Lesson 1: Introduction to Bioscientific Word-Building
- Objectives
- The Importance of Bioscientific Vocabulary
- Prefixes, Suffixes, Bases
- Parts of Speech
- Building a Vocabulary
- Vocabulary list
- Vocabulary practice
- Reflection Questions
Objectives
- Understanding the importance of bioscientific vocabulary
- Identifying Latin and Greek roots and their meanings
- Learning how word-building works
The Importance of Bioscientific Vocabulary
In this lesson, we’re going to start diving into the foundations of word formation, starting with the differences between prefixes, suffixes, and bases; and then introducing relevant parts of speech. As an additional note on terminology, I will use “root” and “stem” interchangeably to collectively refer to individual word parts.
Prefixes, Suffixes, Bases
In bioscientific vocabulary, each root is a prefix, a suffix, or a base. Prefixes generally come at the beginning of a word, suffixes generally at the end, and bases in the middle. This means that, depending on where a root is found in a word, it may alternate between any of the three. For example, in the word biology, the root “bio-“ (meaning “life) is a prefix. However, in antibiotic, it’s a base.
Parts of Speech
A little bit of grammar never hurt anyone! In fact, it’s helpful to understand how certain parts of speech work in order to develop a better intuition for how roots work together in an unfamiliar word. There are many, but in this class, I want to focus on four main ones: nouns, adjectives, verbs, and prepositions. These core four will be the basis of the roots that we learn in this class, and they’re the most relevant to the word formation patterns and exercises that you’ll see in this class. Let’s take some time to get to know them.
Nouns
Nouns represent people, places, things, and ideas. These can be concrete (like “dog” or “book”) or abstract (like “happiness”). Many Greek and Latin noun roots form the foundations of longer terms and describe what the term is about. For example, the Greek noun root photo, meaning “light”, can be seen in terms like photon (a particle of light), photograph (a picture captured by light), and photosynthesis (the process of using light to create energy). Similarly, the Latin noun root aqua, meaning “water”, can be seen in terms like aquatic (pertaining to water), aquarium (a space for storing water), and aquaculture (raising fish, plants and other organisms in water).
Adjectives
Adjectives are modifiers that describe nouns. These can be colors, numbers, sizes, or other descriptors. For example, the Greek adjective root micro means “small” and can be found in words like microscope (a tool for looking at small things), microbiology (the study of microscopic organisms), or microbe (very small organisms). The Latin adjective root albus means “white” and can be found in words like albino (an organism distinguished by white features) and albumen (an egg white).
Since they’re modifiers, adjective roots can sometimes be found in close company to noun roots. For example, when the Greek adjective root poly (many) combines with the Greek noun root morph (shape, form), the result is the word polymorph, which describes an organism or substance with many forms.
Verbs
Verbs are action words, or they can describe a state of being. As an example, “you read”, “you are reading”, “to read a book” are all forms of the verb “read”.
One way to tell whether a root is formed from a verb is to check whether its definition is in the infinitive; in other words, does it have this form, “to verb”. You can think of Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase, “to infinity and beyond”, to remember the infinitive. Probably 9 times out of 10, if you see an infinitive, you’ll know that the base has come from a verb.
In terms of what they signify in the vocabulary examples and terminology, verbs occupy a space sort of between nouns and adjectives. Verb roots tend to denote processes, movement, or states of being. They rarely stand on their own and usually have at least some prefix, suffix, or other base attached. When they mix with prefixes and suffixes, they change direction or space. When they mix with nouns, they describe a process that happens to that noun. If you think about how verbs work in English, that makes some sense. It’s difficult to have an action without direction or without someone or something doing the action.
Let’s look at some examples. The Greek verb root graph means “to write” or “to draw”. In modern usage, it can also mean “chart”. While this is an example of a root that can stand on its own, it can also be found in words like seismograph (a chart measuring earthquake activity), graphic (pertaining to writing or drawing), and topography (writing or drawing out surfaces and planes).
The Latin verb root fer means “to carry”, and it’s almost never seen alone. It can attach to nouns as in conifer (cone-carrier), mellifer (honey-carrier) or frugifer (fruit-carrier). It can also attach to prepositions, which change the direction or space that the action is carried out in. For example, to transfer means to “carry across”, while to confer means to “carry with”.
Prepositions
It’s hard to give one solid definition of a preposition in English (or Latin and Greek, for that matter) without some examples. Generally speaking, prepositions are words that denote temporal, spatial, or directional relationships. For example, the word “after” in the phrase “after dinner” gives you a sense of time. “Inside the house” gives you a sense of space. “Towards me” gives you a sense of direction. You can think of prepositions as connector words that describe these kinds of relationships.
Nearly all roots with prepositional origins are found at the beginnings of words (i.e., they’re often prefixes), and they often attach to verbs. Like verbs, prepositions rarely stand alone. In the previous example with transfer and confer, trans is the Latin root meaning “across”, and con is the Latin root meaning “with”.
Building a Vocabulary
In later lessons, you will usually have a longer reading that goes into more detail about specific topics in the natural sciences or scientific history. For now, though, let’s take some time to look at some vocabulary in context. When learning new roots, it’s often helpful to get a sense for how they show up in words and how they affect meanings.
Vocabulary list
| Root | Language of origin | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bio | Greek | life | biology |
| log(y) | Greek | study of, reason, word | logical |
| photo | Greek | light | photograph |
| thermo | Greek | heat | thermometer |
| gno | Greek | to know | agnostic |
| (a)esth | Greek | to feel, to perceive | aesthetic |
| macro | Greek | large | macroeconomics |
| micro | Greek | small | microscope |
| scop | Greek | to see, to look at | stethoscope |
| morph | Greek | shape, form | metamorphosis |
| poly | Greek | many | polygraph |
| olig | Greek | few | oligarchy |
| phobia | Greek | fear, fear of | hydrophobia |
| graph | Greek | to write | seismograph |
| op(s/t) | Greek | to see, vision | optical |
| hyper | Greek | over, above, excessive | hyperbole |
| hypo | Greek | under, beneath, below | hypothermia |
| amphi | Greek | both, double | amphitheatre |
| vit(a) | Latin | life | vitality |
| omni | Latin | everything, all | omniscient |
| aqua | Latin | water | aquarium |
| terra | Latin | earth | terrarium |
| frug/fruct | Latin | fruit | fructose |
| con(i) | Latin | cone | conifer |
| mel(l) | Latin | honey | mellifluous |
| fer | Latin | to carry, carrier | conference |
| multi | Latin | many | multipurpose |
| magn(i) | Latin | large | magnitude |
| parv(o) | Latin | small | parvovirus |
| alb(u) | Latin | white | albino |
| vidi/visi | Latin | to see | visible |
| port(o/a) | Latin | to bring, to carry | transport |
| able/ible | Latin | able, capable | ability |
| mobl/mobil | Latin | to move | automobile |
| pos(t)/posit | Latin | to put, to place | position |
| super | Latin | over, above excessive | supercede |
| ambi | Latin | both, double | ambiguous |
| trans | Latin | across | translucent |
Vocabulary practice
Practice Set A. For each of the words and the underlined root, give its meaning and tell whether it is a prefix, base, or suffix.
- graphite
- import
- extraterrestrial
- subaquatic
- aquamarine
- zoology
- decompose
- exposition
- deposit
- prognosis
Practice Set B. Identify the roots in each of the following words, give their language of origin, and their definitions. Some roots will be unfamiliar; ignore these for now and focus on the ones you know. Some words will have more than one root from the lesson’s vocabulary!
- magnify
- morphology
- macroscopic
- diagnose
- anesthesiologist
- hyperthermia
- biopsy
- portable
- amphibian
- scopophobia
- microbiology
- supervise
- conic
- compost
- oligomer
Reflection Questions
- Choose any three of the roots from this lesson whose part of speech weren’t given. What part of speech do you think they come from, and why?
- Some roots have the same definition but are from different languages. Find a pair of roots with the same definition and look at their spellings. Are they similar or different? What might this tell you about the roots in the original Latin and Greek?
- Which roots did you know already before reading this lesson? In what contexts have you seen them? Which roots were unfamiliar?
- Choose any five roots from this lesson and give examples of words you know that use those roots (that don’t appear in this lesson).
- In common usage, some of these roots can stand alone in words, either formally or colloquially. Give two examples and explain their meanings.