Prefixes

[amo_mea_filiis.]

My son just started a new reading program with his cyber school. The prefix section sometimes seems odd to me.

 

The word "disinherit"; are there 2 prefixes?

 

I'll add more words when I get home.

[wendyroo]

I would say disinherit has two prefixes: dis and in.

 

The root word is the Latin her- or heir- (from heres) meaning the English word heir.  This can also be seen in words like heredity and heritage.

 

The "first" modifying prefix, the one closest to the root word, is in-...meaning in.  So to inherit means to put something in the heir...aka give something to the heir.

 

Then dis- comes along and further modifies the word by adding negation (dis- = not or apart).  So disinherit means not putting something in the heir, or not giving something to the heir.

 

Wendy

[amo_mea_filiis.]

That seems extremely complex for where he's at!

 

Would -it then be a suffix?

 

If you take disin- away, you're left with herit; an Egyptian princess.

 

He's just working on identifying prefixes, but there's no talk of the root words. So he's more confused after the lesson.

[maize]

I agree with Wendy, but disinherit, especially without discussion of roots, does not seem like a good example to start with for a kid just learning about prefixes.

 

Some programs are just poorly designed.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

I have a better program that we're using over the summer, but in order to continue next year, I have to show this current is a very poor fit for him.

[wendyroo]

If all he is supposed to be doing is identifying prefixes, then I would just print him out a list of common prefixes (like this one) and have him look for them in his word list.  If they don't care about root words, then they don't really care about the meanings of the words at all.  It sounds like they want him to just treat it as a word search and find the suffixes at the beginning and within the words.

 

Certainly not how I would teach it, but identifying that dis- and in- are both prefixes in the word disinherit does not have to be complicated if you aren't worrying about what the word means.

 

Wendy

[Rachel]

I'm guessing they are only thinking of dis- as a prefix. Inherit is a word that would make sense to a child, to receive something after someone dies. Disinherit would mean you do not receive that something.

 

Herit isn't a word that is used regularly (I would have said it's not a word but someone upthread said it's an Egyptian princess).

 

I think it's a bad example.

[wendyroo]

Herit isn't a word that is used regularly (I would have said it's not a word but someone upthread said it's an Egyptian princess).

 

I don't think whether "herit" is a word matters at all when talking about prefixes.  (Herit is the proper name of a particular Egyptian princess.)

 

When you remove prefixes, you are not necessarily left with a word, you are left with a root which may or may not be a word on its own.

 

So, abnormal = ab + normal, where normal is clearly a word.  But, abduction = ab + duction, where duction is not a commonly used word (it is an esoteric medical term).

 

exodus = ex + odus?

repeat = re + peat?  Like the moss?

benevolent = bene + volent?

monarchy - mon(o) + archy?

 

The list goes on and on.  A word with a prefix (or two) is not necessarily still a word once the prefix(es) are removed.

 

Wendy

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Rach- he was told to circle dis- and in-, separately, so they were looking at both.

 

Wendyroo- *I* get all all of this without an issue, but given where he's at, words like abnormal should be the focus, just until he grasps more.

[winterbaby]

It's hard for me to understand how you would deal with prefixes without dealing with the accompanying concept of root words. That just goes together. Disinherit is easy for me to analyze as an adult who already knows all this - I really can't see how a learner is supposed to approach it if he's not also learning about root words and meanings. And yes they should start with single prefixes that leave an English word when removed.