English Vocabulary Elements

English Vocabulary Elements draws on the tools of modern linguistics to help students acquire an effective understanding of learned, specialized, and scientific vocabulary. This fully refined and updated edition helps develop familiarity with over 500 Latin and Greek word elements in English and shows how these roots are the building blocks within thousands of different words. Along the way, the authors introduce and illustrate many of the fundamental concepts of linguistics, sketch word origins going back to Latin, Greek, and even Proto-Indo-European, and discuss issues around meaning change and correct usage. Moreover, the volume adds new illustrative examples, self-help tests, and study questions. A companion website provides supplementary materials including an Instructor's Manual with an answer key. Offering a thorough approach to the expansion of vocabulary, English Vocabulary Elements is an invaluable resource that provides students a deeper understanding of the language.

PrefaceList of FiguresList of TablesSymbols and Abbreviations1. The Wealth of English2. The History of English and Sources of English Vocabulary3. Morphology: The Structure of Complex Words4. Allomorphy5. Phonetics6. Regular Allomorphy; Numeric Elements7. Meaning Change8. Usage and Variation9. Latin and Greek morphology10. The Prehistory of English and the Other Indo- European Languages11. Later Changes: From Latin to French to EnglishAppendix 1. Elements to GlossesAppendix 2. Glosses to ElementsGlossaryFurther Reading and Research ToolsIndex