by Donna | Jan 9, 2013
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Wordy Wednesday!
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Welcome to Wordy Wednesday! Did you know that strengthlessnesses is the longest word containing only one (albeit very repeating) vowel? Neither did I. And I don’t really care for it. I mean, it is cumbersome to say–and that is a whole lot of e’s and s’s to remember to spell the crazy word.
But I love unique and unusual–and strengthlessnesses is definitely both of those! Here are some vitals about this “longest word containing only one (albeit very repeating) vowel”:
1. It is a noun–did you know that when a word ends in ness, it is almost always a noun? This helps with standardized testing greatly. Ness words are nearly always nouns, so in a “fill in the blank” type of assignment, if the word in question ends in ness, it has to go in a spot where a noun fits.
Tricky Trick to Help It Stick: We have students learn key words to remember things. For instance, to remember that ness words are nearly always nouns, memorize a key word or two that you know is a noun and that ends in ness.
Other ness nouns: happiness, hopefulness, craziness, gratefulness, joyfulness, smartness
2. It has to do with having strength–we teach our students to think about what you already know–anytime–but especially when approaching a new word. Is there anything about the word strengthlessnesses that you already know?
a. You know what its base means. You already what strength means!
b. You know that less means less or not having that quality. (We do a lot of root and affix studies here!)
Because of those two “things you already know,” you can know that strengthlessnesses has something to do with not having strength (i.e. less strength).
Note: You know more than you think you know! Repeat this over and over to yourself: “I know more than I think I know. I know more than I think I know.” Use what you know to learn more!
3. It can be spelled syllable-by-syllable (if you are a biphonic man or biphonic woman!): strength-less-ness-es.
4. You can also make up a trick to remember how to spell it, such as “It contains four e’s and six s’s. Or that it has four syllables–which tells you that it will have at least four vowels in it (or y’s acting like vowels)–because a syllable always contains at least one vowel. A vowel is what makes a syllable!
5. You can learn the variations of this word–because you can remember from your vocabulary studies with Language Lady that suffixes (affixes added to the ends of words) might change the SPELLING of the base word (pity is changed to piti in pitiful) but does not change the MEANING of the base word. Even with three suffixes added (less, ness, and es), the base word of strength still means strength.
a. stengthless–adjective meaning without strength (less words are often adjectives!)
b. strengthlessly–adverb meaning without strength (ly words are often adverbs)
c. strengthelessness–a noun describing someone or something that is without strength (ness words are often nouns)
d. strengthlessnesses–a noun that means more than one someone or something that is without strength (es makes the word plural).
So there you have it–the longest word with only one repeating vowel. Did you know that you could learn so much from one word? You know a lot more than you think you know! Smile…
by Donna | Jul 13, 2011
I missed Wordy Wednesday, and it’s nearly time for another one! Keeping with our root word theme, today we are going to look at TEN and variations of it.
TEN, TENS, TEND, TENU
Definition: STRETCH or THIN
What words do we already know with this root? What can we know about each word—even if we do not know it before?
- tension
- extend
- tendency
- tendon
- tent
- distend
- intent
- tenable
- attention
- detention
- extent
- retention
- ostentatious
- malcontent
- potent
by Donna | Jun 30, 2011
More root word learning for this week’s Wordy Wednesday. But before that, I have to ask if you are using what you already know? Are you examining unknown words and asking yourself if there is anything about that word that you already know—a root, prefix, or suffix?
Today’s root: SUPER, SUR, SUM
Meaning: ABOVE
What do you already know about this ABOVE root:
- surpass—to go above and beyond
- summit—above; the high mountain or peak
- supersede—to be above in authority, etc.
- superstition—a belief that is ABOVE the normal
- super star—a star above others
by Donna | Jun 24, 2011
Do you remember how I talked earlier about how we (and our students if we are teachers) know much more than we think we do! There is no place that this is more apparent than vocabulary learning!
Root words, and sometimes even syllables, have meaning. And we often already know meanings of bits and pieces that we can put together to gain more knowledge. (If you know a foreign language, you will have even more success unlocking unknown words or parts of words since much of our language is taken from other languages.)
How can you use this concept to help you or your students? When you come to an unfamiliar word, don’t assume that you do not know it. Look more closely at the word. (And help your kids to do the same—question them all the time: “What do you know about the ‘aqua’ part of aquamarine?” [Or even, “What do you know about the ‘marine’ part?”)
Today’s root is SPEC, SPIC, or SPIT
It means LOOK or SEE
What do you already know about these “spec,” “spic,” and “spit” words?
- Perspective—seeing a point of view
- Aspect—one part or one thing you can see
- Spectator—one who sees
- Spectacle—a sight to see
- Suspect—a person you see that might be guilty
- Others???
Keep reading. Keep asking yourself what you already know!
by Donna | Jun 15, 2011
Many of my full time language arts students (those who come to class each week during the academic year to help us test our complete language arts curriculum) use the root/prefix “dict” each week—as they take “dictation” over the passage of material in our book. They label their papers Dict then the unit we are in and the date. They even call it “dict” time—which is so appropriate since the root “dict” literally means “word”—and they are writing down many words when they take dictation!
We will look at the root/prefix “dict” today!
DICT, DIT, DIC—means to tell, to say, or word
Like we always tell our students—focus on something you already know in order to understand the unknown. In my students’ case, they take “dictation” (writing down words) every week—so they can remember that dict has something to do with words. If you are of my generation, you might remember television programs in which secretaries use a Dictaphone to take dictation from their boss.
Consider what you already know to unlock the unknown! If you have kids, repeat this to them over and over again to help them in their learning and to encourage them about their vast store of knowledge.
Take a look at some words containing dic/dict/dit—and see how they can mean what they do—with to tell, to say, or word :
- Dictate—to speak words to someone (for that person to write)
- Verdict—a word/determination that was spoken at the end of a trial
- Edict—words that are authority or law/rule
- Contradict—contra means opposite; dict means word—opposite of the words that someone spoke
- Predict—pre means before; dict means word—speak words before they happen
- Diction—the pattern of someone’s speech
What other dit/dict/dic words do you know? When you see dic/dit/dict in a word—even if you do not know any other part of the word—use what you do know and the words within the sentence to unlock the meaning.
