Word Roots and Affixes s1

English 11 Lesson Activities Answer Sheet

Word Roots and Affixes The Lesson Activities will help you meet these educational goals: 21st Century Skills—You will employ online tools for research and analysis, use critical- thinking and problem-solving skills, and assess and validate information.

Directions Please save this document before you begin working on the assignment. Type your answers directly in the document. ______

Self-Checked Activities

Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. Click the link to the Student Answer Sheet at the end of the lesson. Use the answers or sample responses to evaluate your own work.

1. Morphemes a. See how many morphemes you can add to each of these roots to create new words. Try several combinations to see how many ways you can go about the task.  like  boy  gentle  desire

Sample answer: like: likely, unlike, unlikely, likelihood, unlikelihood, likeness boy: boy, boyish, boyishness, boyhood gentle: ungentle, gentleman, gentleness, gently desire: desirable, undesirable, desirability

b. What do the words in each trio have in common that can help you understand their meanings more fully when reading them in context? First write what you think they will have in common, then look up the definition of each word to see if you are correct.

Sample answer:

acuity All the words have acuity: sharpness of acumen the common perception acute morpheme acu, acumen: sharpness which probably refers of perception to sharpness. acute: sharp, as in an angle or pain

anthropology All the words have anthropology: the anthropomorphism the common study of man anthropogeography morpheme anthropo, anthropomorphism: which refers to giving human humans. characteristics to nonhumans anthropogeography: the study of the geographic distribution and interaction of humans

2 philanthropy All the words have philanthropy: concern philanderer the common for human welfare philosophy morpheme phil, which philanderer: a man refers to love or who flirts with or attraction. dates many women philosophy: the rational exploration of truths associated with life

topology All the words have topology: the study of topography the common geometric shapes toponymy morpheme topo, that remain which refers to place unchanged when or shape. bent or stretched topography: the mapping of physical features of a given area toponymy: the study of place names

3 geography All the words have geography: the study typography the common of the earth’s surface, echocardiograph morpheme graph, including differences which refers to writing in physical, cultural, or drawing. and economic characteristics typography: the art or process of printing with type echocardiograph: an instrument that uses sound waves to record the function of the heart

c. What do you notice about the relationships of the words you researched? Were your predictions correct? How does understanding morphemes help you understand new word meanings in areas with unfamiliar terms, such as science and social studies?

Sample answer: Words with common morphemes are likely to have related meanings. If I know the meanings of all the morphemes in a word, I can predict the meaning of the word, even if it is unfamiliar.

4 2. Etymology a. Use this etymology reference and this dictionary to find the etymology and meanings of these words. List each morpheme and its meaning. When using the etymology reference, you may still need to refer to a dictionary to learn the meanings of some of the roots.

Sample answer: Word Definition Etymology acupuncture the practice of inserting fine acu- is from Latin acus, meaning needles through the skin at “sharp”; puncture is an English specific points, especially to cure word meaning “to pierce or to disease or relieve pain prick” anthropology the study of humankind in anthropo- is from Greek general anthropos, meaning “human being”; -logy is from Greek logia, meaning “speech” or “study” philately the collection and study of phil- is from Greek philia, postage and imprinted stamps meaning “love”; a- is a common affix meaning “without”; -tely is from Greek telos, meaning “tax” pathology a science that deals with the patho- is from Greek pathos, cause and effects of diseases meaning “suffering”; -logy is from Greek logia, meaning “speech” or “study” topography a description or representation from Latin topographia, from on a map of the natural and man- Greek topos, meaning “place,” made features of a place or and graphein, meaning “to write” region

b. Use this etymology reference and this dictionary to identify the meanings of these words found in the study of mathematics.

Sample answer: Word Definition dodecahedron a solid having 12 plane faces circumradius radius of the smallest circle that will fit around a polygon polygon a closed-plane figure bounded by straight lines trigonometry the study of right triangle measurements and ratios

5 c. Think about how understanding the etymology of these words can help you understand other mathematical terms. Select one of the terms above and find several words that have similar morphemes. What do the meanings of these terms have in common? How is this helpful?

Sample answer: Answers will vary depending on the word chosen, but should resemble the following: Word: dodecahedron Common morpheme: dodeca dodecahedron, dodecagon, dodecagram

All of these words refer to geometric shapes whose definition includes the number 12.

Many mathematical terms are formed by combining a relatively few underlying roots with prefixes and suffixes. Most of these words have Greek or Latin origins. By comparing the meanings of two known words with a common morpheme, I can guess the meaning of that morpheme. I can then use the meaning of two or more such morphemes to predict the meaning of an unfamiliar term that combines them.