Warm greetings to you all and a happy holiday to the kids in Nigeria! Hope you are enjoying your school vacation.
The theme for last week's Word Chest adventure was Roots. By now, you understand that most words in the English language are borrowed from Latin, Greek, French and so forth. The history of the English language is a very interesting one and if you want to find out more about the language change please do well to apply for a degree in English and Literature or better still, do some research on the topic. You will appreciate having this knowledge, I promise you.
Could you guess the English meanings of these Latin Words?
a) contra
b) septem
c) miser
d) manus
e) aqua
Here are answers for these English words which are derived from these Latin words.
a) habito (I live) habitat, inhabit, habitation
b) duo (two) duet, duel
c) annus (year) annual
d) vid/vis (to see) video, vision
e) circ (round) circumference, circumscribe
f) bene (good, well) beneficial, benefactor
e) hab (to have) habit
f) pac (peace) pacify
g) terr (earth) terrestrial
The English language, like any other living language, is inherently dynamic and productive. When these changes occur, new words are formed while others are discarded. One way words are formed is through affixation.
Affixation is the process of adding a word part (affix) to existing stems, bases or roots. When one or more letters or syllable is added to a word, the meaning of the word is modified. Affixes can be classified into prefixes, infixes and suffixes. The focus today will be on prefixes with Latin roots.
What is a Prefix?
A prefix refers to one or more letters or syllable that is attached at the beginning of a word. When writing it alone you must add a dash (–) to indicate that it comes before a word.
Study the table below.
| No | Latin Roots or Prefixes | Meanings in English | Examples of English Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | creo– | to create | creativity, creature |
| 2. | porto– | to carry | deport, export, transport, import, report |
| 3. | duco– | to lead | educate, abduct |
| 4. | locus– | place | locate, location, locality, localize |
| 5. | millo– | to send | transmit, remittance, mission |
| 6. | inter– | between | interstate, interrupt, interpersonal, intermarriage |
| 7. | frater– | brother– | fraternal, fratricide, fraternity |
| 8. | pello– | to drive | propel, repel, expel |
| 9. | fortis– | strong | fortress, fortify |
| 10. | curro– | to run | courier, current |
| 11. | ex– | out | exist, excuse, except |
| 12. | primus– | first | primitive, primary, primogeniture, primaeval |
| 13. | finis– | an end | finale, finalize |
What are the English meanings of these Latin words?
a. pater _______
b. locus _______
c. porto _______
d. curro _______
e. millo _______
The word for the week is Fraternity. It refers to a group of people who have the same job, interests, etc. Traditionally, fraternities were organizations exclusively for men while sororities are exclusively for females.