If not, then ask

■from the sound of words

■

■from the structure of words

■

■from the context; how the word is used Learning words is therefore a three-step process.

1. Ask yourself, “Does this word sound like anything I’ve ever heard?”

2. If not, ask

3. “Does any part of the word look familiar?”

4. If not, then ask

5. “How is this word used in the sentence I read or heard?”

Try asking yourself this sequence of questions with each unfamiliar word you encounter. As you learn more about how vocabulary works, you will find that you already know some of the words, and you can use your new knowledge to figure out the others.

LessoN

Learning word parts is valuable because they clue you into other words in the same family. Roots, prefixes, and suffixes are word elements that share characteristics.

English words share many traits because they descend from a long line of intermingled Indo-European languages. Many English words come from Greek and Latin. Again, the point of learning to recognize word parts is that they give you access to whole groups of words when you know a few language families.

The best way to improve your vocabulary is to learn word parts. Using word parts to increase vocabulary works in two ways:

1. You may already know a given root, prefix, or suffix that can guide you in determining the meaning of an unfamiliar word. For example, you may know that the root hydro suggests water. Therefore, if you came across the word hydrotherapy, you would figure it is a treatment that uses water.

2. If you don’t know the part by itself, you may recognize it from a word you know. By association, then, you link the known meaning to that of an unfamiliar word. For example, you know that a fire hydrant stores water. Therefore, you associate the root hydro to water and deduce the meaning of hydrotherapy.

12 ^{word Parts}

roots

Roots are the pieces of words that carry direct mean-ing. Generally roots of English words are derived from ancient Greek and Latin words. Because so many English words have their source in certain recurring root words, knowing some of the most commonly used roots gives you access to the meaning of many words at once. When you combine your knowledge of roots with your knowledge of prefixes and suffixes—

the small parts of words that go at the beginning or end of words to change their meanings—you have the tools for deciphering the meanings of many words from their structure.

Definitions and Roots

Following are the definitions and roots of some words, along with other words that share their roots.

agoraphobic (phobe 5 fear): fear of open spaces phobia, claustrophobia, xenophobia

antagonize (agon 5 struggle, contest): to struggle against

protagonist, agony, agonize assimilate (simul 5 copy): to fit in

similar, simile, facsimile, simulate attribute (trib 5 to give): a special quality

tributary, contribution, tribunal audible (aud 5 hear): able to be heard

audition, audience, auditorium belligerent (bell 5 war): warlike

bellicose, antebellum

benevolent (ben 5 good): kind

benefactor, beneficiary, benign, benediction biodegradable (bio 5 life): able to be broken

down by living things bionic, biology, antibiotic

chronic (chron 5 time): occurring over time

conspicuous (spic, spec 5 see): highly visible spectacle, spectator, inspection, introspection contradict (contra 5 against, dict 5 say): the act

or state of disagreeing

contrary, contrast, dictate, dictionary, interdict, dictation

credence (cred 5 believe): belief, believability creed, credulous, credit, incredible

demographic (demo 5 people): having to do with the measurement of populations

democracy, demagogue evident (vid 5 see): obvious

video, evidence, visible, provident fidelity (fid 5 faith): faithfulness

fiduciary, infidel, infidelity

fluctuate (flux, flu 5 to flow): to rise and fall fluid, fluidity, superfluous, influx

gregarious (greg 5 crowd, herd): sociable egregious

impediment (ped, pod 5 foot; ped also means child): a barrier or hindrance

pedestal, pedestrian, pediment

incisive (cis 5 to cut): penetrating, clear cut incision, precise, scissors

incognito (cog, gno 5 to know): unrecognizable diagnosis, recognize, cognition, cognitive inducement (duc 5 to lead): leading to an action

induction, reduction, introduction, reduce inference (fer 5 bear or carry): guess or surmise

transfer, refer, reference, interfere interrogate (rog 5 to ask): to question

surrogate, derogatory, arrogant loquacious (loq 5 speak): talkative

eloquent, soliloquy

mediocre (med 5 middle): of medium quality, neither good nor bad

median, intermediate, mediator

nominal (nom, nym 5 name): in name only

pathos (path 5 feeling): feeling of sympathy or pity pathetic, empathy, sympathy, apathy

philanthropy (phil 5 love): giving generously to worthy causes

philosophy, Philadelphia, bibliophile

precedent (ced 5 go): a prior ruling or experience intercede, procedure, succeed

protracted (tract 5 draw, pull): dragged out tractor, distracted, attraction, subtracted recapitulate (cap 5 head): to review in detail

capital, caption, captain, decapitate rejected (ject 5 to throw or send): sent back

subject, dejected, interjected, projectile remittance (mit, mis 5 to send): to pay or

send back

submit, commission, permission

sophisticated (soph 5 wisdom): having style or knowledge

sophomore, sophistry, philosopher

tangential (tang, tac, tig 5 touch): touching slightly

tangent, tactical, tactile, contiguous

tenacious (ten, tain 5 hold): unwilling to let go, stubborn

tenacity, contain, tenable

urbane (urb 5 city): polished, sophisticated urban, suburban, urbanite

verify (ver 5 truth): to establish as truth verity, veritable, veracious, aver

vivacious (viv, vit 5 life): lively in manner vivid, vital

Practice 1

Fill in the blanks with words from the previous list.

Check your answers at the end of the lesson on page 192.

1. His remarks were _________ and cut right to the heart of the subject.

2. It doesn’t pay to _________ the opinions of those who are in authority.

3. His _________ arose from his deep desire to help those less fortunate than himself.

4. The store demanded the _________ of the required payment to clear the debt.

5. One of her best _________ is her clear-eyed wisdom.

6. Over the years, people from many countries have come to _________ into American life.

7. Public works projects in the 1930s set a _________ for social legislation for the next 60 years.

8. After the game, the commentators continued to _________ the key plays for those who had been unable to watch.

9. By wearing a wig and glasses, Shana believed she was going _________.

10. It was the principal’s duty to _________ the students and find out who was responsible for the vandalism.

11. The _________ time it took to receive my test results was torturous.

12. The story about the homeless man stirred strong feelings of _________ in me.

13. He tends to dominate conversations because he is _________.

14. She likes to stay indoors because she is severely _________.

15. Compared to the high-quality book I read last week, this one is unfortunately _________.

16. Although she is the one who made the most important decisions in our club, he is our _________ president.

17. Plastic lasts forever because it is not _________.

18. She prefers _________ humor to silly, childish