Word Power: Discovering your Roots

Dr. Sharon L. Bender

October, 1996

I produced this paper during my BA degree program, but the material is never outdated. I have studied the use of words to produce a variety of professional documents throughout my professional life.

Vocabulary is the total number of words in a language. It is also the collection of words a person knows and uses in speaking or writing. The number of English words today probably exceeds one million. The English language is consistently changing as new words are devised to describe human activity. There are two kinds of vocabulary include:

1.    Active/use vocabulary - made up of words used in speaking or writing

2.    Passive/recognition vocabulary - consists of words understood when listening or reading

Studies indicate that a child enters school knowing about 3,000 words and that increase to about 30,000 words upon completion of college. The range of a person’s vocabulary is often a clue to the person’s culture and education.  Some words, however, are used every day that originate in a Foreign language:

Etymology is the study of the origin and development of words.  Etymologists study the history of words and attempt to identify change in word’s meaning and pronunciation.  The modern study of etymology rests upon three basic principles that apply to all languages.

1.    The association between the sound and meaning of most words is random and not governed by any rules.

2.    Words are passed from generation to generation through imitation.

3.    Languages are a form of social behavior, they undergo gradual modifications from generation to generation.

English indiscriminately absorbs words from place names, mythology, acronyms, the Bible, Shakespeare, family names, and many other sources.  A host of cultural groups have contributed words to English:  French, Scandinavians, Greeks, Romans, American Indians, and even Tongans.

Although there is no connection between the sound and meaning of most words, certain words in different languages resemble one another in both respects. The word for father, in certain languages, is an example.  It is padre in Italian, padre in Spanish, pere in French, and pai in Portuguese.  These similarities occur because each word is a form of a single, earlier form - the Latin word pater.  This earlier form is called an etymon.  The various words derived from an etymon are called cognates of one another.

Some words are modifications of one or more other words. Smog is a blend of smoke and fog.  The word pep is a shortened form of pepper.  Scribble is based on the Latin word scribere, which means to write. This Latin word is associated with such English words as scripture, description, scribe, and a large number of other words with script- or scribe- in their makeup.

Many groups of words in the English language are related in meaning because they developed from a common root.  Learning and memorizing the single root word can help you identify more easily - and remember - the entire group.

The root -cede- (-ceed-, -cess- in other forms), meaning to go or to yield, appears in over 70 English words. The following are some examples:

Other examples include:

-duc-, -duct- meaning "lead"

(conducive, reduce, educate, conductor, seduce, deduce)

-spec-, -spect- meaning "look at"

(spectrum, perspective, aspect, expect, suspect, respect)

The following are ten common Greek roots:

The following are ten common Latin roots:

The following are some definitions of Latin words/phrases used in our everyday English language:

1.    ad hoc - for a specific purpose

2.    ad nauseam - to a ridiculous degree

3.    carpe diem (seize the day) - make the most of present opportunities

4.    caveat emptor - let the buyer beware

5.    de facto - actually existing but not officially approved

6.    non sequitur - irrelevant remark

7.    curriculum vitae (resume) - short account of career and qualifications

8.    quid pro quo - even exchange

9.    bona fide - genuine

10. status quo - existing state

The following are examples of the above Latin words as they may be used in a sentence:

1.    The leadership council established an ad hoc committee to review quality control.

2.    Our boredom mounted as the slide show of their vacation went on ad nauseam.

3.    When the customer called to thank the company for service, the sales rep thought “carpe diem” and proposed an additional purchase.

4.    The motto of that used-car auctioneer is caveat emptor because he sells cars “as is”.

5.    Fireworks are illegal, yet they are de facto common on the Fourth of July.

6.    She had us laughing with her hilarious non sequiturs.

7.    When he saw the job opening, he immediately submitted his curriculum vitae.

8.    The ambassador insisted that disarmament treaty be a quid pro quo.

9.    The dresser is a bona fide antique.

10. The town council passes laws to preserve the community’s status quo.

French words and phrases are natural elements of conversation. Almost everyone knows ballet and bouquet and filet. The following are 10 more expressions we use quite often:

1.    élan - spirited self-assurance

2.    savoir-faire - ready knowledge of what to do or say

3.    laissez-faire -noninterference by government

4.    entrepreneur - one who organizes a business venture at risk for profit

5.    tête-à- tête - private conversation between two people

6.    par excellence - beyond compare

7.    gauche - lacking social grace

8.    avant-garde - on the cutting edge

9.    vis-à-vis - face to face; opposite

10. fait accompli - something done that cannot be changed

We owe more to Italian and Spanish influence than simply delicious cuisine.  We have borrowed words that flavor our language and add to its precision.

From Italy:

1.    dilettante - one who is superficially involved in a particular art or science

2.    imbroglio - involved and confusing situation

3.    cognoscenti - those with special knowledge in a particular field

From Spain:

1.    aficionado - devoted fan; enthusiast

2.    bravado - pretended courage

3.    quixotic - impractical idealistic

The following list of words are examples of words that are considered to be English words, but are actually borrowed from Foreign words:

Learning the roots of words:

• Helps us remember them.

• Gives us a deeper understanding of the words we already know.

• Allows us to pick up whole families of new words at a time.

An individual’s word power can easily be expanded by learning a few skills.  The root gives the basic clue to the meaning of a word.  But there’s another important clue that runs a close second - the prefix.

By identifying the proper prefixes and suffixes, simple words (root words) can be recreated into new ones.  A prefix is the word part that comes before the root word (e.g. pre, re, un), and the suffix is the word part that comes after the root word (e.g. er, ness, able, tion, ing). 

The following are some examples and meanings of some prefixes:

Idioms are terms that cannot be understood simply by analysis of the literal meaning of the words.  The following are some examples of idioms frequently heard in business:

Idioms from sports:

In the Vocabulary Power seminar I took in 1994, we received "advice on language that is particular to business including idioms, abbreviations, and acronyms." Using a variety of creative learning techniques, we learned:

• Greek and Latin roots to decipher the meanings of hundreds of other words

• Prefixes and suffixes to help improve your vocabulary

• The MEYERS Method for increasing vocabulary (Analyze/Memorize/Utilize)

• Techniques for effective use of dictionaries and other resources

Just as children do, by looking up new words and using them in their proper context is one way to learn new words.  The best way, however, is to observe how others use them.  In general, vocabulary can be improved by the following steps:

Analyze it

• Listen to the word

• Repeat it and write it

• Examine the parts of the word (etymology)

• Examine the word within the sentence (context)

Memorize it

• Develop a mental image of the word

• Make a memory clue

• Memorize the definition

Utilize it

• Use the word and its memory clue in a sentence

• Build confidence through repeated use

Another way to improve your ability to use and remember new words is to examine their history and origin. By understanding a words origin, it is easier to apply the word correctly. The following are some examples of the history of some words, as well as some examples of some newly created words from some preexisting ones:

Palliate is “to moderate the intensity of,” “to lessen,”  “to cover with a garment.” Its noun form, palliative, refers to something that acts to soothe pain or distress.  In early times, the Latin pallium meant “cloak,” a garment frequently used either as a disguise or as a cover for something not to be seen.  Figuratively, therefore, palliate has come to mean “to cloak an error or an offense” (to put a cloak over an offense and thus hide it) or, at the least, to make it seem less serious or violent.  William Pitt in 1741 in a speech before Parliament used palliate in just this way:“The atrocious crime of being a young man . . . I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny.” 

Another common English word that derives from the name of a Latin garment, but seems to have no connection with it,  is escape.  It comes from the prefix ex (“out of”)  and cappa (“cape”).  The cape was an ordinary article of clothing.  When a person was attacked and the cape grasped, he would squirm out of it, leaving the attacker holding the bag - or, in this case, the cape.  Breaking loose and fleeing was an escape - a leaving “out of the cape,” an ex cappa.

Portmanteau words are words that have been combined to create new words.  Words that are not found in a dictionary, but may be used by an individual to simplify the use of more than one word into just one word which improves the description.  My children used several portmanteau words as they grew.  The following are some examples:

• Plogged (clogged/plugged)

• Mascume (mask/costume)

• Gription (grip/traction)

Such words have a life of their own, but show traces of their lineage.  Some blends were created to fill a void in the language; others were onomatopoeic