English Words

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English Words from Latin, Greek, and
Anglo-Saxon Increase spelling, vocabulary, and
reading comprehension
  L.8.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of
unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by
using context clues, analyzing meaningful word
parts, and consulting general and specialized
reference materials, as appropriate.  
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Basic Terms root form inspector, thermal base
word unlikely prefix re-, un-, dis- suffix
-able, -ive, -ly derivation-a word formed from
an existing word, root, or affix electric,
electricity
affixes
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Three Periods of the English Language

• Old English A.D. 450-1100
• Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, (some) Latin
• Middle English A.D. 1100-1500
• French-Norman, Latin, Greek
• Modern English A.D. 1500-present
• Greek, Latin, Adopted English

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English is a combination of Greek, Latin, and
Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) Latin is the origin of
the Romance Languages. It was the original
language of Rome, and Italy. (Hence the
name) The Romance Languages are Italian,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian.
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Anglo-Saxon Indo-European Origins
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Basic Old English Words Down-to-earth and
true-blue, the first learned and the last
forgotten. We work and eat and laugh and
weep, Sing and play and rise and sleep, Hope and
pray with all our might, Shun the wrong and love
the right.
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Latin Some Common Roots
trans port able
dis rupt ion
pre script ion
re tract or
inter cept ion
pro ject ile
de struct ion
con duct or
dis miss al
sub vers ive
e dict
to carry
to break
to write
to pull
to take
to throw
to build
to lead
to send
to turn
to speak
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20 Most Frequent Prefixes in School Texts
1. unable 2. review inedible (impotent, illegal, irresponsible) inedible (impotent, illegal, irresponsible) inedible (impotent, illegal, irresponsible)
distrust enlighten (empower) nonsense inside, implant overcome
misguided submarine prefix interrupt forewarn
derail transfer supersonic semicircle antitrust
midterm underfed Analysis White, Sowell, and Yanagihara 1989 Analysis White, Sowell, and Yanagihara 1989 Analysis White, Sowell, and Yanagihara 1989
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Prefixes Meaning and Connotation
Often Negative Often Negative Often Negative
dis-, de- non- sub-
in- un- mis-
mal- anti, contra a-
Somewhat Positive Somewhat Positive Somewhat Positive
pro- co- bene-
super- com- be-
en-, em- ad-
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Derivational Suffixes

• Derivational suffixes change the part of speech
• words ending with tion are often nouns
• words ending with ive are often adjectives
• words ending with ish are often adjectives
• words ending with ity are often nouns
• What about -ment, -ous, -ness?

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English Language Learners
PROFICIENCY LEVELS

• Intermediate Level
• Understands roots and affixes
• Decodes multi-syllabic words
• Advanced Level
• Uses word parts to determine word meanings

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Cognates Connect English and Spanish through
Latin Origins

• Romance Languages (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese,
  French, Italian, etc.) share the same Latin roots
• Morta Roman goddess of death
• Example The Latin root for the word death is
  mort. The French spell it morte and the Spanish,
  muerte. In English, we have a whole network of
  related words mortal, immortal, mortality,
  mortician, mortuary, postmortem, etc.
• Ebbers, 2004

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Greek Combining Forms
hydro graph geo
pyro polis neuro
ortho scope photo
therm crat psych
chron phobe pseud
onym crypt helio
logy sphere the, theo
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Counting in Greek and Latin
mono uni di
bi du, duo tri
tetra quadri penta
hexa sept oct
nove deca deci
cent milli poly
multi semi hemi
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Developing content-specific, academic vocabulary
depends on a basic understanding of Greek and
Latin
Sixty percent of the words in English texts are
of Latin and Greek origin Bear et al., 1996
Henry, 1997
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Content-Specific Greek Terms Anatomy and Medical
Terms esophagus, thyroid, diagnosis, psoriasis,
dyslexia Studies and Sciences biology,
seismology, morphology, geochronometry Animals
and Plants arachnid, amphibian, chlorophyll,
dinosaur, nectar Theatre and the Arts charisma,
drama, chorus, muse, symphony, acoustics
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• Look InsideLook Outside
• pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
• Look inside the word for known word parts
  prefixes, roots or combining forms, suffixes.
• Use the analogy strategyI dont know this word,
  but I know pneumonia and I know volcano, so by
  analogy, this word might have something to do
  with lungs and heat.
• Look outside the word at context clues, visuals
• The coal miners, coughing and wheezing, suffered
  from pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
  .

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SO MANY SYNONYMS ANGLO-SAXON, FRENCH, LATIN, and
GREEK
Anglo-Saxon French Latin or Greek
cook sauté concoct
holy sacred consecrated
kingly royal regal
wreck sabotage subvert
hearten encourage inspire
show cinema theater
See also Bryson, 1990 Lederer, 1991 King, 2000
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ENGLISH A RICH VOCABULARY SO MANY SHADES OF
MEANING
A Positive Emotion A Positive Emotion A Positive Emotion
GLAD PLEASED DELIGHTED
OVERJOYED HAPPY CAREFREE
LIGHTHEARTED MERRY JOYOUS
JOYFUL CHEERY CHEERFUL
CONTENT BLITHE BLISSFUL
SATISFIED BOUYANT BEATIFIC
ECSTATIC EUPHORIC EUPEPSIC
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English is not a Romance Language because it is
not 100 Latin based-it is a melting pot, multi-
language.    Amistad was the name of one of the
most notorious slave ships between Africa and the
American Colonies. What is the irony in the word
Amistad? AmiFriend Amigo, Amicable Friend,
Friendly AmistadFRIENDship???? Amistad was a
SLAVEship!  
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How Languages Spread
UK France Spain Portugal
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How Languages Spread
UK France Spain
Portugal
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THANK YOU