Memorize 6000 English Words

Author: Shan Lizhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Learning English, memorizing vocabulary is very important. Without a certain vocabulary base, listening, speaking, reading, and writing cannot be discussed. However, many English learners find English words very difficult to memorize. They think English words have no rules to follow, that each word is just a mechanical combination of letters, and thus can only memorize them mechanically. Memorizing English words in this way will naturally not be effective. Are English words really without any rules? In fact, they are not. Any language has gone through a long process of development. This process is not arbitrary but follows certain rules. English is no exception. In terms of English words, they have their own rules of word formation. If you master these rules, memorizing words will no longer be an inefficient and mechanical task. English words are basically combined as follows: (prefix) + root + (suffix). It is not difficult to see that the basic part of an English word is the root, which is the oldest and most fundamental part in its development. With the root, new words are constantly evolved and derived. For example, the root clud means "close." Following this thread, we can associate a series of words: include [in (prefix, inside) + clud + e → close inside → end, conclusion]; preclude [pre (prefix, before) + clud + e → close before → preclude; prevent], and so on. Another example is the root liter (literature, letter), which also gives rise to many words: literate [liter + ate (noun suffix, meaning person; adjective suffix, ...like) → a person who can read and write; literate]; illiteracy [il (prefix, negation) + liter + acy (noun suffix, meaning quality, state) → illiterate; illiteracy; ignorance]; obliterate [ob (prefix, away) + liter + ate (verb-forming) → make... disappear → erase, delete]. It is not difficult to see that if you recognize the roots and master some prefixes and suffixes, memorizing English words will not be so difficult. Some meanings can be understood at a glance, and some can be "guessed" with a bit of reasoning. Memorizing words in this way is not only simple but also makes the memory last longer. The purpose of this book is to reveal the internal connections of words through word decomposition, helping readers memorize and realize that there are rules and shortcuts to memorizing English words. Based on word roots, this book includes over 350 roots. Under each root, several words are listed, mostly common ones. For the convenience of readers, the main prefixes and suffixes are also included at the end of the book, with their pronunciations, meanings, and examples provided. It should be noted that this book cannot explain every letter (part) of every word, and we hope readers understand this. Additionally, when deriving new words from root words, the endings of the root words often change. For example, root words ending with e often drop the e when adding suffixes that start with a vowel. For instance: create → creative; fame → famous; localize → localization. Another example is that words ending with y usually change y to i when adding suffixes. For example: happy → happily; deny → denial. For brevity, such cases are not elaborated on in the main text.