The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

Using Word Elements 133SuffixesA suffix, such as -ly, is added to the end of a root. The hyphen at the beginningshows where the root attaches. Most suffixes change a base wordfrom one part of speech to another. (See the table on pages 5 and 6.) Forexample, -able changes a verb (reach) to an adjective (reachable). Suffixesmay also indicate a plural, as in boys, or a past tense, as in reached. A fewsuffixes extend the basic meaning of a word root. The root psych (“mind”)and the suffix -logy (“study of”) are joined to form psychology (“the studyof the mind”).Many common words contain word elements. Each of the followingwords consists of a prefix, a root, and a suffix: reaction, unlikely, exchanges,reviewing, and invisibly. Can you identify each element?Answers are on page 399.Using Word ElementsCopyright © Cengage Learning. All Right Reserved.Word elements provide valuable clues to the meanings of unknownwords, but they must be used carefully.Some word elements have more than one spelling. For example, theroot ject can be spelled jet (as in jet and jettison). The prefix anti- is alsospelled ant- (as in antacid and antagonist). Some spelling differencesmake words easier to pronounce. Others reflect the history of a word element.Fortunately, spellings usually vary by only one or two letters. Onceyou learn to look for the common letters, you should be able to identifyword elements easily.Some word elements have more than one meaning. For example, thecombining root gen can mean both “birth” and “type.” This book gives allthe common meanings of many combining roots, prefixes, and suffixes,and some hints about when to use them. When you encounter word elementsthat have more than one meaning, remember to use the contextclues you learned in Part 1 of this book. If you combine your knowledgeof word elements with context clues, you can usually determine the mostappropriate meaning.Finally, when you see a certain combination of letters in a word,those letters may not always form a word element. For instance, theappearance of the letters a-n-t-i in a word does not mean that they alwaysform the prefix anti-. To find out whether or not they do, you mustcombine context clues with your knowledge of word elements. To illustratethis, a-n-t-i is used in two sentences below. Which sentence contains theprefix anti- (meaning “opposite” or “against”)?This antianxiety pill will help calm you down.We anticipate you will come.