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My purpose in this article is convince educators to teach morphemes, not just academic words as part of a balanced vocabulary program and to provide the FREE tools to teach them. Good vocabulary instruction includes structural analysis (how words are put together), not just a list of tough academic words or difficult words which your students will be reading in a story or in an article. And good vocabulary instruction does not include a weekly list of Greek and Latin-based SAT or ACT vocabulary words with the quiz on Friday.

To support my case, that teachers should “Teach Morphemes, Not Just Whole Words,” let’s get on the same page regarding what function these Greek and Latin word parts serve as English vocabulary-builders.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a morpheme is the smallest unit of language that has its own meaning, either a word or a part of a word: “Worker” contains two morphemes: “work” and “-er”. Notice that the word part must be meaning-based to be a morpheme; not an inflection. An inflection is a change in the form of a word (usually the ending) which indicates a grammatical function or attribute such as person, number, case, gender, mood, or verb tense.

Of course, Greek and Latin are not the only foreign-based morphemes in English. We have plenty of other languages which provide their own morphological contributions. I do suggest including a brief lesson on English Language History to teach your students why we have so many words which have inconsistent spellings and pronunciations. However, it’s the Greek and Latin derivations which constitute the vast majority of words which you students are challenged by in difficult text. You may wish to prove this to your students by using the clear examples from this article: Greek and Latin “Dead” Languages.

Check out the Latin (in red) in this first sentence from the Federalist Papers #1 by Alexander Hamilton:

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting Federal Government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America.

“Government” was a Greek derivation through the French, by the way. Not to be outdone, let’s check out the Greek (in red) in this sentence about Hamilton’s arch rival, Thomas Jefferson:

Thomas Jefferson’s views on democracy were greeted with widespread cynicism, sarcasm, and even panic by European rulers.

Now, most teachers would agree that these are important Tier 2 (Beck in the Common Core Appendix A) academic words to master. I agree, but not by creating a list, having students look them up in the dictionary, and quizzing on Friday. Instead, teach the morphemes!

Let’s use the first word, unequivocal, to prove my point.

Let’s say you passed out the word list of the above red words on Monday and had students look each up in the dictionary. Students look up unequivocal. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English (3^rd Edition), they would find this definition:

“Unequivocal means “leaving no doubt; unambiguous.”

This definition does provide some clues to meaning; however, for most of your students, it doesn’t provide a complete understanding of the word. As is often the case, dictionary authors use difficult vocabulary in their definitions. For many of us, the word unambiguous in this definition is just as tough to understand as Hamilton’s word, unequivocal. Additionally, dictionaries provide multiple definitions for many words, so we’re often stuck with the old conundrum: You have to know the definition to learn the definition. Lastly, dictionaries only provide the denotative meanings of the words, not the connotative meanings. In other words, authors frequently select words which mean one thing, but may suggest something else. Does Hamilton’s word choice suggest the same meanings as modern dictionaries? We simply don’t know for sure.

My point is that learning the dictionary definitions of Greek and Latin-based English words is of some value, but this approach doesn’t completely solve the problem of finding out what a word means in the context in which the author uses it. Plus, memorizing the definitions of the key Greek and Latin words would take an inordinate amount of time.

A much better way to learn challenging English vocabulary is to memorize, practice, and apply the Greek and Latin word parts.

Let me show you how efficient and effective these short-cuts to meaning can be with Hamilton’s  word, unequivocal. Unequivocal has four Latin word parts:

You already know the first word part, un, which means not; equi means equal; voc means call; and al means relating to

Simply rearrange these definitions to make more sense in English.

Unequivocal means “relating to not calling equal.”

Compare the word parts definition: “relating to not calling equal” to the dictionary definition: “Unequivocal means “leaving no doubt; unambiguous.” Both are helpful, but looking up the word unequivocal in the dictionary helped your students learn one word and you probably had to translate that dictionary definition for them. Plus, think of all the wasted class time, looking up all those academic words!

Learning the four word parts in unequivocal not only helps your students learn the one word; think about how many other words include the word parts used in unequivocal. I did the research for you, because I’m sure you’re just dying to know. The un prefix is part of a whopping 3,876 words; equi is used in 196 words, including such useful words as equilibrium, equivalent, and equitable; voc is found in 167 words, such as these word gems: vocalize, evocative, and invocation; and the al suffix is in 3,544. Amazing! Learning the four Latin word parts in unequivocal is powerful. If you knew these word part definitions, you would have short-cut clues to the meaning of many more challenging words‒a total of 7,783 to be exact (morewords.com)!

Of course, beyond our single word example, unequivocal, the reading research overwhelmingly confirms the value of learning Greek and Latin word parts, not just whole words.

In a key vocabulary study, Nagy and Scott found that [Display] “Knowing Greek and Latin word parts helps students recognize and gain clues to understanding of other words that use known affixes and roots” (Nagy & Scott, 2000).

Comprehensive Vocabulary

Now, I don’t want to leave you the false impression that learning a bunch of new Greek and Latin word parts will solve all your students’ vocabulary challenges. And, just as with the whole-word definitions of important Greek and Latin words, it would be impractical to memorize all Greek and Latin word parts. But, some Greek and Latin word parts are used much more often than others. In fact, the 20 highest frequency Greek and Latin prefixes make up 97% of all Greek and Latin prefixes. With suffixes, the top four constitute 97%, as well.

Plus, although we got good clues regarding the meaning of unequivocal, it was not a perfect definition. This will be the case for many Greek and Latin-based English words. However, for other words, their Greek and Latin word parts will form perfect definitions, such as with distract. Dis means away from and tract means draw. To draw away from is a perfect definition for distract. The point I’m making about memorizing Greek and Latin word parts is that knowing some clues to the meaning of a challenging word are much better than having no clues, but when the Greek and Latin word parts form a perfect word definition, that’s a bonus!

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For full-year vocabulary programs which include multiple meaning words (L.4.a.), Greek and Latin morphology with Morphology Walls (L.4.a.), figures of speech (L.5.a.), words with special relationships (L.5.b.), words with connotative meanings (L.5.c.), and academic language words (L.6.0), check out the assessment-based grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Comprehensive Vocabulary.

Get the Grades 4,5,6,7,8 Vocabulary Sequence of Instruction FREE Resource:

Get the Greek and Latin Morphology Walls FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Academic Language Assessment FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, Common Core Vocabulary, Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit, Dead languages, DUAL Word Parts Worksheet, Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin Morphology, Greek and Latin prefixes, Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin suffixes, Greek and Latin vocabulary, Greek and Latin word lists, high frequency word parts, Mark Pennington, memorize vocabulary, morphemes, morphological, morphological awareness, morphology, research-based vocabulary word lists, structural analysis

Greek and Latin “Dead” Languages

Now, some of you might remember hearing that classical Greek and Latin are dead languages. Of corpse they aren’t! Sorry, I should have warned you in advance about my quirky sense of humor. Although it’s true that no one, other than scholars, speaks and writes in classical Greek or Latin today, both of the languages remain very much alive in their impact upon our culture and language.

In fact, these Greek and Latin zombies constitute more and more of our English language as new words in technology and the sciences are most often derivatives of these languages.

Let’s get started by proving to you that it’s the very-much-alive Greek and Latin that keeps you from understanding all the reading content in challenging texts.

You’re at the kitchen table on a Saturday morning with your phone and a cup of coffee. You’re in the middle of an interesting article, and the author quotes something from Alexander Hamilton’s Federalist Papers Number 1. The quotation reminds you that you placed the Federalist Papers on your reading bucket list after seeing the musical, Hamilton, last summer.

With caffeine-inspired motivation, you walk into the den to see if the Federalist Papers are in that set of beautifully bound Harvard Classics, collecting dust on your bookshelf. Eureka!

You pull out the book and open to this collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution. You take a deep breath and read Hamilton’s first sentence:

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting Federal Government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America (Hamilton, Federalist Number 1).

Now, most of us would stop right there after the first sentence and carefully place the Harvard Classic back on the bookshelf where it belongs. Why so? It’s not the order of the words that’s confusing; it’s not the phonics and sight words (you could, no doubt, pronounce all the words); it’s not a lack of knowledge about the historical context; it’s not that the words are archaic; and, most importantly, it’s not what the author means that’s hard to grasp. It’s the Greek and Latin that interferes with our understanding. In this sense, Greek and Latin are very much alive!

Read that sentence one more time, and pick out the words that are most challenging for you:

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting Federal Government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America (Hamilton, Federalist Number 1).

Hamilton was a self-educated man and he loved his Latin! Eight of the words in this single sentence are Latin derivations. I’ve highlighted them in red. And one, Government, derives from classical Greek through the French language.

Comprehensive Vocabulary

After an unequivocal experience of the inefficacy of the subsisting Federal Government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America (Hamilton, Federalist Number 1).

Let’s take a look at one more challenging sentence. This one is loaded with classical Greek. See if you can pick out the Greek words as you read. Hint: Pick out the tough words. Again, it’s the Greek and Latin derivations that make up most of the challenging English words.

Thomas Jefferson’s views on democracy were greeted with widespread cynicism, sarcasm, and even panic by European rulers.

Jefferson was fluent in both Classical (scholarly) and Koine (the common tongue) Greek! He even published his own translation of the New Testament (which was largely written in Koine Greek). Five of the words in this single sentence are Latin derivations. I’ve highlighted them in red.

Thomas Jefferson’s views on democracy were greeted with widespread cynicism, sarcasm, and even panic by European rulers.

So now that I’ve proved that Greek and Latin aren’t the “dead” languages they seem to be, what’s the best way to learn the Greek and Latin we need to read challenging English text?

Not by teaching lists of Greek and Latin SAT or ACT words; instead, Teach Morphemes, Not Academic Words, using my 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, and my DUAL Word Parts Worksheet to learn How to Memorize Greek and Latin Word Parts.

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For full-year vocabulary programs which include multiple meaning words (L.4.a.), Greek and Latin morphology with Morphology Walls (L.4.a.), figures of speech (L.5.a.), words with special relationships (L.5.b.), words with connotative meanings (L.5.c.), and academic language words (L.6.0), check out the assessment-based grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Comprehensive Vocabulary.

Get the Grades 4,5,6,7,8 Vocabulary Sequence of Instruction FREE Resource:

Get the Greek and Latin Morphology Walls FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Academic Language Assessment FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, Common Core Vocabulary, Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit, Dead languages, DUAL Word Parts Worksheet, Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin Morphology, Greek and Latin prefixes, Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin suffixes, Greek and Latin vocabulary, Greek and Latin word lists, high frequency word parts, Mark Pennington, memorize vocabulary, morphological awareness, morphology, morphology walls, research-based vocabulary word lists

How to Memorize Greek and Latin Word Parts

In my related article, “Teach Morphemes, Not Academic Words,” I demonstrated why learning Greek and Latin morphemes (meaning-based word parts) is far more effective and efficient than learning whole words. However, the best way to learn the 60 highest frequency prefixes, roots, and suffixes is in the context of my 25 Greek and Latin Power Words. These 25 Power Words combine the 60 word parts into memorable associations.

To imprint these 60 word parts into our long-term memories, we need to take advantage of the way our brains are hard-wired. Our brains connect new input to previously learned input through a memory process we know as association.

You see, linking one thing to another can provide a memorable association. Once the association has been well-established, knowing one thing prompts the memory of the other.

That’s how we will learn the 60 Greek and Latin word parts‒through association. Each of the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words links two or three word parts to form a memorable association.

Let’s apply a few suggestions from memory research to help us create these associations.

4 Tips from Memory Research

1. Learn it right the first time. The better a word part is originally learned and the better the two or three word parts are associated within the word, the more you will store in your long-term memory.
2. People start forgetting immediately after learning, so make a conscious effort to rehearse the word parts and their definitions immediately after memorization. Information practiced immediately is retained. After the first few hours, the forgetting cycle kicks in.
3. People remember smaller chunks of information that are rehearsed frequently. Short study periods with small amounts of learning each day produces better retention than cramming.
4. People remember information best when that information is organized in a structured manner.

To memorize the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words in a structured manner, I’ve created a helpful FREE resource, titled the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet (at the end of this article), for you to download and print.

The DUAL Word Parts Worksheet

DUAL Word Parts Worksheet

The DUAL Word Parts Worksheet provides a structured approach to learning new vocabulary. Instead of rote memorization, which stores information only in the short-term memory, the worksheet will guide you with in-depth memorization, practice, and application to help you store this new vocabulary in your long-term memory. The DUAL Word Parts Worksheet serves a dual purpose: 1. To learn the 60 high frequency Greek and Latin word parts and 2. To associate these definitions with the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words in which they appear.

DUAL is an acronym, which stands for Define, Use, Apply, and Look.

I’ll teach you how to use the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet as we learn the first of our 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, unsubscribe. If you want the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet, it’s yours for FREE at the end of the article.

Our first step on the worksheet is the D, as in define. We need to define the word parts by memorizing each of their meanings.

Note that on your worksheet, the first column lists the Greek and Latin Power Word, unsubscribe; the second column lists the word parts, un, sub, and scrib(e); and the third column provides the word part definitions as not, under, and write.

By the way, both un and sub are prefixes and scrib(e) is a root. However, for our purposes we don’t need to identify which word parts are prefixes, roots, and suffixes, nor do we need to identify their parts of speech, nor do we need to know from which language each word part derives. Now, at this moment, classical scholars are all shaking their collective heads in dismay. But, as Winnie the Pooh might have said, “So much to remember rather muddles my thinking.”

Please note that the (e) at the end of scrib(e). The parentheses indicate a letter added to the word part to help with English pronunciation. In this case, the silent final e makes the preceding vowel a long /i/ sound. Sometimes a letter is dropped from a Greek and Latin word part to connect to another word part. Also, notice that there is no suffix in unsubscribe.

Take a moment to study the content in the first three columns: unsubscribe… un, sub, scribe… not, under, and write.

Now, let’s use the power of association to link the word parts together.

• Linking un and sub into “unsub” means not under in unsubscribe.”
• Linking sub and scribe into “subscribe means under write in unsubscribe.”
• Linking these paired word parts joins un, sub, and scribe into “unsubscribe,” which means not under write in unsubscribe.”

Now, that’s a memorable chain of word part associations! As our memory tip suggested, “We’ve learned it right the first time.”

Our second step on the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet is the U, as in use. We need to use the word parts and their definitions in memorable contexts.

Use each memorized word part in a simple, memorable, and concrete anchor word, and write this word in the fourth column of your worksheet. A good anchor word for the un word part is untie. It’s simple, memorable, and concrete, not abstract. For un, write the anchor word, untie, in the space provided.

Next, use that anchor word in a brief context clue sentence with surrounding word clues which show the meaning of that anchor word. Use my SALE Context Clues acronym (S for synonym, A for antonym, L for logic, or E for example) to prompt your use of surrounding word clues.

Write the following context clue sentence for the first anchor word, untie, in the fifth column: “I had to untie my shoelaces to slip off my shoes.”

Now provide your own anchor words and context clue sentences for sub and scribe in the fourth and fifth columns.

Comprehensive Vocabulary

Our third step on the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet is the A, as in associate. We need to associate our anchor words to Related Words we already know, which feature our focus word parts.

For my untie anchor word, I might write these Related Words: unworthy and unmarried in the sixth column.

Now write a few Related Words you already known for your sub and scribe anchor words in that sixth column.

Our fourth and last step on the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet is the L, as in look. We need to look for the newly learned word parts in everything we hear and in everything we read. Also, look for ways to use these word parts in your speech and writing. Remember our memory tip: “People remember smaller chunks of information that are rehearsed frequently.”

Dr. Kevin Flanigan, contributing author to Vocabulary Their Way calls this look step, “Turning on your morphological radar.” Dr. Flanigan suggests that the more we look at challenging words, by their structural components, rather than as whole words, the more attuned we will become to identifying the morphemes, which are the meaning-based word parts we are learning.

So, turn on your “morphological radar” and start looking for the word parts: un, sub, and scribe in everything you listen to and read.

Whew! It’s time to pat yourself on the back. You’ve just placed the three word parts: un, sub, and scribe into your long-term memory. You won’t forget these short-cuts which unlock the meanings of challenging words. And what’s more… these three word parts are found in 5,083 words. That’s 5,083 words. Awesome!

Plus, you’ve learned how to use the four steps of the the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet to memorize, practice, and apply the rest of the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words. I suggest you tackle one per day. Teachers may wish to tackle one or two per week with their students. Remember our memory tip: “Short study periods with small amounts of learning each day produces better retention than cramming.” And keep rehearsing the old word parts as you learn the new ones.

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For full-year vocabulary programs which include multiple meaning words (L.4.a.), Greek and Latin morphology with Morphology Walls (L.4.a.), figures of speech (L.5.a.), words with special relationships (L.5.b.), words with connotative meanings (L.5.c.), and academic language words (L.6.0), check out the assessment-based grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Comprehensive Vocabulary.

Get the Grades 4,5,6,7,8 Vocabulary Sequence of Instruction FREE Resource:

Get the Greek and Latin Morphology Walls FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Academic Language Assessment FREE Resource:

Get the DUAL Word Parts Worksheet FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, Common Core Vocabulary, Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit, DUAL Word Parts Worksheet, Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin Morphology, Greek and Latin prefixes, Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin suffixes, Greek and Latin vocabulary, Greek and Latin word lists, high frequency word parts, Mark Pennington, memorize vocabulary, morphological, morphological awareness, morphology walls, research-based vocabulary word lists

Despite universal consensus among reading-researchers regarding the effectiveness of teaching and learning Greek and Latin morphology (the phonological, semantic, and orthographic connections of affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots, some of the existing research regarding which to teach and which not to teach has never trickled down into the classroom. The following article will explore why this may be the case and will remedy this deficit with two resources: 1. The latest and greatest Greek and Latin word parts lists 2. My carefully crafted 25 Greek and Latin Power Words, which include the 60 highest frequency Greek and Latin word parts according to these research-based lists.

Of course, this is only one example of the disconnect between academia and teachers in terms of educational research; however, by taking a look at the one, perhaps the many can also be addressed. My take is that both institutional and cultural norms and biases share equal responsibility for this failure.

Why Relevant Educational Research Does Not Show up in the Classroom: Who’s to Blame?

Google

A quick Google search for “Greek and Latin word lists” brings 18,700,000 search results. Each list varies greatly and, because the Internet remains the Wild, Wild, West, no quality control in the search rankings differentiates among Ms. Peabody’s favorite word parts list, a paid ad for a list used to promote a commercial product, and a research-based list. It’s overly simplistic to expect teachers to have the crap detector expertise and time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Here, the Google algorithms fail us. Older, established websites and articles with popularity come up higher in the search rankings. Newer articles, such as this one, will be fortunate to crack the Google Top 50. Even diligent educators will wind up with commercially purposed Greek and Latin word part lists or sources based upon old research, for example Thorndike’s 1941 suffix word list.

Teachers and School Districts

Teachers and their school districts share some of the blame as well. Although the former are generally exposed to some educational research in teacher credential programs, little decision-making in the classroom is based upon objective research studies. Teachers are busy, generally adverse to change, and peer-pressured. If they have a hard copy class set list of Greek and Latin word parts or a PDF of such in their vocabulary folder, it would take a rare teacher to take the time to get to search ranking #65 to find the best resource for her students. Additionally, teachers all succumb to a herd mentality. If their grade-level or department colleagues agreed to each a certain vocabulary list years ago, it would take an act of God to change that same list. Greek and Latin word lists. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the widely-accepted teacher mantra. Strike out on your own and you might receive the death penalty label: “She’s not a team player.”

School district leaders crave uniformity and exert various degrees of control over curriculum. Many Google searches with “district” added into the search bar, provide consensus lists of Greek and Latin prefixes, bases, and suffixes, all neatly divided into grade level expectations. I’ve yet to find any district lists which are based upon the best and most recent research on Greek and Latin word part utility and frequency.

Publishers

Comprehensive Vocabulary

I must start with the disclaimer. I am one: a teacher-publisher. Publishers and their authors have diverse motivations for what they produce. Despite many good intentions, both are limited by one factor: their paying audiences. Supply is driven by demand and not the converse. The status quo, if it is profitable, is the decision-making benchmark.

University Professors

In the educational hierarchy, university professors are perceived to have the expertise and access to the latest and greatest educational research. They should know better, but often choose not to know. Unlike teachers and school district leaders, ignorance is not a valid excuse for these folks.

Why do American university professors tend to cherry pick certain Greek and Latin morphological research studies and avoid others? I won’t pretend to provide a comprehensive answer, and many professors will not fit the following generalization. However, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it just might be…

Ethnocentrism

Why don’t American teachers get the latest and greatest research to guide their instruction? I fear that ethnocentrism rears its ugly head. I will cite three examples in the field of vocabulary research.

Dr. Averil Coxhead, senior lecturer at the Victoria University of Wellington School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies developed and evaluated The Academic Word List (AWL) for her MA thesis. The list has 570 word families (roots) which were selected according to an exacting research criteria. Her thesis was published in 2000, but is just now gaining acceptance and traction among English-language arts and reading intervention teachers interested in teaching Tier 2 academic words. My take? Her study has taken so long to get into the hands of teachers because Dr. Coxhead teaches in an Australian University. By the way, I’ll put on my publisher’s hat for a moment. If you want Dr. Coxhead’s word families list of academic words, divided into grade levels by frequency, read Common Core Academic Language Words and download these grade level lists for free.

As a second example, Dr. Zheng Wei (Yes, she’s Chinese) contributed her carefully designed and implemented study on the efficacy of teaching and learning Greek and Latin word parts, including a useful high utility and high frequency bases list, for her 2012 doctoral thesis at the same University of Wellington as Dr. Coxhead. A Chinese professor publishing her groundbreaking work at an Australian university? The odds are stacked against this research filtering its way down to teachers.

My last example includes the 2015 research study regarding knowledge of prefixes and suffixes. “The Word Part Levels Test (WPLT) was developed to measure three aspects of affix knowledge: form (recognition of written affix forms), meaning (knowledge of affix meanings), and use (knowledge of the syntactic properties of affixes)” as cited in the 2017 SAGE Journals Language Teaching Research abstract. You guessed it: Researchers Dr. Yosuke Sasao of Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan and Dr. Stuart Webb of the University of Western Ontario, Canada contributed this study with the British corpus used as the source for their affixes.

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Now that I’ve wagged my finger across the educational spectrum, it’s time to share what I perceive to be the most useful educational research in providing the resources teachers need to teach Greek and Latin word parts to their students.

• • Wei, Z. (2011). Word roots in English – Learning English words through form and meaning similarity. PhD Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
  • Honig, Diamond, and Gutlohn (2000). Teaching Reading Sourcebook: For Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade © 2000 by CORE.
  • Stahl, S.A. and Shiel, T.G. (1992). Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Disabilities, 8, 223-241; “Commonly Occurring Greek and Latin Roots.”
  • White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989) Ranked by Carroll et al (1971). The Reading Teacher, 42, p. 306; “Most Common Prefixes and Suffixes in Academic Texts.”
  • More Words (Word Counts)

25 Greek and Latin Power Words © 2018 Pennington Publishing

If you are still teaching from the same old Greek and Latin word part list, it’s time to update your instruction with the latest computer-generated word lists aggregated from the most recent and highest regarded Greek and Latin word part studies. Download the FREE 25 Greek and Latin Power Words list and forward this article to your colleagues.

*****

For full-year vocabulary programs which include multiple meaning words (L.4.a.), Greek and Latin morphology with Morphology Walls (L.4.a.), figures of speech (L.5.a.), words with special relationships (L.5.b.), words with connotative meanings (L.5.c.), and academic language words (L.6.0), check out the assessment-based grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Comprehensive Vocabulary.

Get the Grades 4,5,6,7,8 Vocabulary Sequence of Instruction FREE Resource:

Get the Greek and Latin Morphology Walls FREE Resource:

Get the Diagnostic Academic Language Assessment FREE Resource:

Get the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words FREE Resource:

Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills, Writing Common Core Vocabulary, Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit, Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin prefixes, Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin suffixes, Greek and Latin vocabulary, Greek and Latin vocabulary research, high frequency word parts, Mark Pennington, research-based vocabulary word lists

25 Greek and Latin Power Words

The 25 Greek and Latin Power Words combine prefix, base, and suffix morphemes to form over 60,000 words.

Rationale and Purpose

Teachers and students are all about pragmatic tools for teaching Greek and Latin Morphology. High utility and high frequency vocabulary words give them the most bang for the buck. Teachers want to teach both the high utility Tier 2 academic vocabulary and the high frequency Greek and Latin prefixes, roots, and suffixes.

Methodology

I compared the results from the most recent and well-regarded vocabulary research studies on high frequency Greek and Latin word parts, including the additional study by Dr. Zheng Wei. From the five best Greek and Latin word lists cited in these studies, I chose 60 high frequency prefixes, bases, and suffixes. The chunking of two or three word parts into one academic language word applies time-tested association memory research. We simply remember linked items better than we remember items in isolation.

Results: The 25 Greek and Latin Power Words

At last, the list of 25 Greek and Latin Power Words (including all 60 high frequency Greek and Latin prefixes, bases, and meaning-based suffixes) came together. I used the More Words (Now Free Dictionary) site to check the number of words in which each of these 60 word parts appear in the English language. The results were staggering: The 60 word parts are found in over 60,000 words, including their inflections (a conservative total). With our English lexicon of about 600,000 words, these 60 word parts constitute 10% of the words in our language. With a middle school student’s average vocabulary of 25,000 words and a college-educated adult’s average vocabulary of 60,000 words, the 25 Greek and Latin Power Words can have a significant impact on improving reading vocabulary for all ages.

Format

Here’s the format to teach Greek and Latin Morphology via this one-page 25 Greek and Latin Power Words:

• 25 Tier 2 Academic Language Power Words Divided by Morphemes (meaning-based word parts)
• Two or Three Word Parts for Each Word with Concise Definitions
• Word Counts for Each Word Part
• Research Studies

25 Greek and Latin Power Words © 2018 Pennington Publishing

I list the five research studies, from which the 60 Greek and Latin word parts were compiled at the bottom of the word list:

• Wei, Z. (2011). Word roots in English – Learning English words through form and meaning similarity. PhD Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
• Honig, Diamond, and Gutlohn (2000). Teaching Reading Sourcebook: For Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade © 2000 by CORE.
• Stahl, S.A. and Shiel, T.G. (1992). Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Disabilities, 8, 223-241; “Commonly Occurring Greek and Latin Roots.”
• White, Sowell, and Yanagihara (1989) Ranked by Carroll et al (1971). The Reading Teacher, 42, p. 306; “Most Common Prefixes and Suffixes in Academic Texts.”
• More Words (Word Counts)
• etymonline.com

Call to Action

If you are still teaching from the same old Greek and Latin word part list, it’s time to update your instruction with the latest computer-generated word lists aggregated from the most recent and highest regarded Greek and Latin word part studies. Download the FREE 25 Greek and Latin Power Words list and forward this article to your colleagues. If you are interested in comprehensive grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 Common Core-aligned vocabulary programs with a strong emphasis on these Greek and Latin word parts…

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The Comprehensive Vocabulary grades 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 programs include 56 worksheets, biweekly unit tests, and a final exam. Worksheets include only the best vocabulary strategies: semantic spectrums, the Frayer model, context clue sentences, morphology wall links, and more. The tests are provided in self-correcting Google forms and print formats. Lessons focus on the following components of vocabulary instruction:

• Multiple Meanings (L.4.a.)
• Greek and Latin Morphology (L.4.a.)
• Language Resources (L.4.c.d.)
• Figures of Speech (L.5.a.)
• Word Relationships (L.5.b.)
• Connotations (L.5.c.)
• Academic Language (Tier 2) Words (L.6.0)

Get the 25 Power Words FREE Resource:

Literacy Centers, Reading, Spelling/Vocabulary, Study Skills, Writing Common Core Vocabulary, Common Core Vocabulary Toolkit, Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin prefixes, Greek and Latin roots, Greek and Latin suffixes, Greek and Latin vocabulary, high frequency word parts, Mark Pennington