Brief Summary
This lesson provides an academic overview of word structure in English, aimed at advanced learners. It explains how to dissect words into meaningful units to expand vocabulary and understand unfamiliar terms. Key concepts covered include morphemes, roots, affixes (prefixes and suffixes), grammatical and derivational suffixes, and word families. Understanding these elements enables learners to generate new words and significantly increase their word knowledge.
- Morphemes are the smallest meaningful units of language.
- Roots are independent morphemes that can stand alone.
- Affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are morphemes that attach to roots, with suffixes further divided into grammatical and derivational types.
- Word families encompass all words derived from a single root.
Introduction
This lesson is designed for high intermediate to advanced English students. It aims to equip you with the tools to expand a base of 2,000 words into a vocabulary exceeding 15,000 words. This is the first in a series that will teach you how to create new words and understand unfamiliar ones by examining word structure.
Morphemes Explained
A morpheme is defined as a meaningful group of sounds in linguistics. The word "morpheme" itself is an example, comprising "morph-" (meaning shape) and "-eme" (meaning meaningful). These units are identifiable because they appear in other words with consistent meanings. For instance, "morph-" features in "polymorph" (an organism with many forms), "metamorphosis" (changing shape), "morphology" (the study of morphemes), "morph" (to change shape), and "morphogenesis" (the origin of biological forms). The morpheme "-eme" is a technical term used in linguistics, as seen in "phoneme" ("phone-" meaning sound, thus a meaningful sound in a language).
Roots and Affixes
English words are constructed from two types of morphemes: roots and affixes. Roots can stand alone as independent words, such as "eat". The components "ea" or "t" carry no independent meaning, confirming "eat" as a root. Affixes, on the other hand, must be attached to roots. There are two types of affixes: prefixes, which are added to the beginning of a root, and suffixes, which are added to the end. Multiple affixes can be added to a single root.
Affixes in Action: The Root 'Civ'
The Latin root "civ" or "civis-", meaning "citizen", illustrates how affixes can modify a root's meaning. Adding the suffix "-il" creates "civil", which can mean belonging to the affairs of a state (e.g., "civil law"), or polite. The prefix "un-" can be added to "civil" to form "uncivil", meaning not polite. Furthermore, the suffix "-ize" can be added to "civil" to create "civilize", meaning to make more culturally advanced, which can then be extended with "-ed" to form "civilized", describing a culturally advanced state. The opposite can be expressed with "uncivilized".
Grammatical vs. Derivational Suffixes
Suffixes are divided into grammatical and derivational types. Grammatical suffixes do not change the word class; they add grammatical information. Examples include the plural "-s" (one banana, two bananas), the possessive "-'s" (John's banana's), and the third person "-s" (John eats bananas). Derivational suffixes, however, do change the word class. For example, adding "-ly" to the adjective "quick" creates the adverb "quickly".
Word Families
A word family includes all the words derived from a single root. For example, from the verb "expect", we can form the noun "expectation", the adjective "expectant", and the adverb "expectantly". Similarly, "explode" can generate "explosion" (noun), "exploded", "explosive", "explodable" (adjectives), and "explosively" (adverb). The noun "shape" can also function as a verb, and gives rise to "shaper", "shapeliness", and "shapelessness" (nouns), as well as "shapeable", "shaped", "shapely", and "shapeless" (adjectives).
Lesson Summary
In summary, this lesson covered morphemes (meaningful groups of sounds), roots (independent morphemes), and affixes (prefixes and suffixes). Suffixes are further categorised as grammatical (not changing word class) and derivational (changing word class). All words derived from a single root constitute a word family. Mastering word families is key to achieving English fluency.
