(BBHT) Lesson Topic 3: Greek and Latin Roots

Lesson Topic 3: Greek and Latin Roots

The previous two lessons have provided some practical and theoretical ideas about literary merit. In this microlesson, we will look at two literary devices that are almost always present within works of literary merit: ambiguity, and irony.

Knowing the "building blocks" of the English language--prefixes, suffixes, and root words--helps you to understand a word's meaning and spelling convention.

English is a living language, and it is growing all the time. One way that new words come into the language is when words are borrowed from other languages. New words are also created when words or word elements, such as roots, prefixes, and suffixes, are combined in new ways.

Many English words and word elements can be traced back to Latin and Greek. Often you can guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word if you know the meaning.

  • A root word is a part of a word. It contains the core meaning of the word, but it cannot stand alone.
  • A prefix is also a word part that cannot stand alone. It is placed at the beginning of a word to change its meaning.
  • A suffix is a word part that is placed at the end of a word to change its meaning.

Often you can guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word if you know the meaning of its parts; that is, the root and any prefixes or suffixes that are attached to it.

Common Greek Roots

Greek root Basic meaning Example words
-anthrop- human misanthrope, philanthropy, anthropomorphic
-chron- time anachronism, chronic, chronicle, synchronize, chronometer
-dem- people democracy, demography, demagogue, endemic, pandemic
-morph- form amorphous, metamorphic, morphology
-path- feeling, suffering empathy, sympathy, apathy, apathetic, psychopathic
-pedo-, -ped- child, children pediatrician, pedagogue
-philo-, -phil- having a strong affinity or love for philanthropy, philharmonic, philosophy
-phon- sound polyphonic, cacophony, phonetics

 

Common Latin Roots

Latin root Basic meaning Example words
-dict- to say contradict, dictate, diction, edict, predict
-duc- to lead, bring, take deduce, produce, reduce
-gress- to walk digress, progress, transgress
-ject- to throw eject, inject, interject, project, reject, subject
-pel- to drive compel, dispel, impel, repel
-pend- to hang append, depend, impend, pendant, pendulum
-port- to carry comport, deport, export, import, report, support
-scrib-, -script- to write describe, description, prescribe, prescription, subscribe, subscription, transcribe, transcription
-tract- to pull, drag, draw attract, contract, detract, extract, protract, retract, traction
-vert- to turn convert, divert, invert, revert

 

Now, practice Greek and Latin word roots in the hotspot images below. Select each checkmark to reveal the meaning of the Greek or Latin word root.

 

 

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