Useful Vocabulary Websites
Video: Where do new words come from?
Video: Why is there a "b" in doubt?
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Video: Making Sense of Spelling
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Affixes
One method of understanding the meanings of new words is to analyze the different parts of the word and the meanings of those parts. Many new words are formed by adding an affix to the beginning or end of a Latin or Greek root or root word. When affixes are added to the beginning of roots or root words, they are called prefixes. For example, the most common prefix is un-, which meant not oropposite of. If you add un- to the word happy, the new word becomes unhappy, which means not happy. When affixes are added to the end of roots or root words, they are called suffixes. The most common suffixes are -s and -es, which mean more than one (or the plural) of the word. Adding -es to wish, changes the meaning o the word to more than one wish. Source: http://www.adlit.org/article/40406/
Common Prefixes |
Common Suffixes |
Common Root Words
Many English words are formed by taking basic words and adding combinations of prefixes and suffixes to them. A basic word to which affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are added is called a root word because it forms the basis of a new word. The root word is also a word in its own right. For example, the word lovely consists of the word loveand the suffix -ly. In contrast, a root is the basis of a new word, but it does not typically form a stand-alone word on its own. For example, the word reject is made up of the prefix re-and the Latin root ject, which is not a stand-alone word.
Source: http://www.adlit.org/article/40406/
Source: http://www.adlit.org/article/40406/
Academic Word Families
Each word in italics is the most frequently occurring member of the word family in the Academic Corpus. For example, analysis is the most common form of the word family analyse. British and American spelling is included in the word families, so contextualise and contextualize are both included in the family context.