Key To 100,000 Words

Dr. James I. Brown of the University of Minnesota claims that the fourteen words below hold the key to about 100,000 words.  If so, it might be a good idea to study and learn by heart the meaning of these fourteen words.  They contain twenty prefixes and fourteen roots:
 
 
aspect a(d) + spect (spicio=look) way of looking at sth
detain de + tain (teneo=hold) hold away from
epilogue epi + logos (=speech) upon the end of speech
indisposed in + dis + pos (pono=put) put wrong
insist in + sist (insisto=persist) persist in, go on with
intermittent inter + mitt (mitto=send) sent between
mistranscribe mis + tran + scrib (scribo=write) wrongly written over
monograph mono + graph (=writing) one (written) subject
nonextended non + ex + tend (teneo=hold) not held out
offer o(b) + fer (fero=carry) bring away to
oversufficient over + sub + fic (facio=make) made more than enough
precept pre + cept (capio=take) a taking over, a teaching
reproduction re + pro +duct (duco=lead) lead forward (=make) again
uncomplicated un + com + plic (plico=fold) not put together with sth

See here for the meaning of other prefixes and roots in: Latin and Greek

/October 2000
Erik Moldrup