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Word Origins
(Structural Analysis #7)

Author's Note: Although an understanding of the origins of words in English is a part of structural analysis (which is why it is shown as #7), I have chosen to break it out from the "Structural Analysis" group. I have made this decision because of the scope of coverage--and the underlying linguistic and multi-language foundations--which are provided here--and are better placed in advanced language skills.

You may have read somewhere that of over 20,000 common english words, more than 12,000 are based on Greek or Latin roots. Other English words also come from German, French, Spanish, and other languages. Many languages and cultures borrow words from one another. So in addition to studying basic prefixes and suffixes, a student may want to seek out word origins through extensive dictionary use.

At a minimum, origins of many common words (as well as many technical terms) should be pointed out to provide the student with the opportunity to understand how many words are built. So many English words come from Latin and Greek that when one learns one root word, he or she has the key to an entire word family sequence. For example, the words graph, graphic, and graphy come to us from the Greek word graphos, which means to write [down] or to record, as in the case of the word biography--which actually is a construct from two Greek roots: bio (meaning life) and graphos (to write).

Want a fun-to-know technical example? Offset Lithography (a kind of printing) comes from litho (Latin for 'rock') and our old Greek friend graphos. Together, the words literally mean, "writing from a rock."

COACHING NOTE: Develop a personal "short list" of word origins and common words. Model (working with the student) the rules for using these words to identify the root words and then use prefixes and suffixes to construct additional words.

CSML-028 / 090618

Copyright 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Rita M. Wirtz, M.A. -- All Rights Reserved