Word formation in English is similar to the game of Lego with ‘word roots’ or ‘root words’, being the Lego blocks that add up to form bigger structures, that is the words. A majority of the words in English are formed using basic words and adding combinations of prefixes and suffixes to them. Root words are the basic words to which affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are added to form the new word.
Let us take an example to understand the concept of roots. 'Neonate' is a word that comes from a similar Latin word root as that of 'Nascent'- ' nasc-' or '-nat-', meaning 'born or birth'. Some words based on this root are:
The ideal way to use word roots is to learn multiple words based on the same root. With the help of this, you will be able to extend your learning and make sure you learn more than one word with the help of every root. Also, if you remember the meaning of the root word, whenever you find a word based on it, you can use this to infer the meaning of the word.
Now, let's put this method to use and learn some words using this method. In this series of articles, you will learn about different root words and words based on them. Each article contains 5 root words and the various words associated with them.
