in The American Heritage Word Frequency Book (Carroll, Davies, & Richmond, 1971). As described by White and colleagues:

What is striking about these data is that a handful of prefixes account for a large percentage of the prefixed words. The prefix un- alone accounts for 26% of the total. More than half (51%) of the total is explained by the top three prefixes, un-, re-, and in- «not». And with just four prefixes, un-, re-, in- «not», and dis-, one could cover approximately three-fifths of the prefixed words (58%). (pp. 302?303)

They recommend a sequence of six lessons. In the first lesson, the teacher explicitly defines and teaches the concept of a prefix by presenting examples and nonexamples. The goal of this first lesson is for students to understand the difference between genuine prefixed words like unkind and refill as opposed to «tricksters» like uncle and reason. In the second lesson, the teacher explains and exemplifies the negative meanings of the prefixes un- and dis-. The third lesson addresses the negative meanings of in-, im-, ir-, and non-. In the fourth lesson, the teacher explains and exemplifies the two meanings of re- («again» and «back»). The fifth lesson addresses the less common meaning of un- and dis- («do the opposite») and the less common meanings of in- and im- («in or into»). Finally, in the sixth lesson the teacher explains and exemplifies the meanings of en-, em-, over-, and mis-.

White, Sowell, and Yanagihara’s study (1989) also identified the most common suffixes. About their findings on suffixes, the researchers note:

It is plain . . . that the distribution of suffixes, too, is not uniform. The first 10 suffixes listed comprise 85% of the sample. Plural and/or third person singular -s/-es alone account for about a third (31%) of the sample. Three inflectional suffixes, -s/-es, -ed, and -ing, account for 65%. In light of this, middle elementary teachers would do well to concentrate on -s/-es, -ed, and -ing. (p. 303)

Again, they recommend a series of lessons. In the first lesson, the teacher explains and exemplifies the concept of a suffix using examples and nonexamples. The next two lessons present suffixed words that show no spelling change from the base words: blows, boxes, talking, faster, lasted, sweetly, comical, rainy. Next, the teacher presents one or more lessons illustrating each of the three major kinds of spelling changes that occur with suffixes: (1) consonant blending (thinner, swimming, begged, funny); (2) y to i (worried, flies, busily, reliable, loneliness); and (3) deleted silent e (baking, saved, rider, believable, refusal, breezy). Finally, a number of lessons provide examples of three inflectional endings (-s/-es, -ed, -ing), and the following derivational suffixes: -ly, -er, -ion, -able, -al, -y, -ness.

Along with teaching affixes, vocabulary instruction commonly teaches root words. Again, a problem with roots is that they are so numerous that instruction cannot cover all of them. Unfortunately, no usable study has identified the most frequent or the most useful roots. Figure 4.7 identifies some common Greek and Latin roots.

In summary, teaching affixes and roots, when done judiciously, can be a useful aspect of direct vocabulary instruction. To this end, research has identified those affixes that are used most frequently.

Excerpted from Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools by Robert J. Marzano.
Copyright 2004 by ACSD. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of ACSD.