1. All words are pegs to hang ideas on. --Henry Ward Beecher
When the mind is thinking, it is talking to itself Plato
The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. --Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
Susan Ebbers 2005

2. "The greatest benefit from instructional time spent on
"The greatest benefit from
instructional time spent on
word study can be gained
from exploring roots, prefixes,
suffixes, and networks
of related words"
--Henry,1997
Susan Ebbers 2005

3. Gr. form, structure Gr. study of
MORPH OLOGY
Gr. form, structure Gr. study of
Morphology is the study of the structure of words as it relates to meaning. It is structural analysis. Morphology may also include the study of word history: etymology.
Susan Ebbers 2005

4. } affixes Basic Terms morpheme: smallest unit of meaning in a word
Ex: biographers: 4 morphemes: bio-graph-er-s
Types of Morphemes:
root or combining form: inspector, thermal
base word: unlikely
prefix: re-, un-, dis-
suffix: -able, -ive, -ly
derivation-a word formed from an existing word, root, or affix: electric, electricity
} affixes
Susan Ebbers 2005

5. ugsome malductive triskaidekaphobia hydronauts
Are these real words?
What might they mean?
ugsome
malductive
triskaidekaphobia
hydronauts
Susan Ebbers 2005

6. Research Confirms Structural Analysis
Content Area Reading
English Language Learners
Spelling Skills
Vocabulary Acquisition
Fluency and Rapid Word Recognition
Comprehension
Susan Ebbers 2005

7. Singson, Mahony, and Mann studied upper elementary students and found that their understanding of morphemes contributes to both decoding and spelling ability (2000).
Abbott and Berninger concluded from their studies that older struggling readers benefit from learning the composition of English words, which includes their basic structure of prefix, root, suffix, syllable formation, and morpheme patterns (1999).
Susan Ebbers 2005

8. Sally Shaywitz, M.D. has determined that "Knowing the etymology or the roots of a word is a very powerful aid to reading, shedding light on a word's pronunciation, its spelling, and its meaning Shaywitz, 2003, p. 207
Arnbak and Elbro determined that morphological awareness training (learning prefixes, roots, and suffixes) significantly increased both comprehension and spelling of complex words in dyslexic readers in fourth and fifth grade.
In a second study with older secondary students, they found that "dyslexic adolescents use recognition of root morphemes as a compensatory strategy in reading both single words and coherent texts.”
1996, 2000  
Susan Ebbers 2005

9. Another entry point for adding words to the environment is morphological relationships. For example, challenge students to compare Tyrannosaurus and tyrant; pedestrian and pedal; duplicate and duplicity….
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002, p. 128
Susan Ebbers 2005

10. The mind analyzes every stretch of language as some mixture of memorized chunks and rule-governed assemblies
--Steven Pinker, 1999
Susan Ebbers 2005

11. ALL MIXED UP
You know this language that we speak, is part German, part Latin, and part Greek
--Peter, Paul, and Mary
Susan Ebbers 2005

12. Anglo-Saxon French Latin Greek
Susan Ebbers 2005

13. Susan Ebbers 2005

14. Anglo-Saxon: Germanic Indo-European Origins
common words: love, child, house, heart (often one syllable)
vowel teams: teeth, foot r-controlled: farm, star, storm, shirt
wh-what, sh-ship, th-thumb, ch-church, ng-king, nk-thank
prepositions, articles, conjunctions: with, to, for, and, the, but…
compound words: mankind, blackbird
words with silent letters: knee, night, comb, wrinkle, could, thought
Susan Ebbers 2005

15. "Silent letter patterns such as kn-, wr-, -ough, -ould, and -igh are remnants of Anglo-Saxon, in which those "silent" letters were sounded." McCardle & Chhabra, 2004
Susan Ebbers 2005

16. **The brain needs to be prepared for the transition from Anglo-Saxon to Latinate words for three reasons.
Students speak Anglo-Saxon but begin to read and write Latin-based derivatives
Spelling patterns change: /sh/ -- ci, ti, si; /f/ -- ph, etc.
Structural changes: Latin prefix-root-suffix,Greek combining forms, multisyllabic words with schwa
Without this preparation for a change in word structure the brain may be perplexed.
Berninger & Richards, 2002, p
Susan Ebbers 2005

17. Susan Ebbers 2005

18. LATIN STRUCTURE Latin words follow a strict structure
Prefixes, if used, must be placed before the root and suffixes must follow the root
Latin roots (spect, vis, ject, rupt) are unlikely to stand alone as an English word
The Latin root usually receives the accent or stress:
e ject'
port' ability
in script' ion
at tract' ive
Susan Ebbers 2005

19. Latin: Some Common Roots
trans
port
able
dis
rupt
ion
pre
script re
tract or
inter
cept
pro
ject
ile de
struct
con
duct
miss al
sub
vers
ive e
dict
to carry
to break
to write
to pull
to take
to throw
to build
to lead
to send
to turn
to speak
Susan Ebbers 2005

20. White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989) found that third-graders who were given training on the nine most common prefixes and a strategy for decomposing words into roots and suffixes outperformed a control group on several measures of word meaning.
They concluded that teaching at least the top nine (if not all twenty) to middle school students would pay dividends in increased vocabulary learning.
Susan Ebbers 2005

21. 20 Most Frequent Prefixes in School Texts
1. unable
2. review
inedible (impotent, illegal, irresponsible)
distrust
enlighten (empower)
nonsense
inside, implant
overcome
misguided
submarine
prefix
interrupt
forewarn
derail
transfer
supersonic
semicircle
antitrust
midterm
underfed
Analysis: White, Sowell, and Yanagihara 1989
Susan Ebbers 2005

22. Prefixes: Meaning and Connotation
Often Negative
dis-, de-
non-
sub-
in-
un-
mis-
mal-
anti, contra a-
Somewhat Positive
pro-
co-
bene-
super-
com-
be-
en-, em-
ad-
Susan Ebbers 2005

23. supportive unsupportive supportively import importer importation
portfolio
portable
portability
support supporter
supportive unsupportive supportively
import
importer importation
deport
deportee
deportation
port: to carry (L.)
transport
transporter
transportation
report
reporter
Susan Ebbers 2005

24. Word Webs or Spoke Diagrams
Create networks of related words. Make a word web, spoke diagram, or root tree for the Latin stem script or scrib, meaning to write
prescription
scribble
scripture
describe
Susan Ebbers 2005

25. Joanne Carlisle's studies suggest that proficient readers and spellers use knowledge of affixes and roots as they read and spell, while poor readers and spellers "lack awareness of the presence of base forms within derived counterparts, and they lack specific knowledge about how to spell suffixes and how to attach suffixes to base words correctly”
1987, pp
Susan Ebbers 2005

26. Susan Ebbers 2005

27. GREEK WORD ORIGINS a y for /i/ as in symphony and typhoid
a ch for /k/ as in chorus and chaos
a ps for /s/ and in pseudonym and psychology
a ph for /f/ as in sphere and epitaph
the letter x as in xylophone, dyslexia, xenophobe
Greek morphemes have no strict structure:
graph
biography
graphic
mimeograph
Susan Ebbers 2005

28. Greek Combining Forms hydro graph geo pyro polis neuro ortho scope
photo
therm
crat
psych
chron
phobe
pseud
onym
crypt
helio
logy
sphere
the, theo
Susan Ebbers 2005

29. Counting in Greek and Latin
mono
uni di bi
du, duo
tri
tetra
quadri
penta
hexa
sept
oct
nove
deca
deci
cent
milli
poly
multi
semi
hemi
Susan Ebbers 2005

30. Developing content-specific, academic vocabulary depends on a basic understanding of Greek and Latin
Sixty percent of the words in English texts are of Latin and Greek origin Bear et al., 1996; Henry, 1997
Susan Ebbers 2005

31. gram, graph to write, written grammar graph gram grammar school
photograph
polygraph
mimeograph
phonograph
telegraph
paragraph
telegram
mammogram
histogram
anagram
cryptogram
monogram
electrocardiogram
photographer
cartographer
geographer
cryptographer
autobiographer
xylographer
paleographer
biographer
graphite
grapheme
graphologist
graphic
graphically
grammar school
grammar books
rules of grammar
grammatical
grammatically
ungrammatical
ungrammatically
grammatology
graph
grammar
gram, graph
to write, written
Greek
gram
Susan Ebbers 2005

32. Look Inside—Look Outside
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Look inside the word for known word parts: prefixes, roots or combining forms, suffixes.
Use the analogy strategy—“I don’t know this word, but I know pneumonia and I know volcano, so by analogy, this word might have something to do with lungs and heat.”
Look outside the word at context clues, visuals
The coal miners, coughing and wheezing, suffered from pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
Susan Ebbers 2005

33. SO MANY ENGLISH WORDS ~615,000 words
 Oxford English Dictionary
~615,000 words
Webster's Third New International English Dictionary
~450,000 words
~200,000 words in common use
Millions with technical and scientific terms
(Bryson, 1990; King, 2000)
Susan Ebbers 2005

34. SO MANY SYNONYMS Anglo-Saxon French Latin or Greek
ANGLO-SAXON, FRENCH, LATIN, and GREEK
Anglo-Saxon
French
Latin or Greek
cook
sauté
concoct
holy
sacred
consecrated
kingly
royal
regal
wreck
sabotage
subvert
hearten
encourage
inspire
show
cinema
theater
See also Bryson, 1990; Lederer, 1991; King, 2000
Susan Ebbers 2005

35. ENGLISH: A RICH VOCABULARY SO MANY SHADES OF MEANING
“A Positive Emotion”
GLAD
PLEASED
DELIGHTED
OVERJOYED
HAPPY
CAREFREE
LIGHTHEARTED
MERRY
JOYOUS
JOYFUL
CHEERY
CHEERFUL
CONTENT
BLITHE
BLISSFUL
SATISFIED
BOUYANT
BEATIFIC
ECSTATIC
EUPHORIC
EUPEPSIC
Susan Ebbers 2005

36. Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them!
--Adlai Stevenson
Susan Ebbers 2005

37. ευχαριστώ /efharisto/
THANK YOU
Danke
Merci
Gratias
ευχαριστώ /efharisto/
Susan Ebbers 2005