Harry's words GUIDE:Roots

mick

When we began to study English,most of us had problems on
remembering words.That's natural to us ESL(English as a Second
Language) learners.In this article,I just want to share my opinions
with those who want to improve their English.
       When you meet  a  word  that you've never seen before,maybe
you'll come to the quentions:how can I get the meaning of the word?
Someone may say:look it up in your dictionary.But surpose you are
taking an exam,how can you do that?In fact,in an exam,even if you are
allowed to refer to the dictionary,you don't have enough time to do
that.
        Before discuss this issue,let's think about another question:
when you meet a new chinese word,what will you do to get the meaning?
Most of us may just make a guess from its context,or from its root,and
then read on.GET THE MEANING FROM THE ROOTS.That's the key.When you
mastered the catalog,you'll find it no longer a problem   recognizing
new words.
        How can we master the catalog?The answer is easy:
        There are many roots in English.If you pay enough attention to
them,in several days you'll be able to remember them.After that period,
when you meet a new English word,in most circumstances,you'll be able
to guess its meaning with easy.
        In the rest of this article I'll introduce some common roots
to you.

-acr-   comes from Latin,where it has the meaning "sharp."This meaning
        is found in such words as: ACERBIC,ACRID,ACRIMONIOUS,EXACERBATE

-acro-  comes from Greek,where it has the meaning "high."This meaning
        is found in such words as:ACROBAT,ACRONYM,ACROPHOBIA

-act-   comes from Latin,where it has the meaning "to do,move".It is re-
        lated to the root -ag-.This meaning is found in such words as:
        ACT,ACTION,EXACT,INEXACT,TRANSACT

-ag-    comes from Latin and Greek,where it has the meaning "to move,go,do"
        This meaning is found in such words as:AGENDA,AGENT,AGILE,AGITATE,
        AGOG,EXAGGERATE

-agon-  comes from Greek,where is has the meaning "struggle,fight".This
        meaning is found in such words as:AGONIZE,AGONY,ANTAGONIST,PROTAGO-
        NIST