When speaking, we tend to assimilate one sound into another, to make it easier to say the word smoothly. This happens with many prefixes. For example, we say suffix, rather than the technically "pure" form of the word, *subfix. It is easier to say suffix. The sound /b/ at the end of the prefix sub- has been assimilated into the sound /f/ at the beginning of the base fix. Spelling follows sound, so the prefix is spelled suf-, but the meaning of the prefix sub- is still reflected in the word: We 'fix' a suffix in place 'beneath or after' the base/root.
More obviously, we 'fix' a prefix in place 'before' the base/root. In this case, the prefix (pre-) appears in its default and most recognizable form. It has not been assimilated.
A similar process of assimilation occurs in the word support. It would technically be *subport but because the root port (meaning 'to carry, to bear') begins with the sound /p/, the final sound of the prefix is absorbed into the beginning of the root. Sounds are assimilated, and spellings reflect the sounds, but morphemic meaning remains. Whether we spell it *subport or support, it indicates that something is 'carried, from beneath.'
Recently, I visited Niagara Falls, where the Niagara River literally "falls" into a tremendous basin (Horseshoe Falls), dumping about 600,000 gallons of water per second. The scene inspires a sense of abundant supply, power, and release.
On the Canadian side of the Falls is a monument to the poem Ode to Niagara. The Cuban patriot and poet José María Heredia wrote the stirring poem while in exile. First published in 1825, he wrote it to awaken in his people "an ever-burning passion for freedom."
Heredia closes his poem with the hope that his verses will be immortalized. However, on the plaque (see picture) the word immortal is spelled *inmortal. In the engraved poem, the prefix in- has not been assimilated into the beginning sound of the base word, mortal.
It may be that the plaque contains an engraving error, but the word immortal was historically spelled with the prefix in-. For example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, Chaucer used the Middle English inmortal in Troilus & Criseyde (1374, i 103): "So aungelli was hyre natyf beaute Þat lyke a þyng inmortal semede sche."
Can you interpret Middle English? It's much easier than Old English! I haven't formal training, but perhaps it reads like this: "So angelic was her native beauty that like a thing inmortal seemed she."
How does assimilation influence the teaching of vocabulary?
I suspect that when an assimilated prefix is present, we are less likely to parse the word, mentally, into its morphemes. It should be easier to detect the word's meaning when the prefix is in its more recognizable default form, and has not been assimilated. But English without assimilation would make for clunky speech. The phonological process of assimilation makes speech easier, but obscures meaningful morphemes--prefixes, especially.
Learning about prefixes includes learning about their most common alternate forms. Teaching and learning about assimilated prefixes involves learning about how sounds (phonology) overlap with morphemes (morphology, including affixes and roots) and with orthography (spelling). Learning about assimilated prefixes might enable students to detect the inherent--but somewhat disguised--structural logic in applicable words, for the purpose of reading, spelling, understanding, and using the given words.
Vocabulary lessons can be augmented by discussions of morphological relations, including discussion of assimilated prefixes. In her fabulous book Proust and the Squid; The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf (2007) explained how morphology contributes to word learning and argued for more explicit instruction of prefixes, suffixes, and roots in schools:
Assimilated prefixes are found in a range of words, including science terms. For example, consider the word evaporate ( e- + vapor + -ate). The prefix e- is an ancient assimilated form of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning 'out, upward'. Evaporate literally means 'to make vapor go out and upward.' Several fairly common words contain this assimilated prefix, including erase, erupt, elect, escape, enormous.
Want more?? Learn about prefixes and their various assimilated forms at Affixes.org, a website created by the highly respected Michael Quinion. View several lists of assimilated prefixes, created by Prof. Virginia Hellenga for her students in Scientific Terminology at Monmouth College, Illinois.
Also, word learners -- students and adults alike -- might study words with assimilated prefixes, take the associated Quizlet, or play some related word games, like Scatter and Space Ride. Click here to try it.
More obviously, we 'fix' a prefix in place 'before' the base/root. In this case, the prefix (pre-) appears in its default and most recognizable form. It has not been assimilated.
A similar process of assimilation occurs in the word support. It would technically be *subport but because the root port (meaning 'to carry, to bear') begins with the sound /p/, the final sound of the prefix is absorbed into the beginning of the root. Sounds are assimilated, and spellings reflect the sounds, but morphemic meaning remains. Whether we spell it *subport or support, it indicates that something is 'carried, from beneath.'
Recently, I visited Niagara Falls, where the Niagara River literally "falls" into a tremendous basin (Horseshoe Falls), dumping about 600,000 gallons of water per second. The scene inspires a sense of abundant supply, power, and release.
On the Canadian side of the Falls is a monument to the poem Ode to Niagara. The Cuban patriot and poet José María Heredia wrote the stirring poem while in exile. First published in 1825, he wrote it to awaken in his people "an ever-burning passion for freedom."
It may be that the plaque contains an engraving error, but the word immortal was historically spelled with the prefix in-. For example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, Chaucer used the Middle English inmortal in Troilus & Criseyde (1374, i 103): "So aungelli was hyre natyf beaute Þat lyke a þyng inmortal semede sche."
Can you interpret Middle English? It's much easier than Old English! I haven't formal training, but perhaps it reads like this: "So angelic was her native beauty that like a thing inmortal seemed she."
How does assimilation influence the teaching of vocabulary?
I suspect that when an assimilated prefix is present, we are less likely to parse the word, mentally, into its morphemes. It should be easier to detect the word's meaning when the prefix is in its more recognizable default form, and has not been assimilated. But English without assimilation would make for clunky speech. The phonological process of assimilation makes speech easier, but obscures meaningful morphemes--prefixes, especially.
Learning about prefixes includes learning about their most common alternate forms. Teaching and learning about assimilated prefixes involves learning about how sounds (phonology) overlap with morphemes (morphology, including affixes and roots) and with orthography (spelling). Learning about assimilated prefixes might enable students to detect the inherent--but somewhat disguised--structural logic in applicable words, for the purpose of reading, spelling, understanding, and using the given words.
Vocabulary lessons can be augmented by discussions of morphological relations, including discussion of assimilated prefixes. In her fabulous book Proust and the Squid; The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf (2007) explained how morphology contributes to word learning and argued for more explicit instruction of prefixes, suffixes, and roots in schools:
"Morphological knowledge is a wonderful dimension of the child's uncovering of "what's in a word," and one of the least exploited aids to fluent comprehension.” (pg. 130)Pertinent but brief and interactive instruction might be applied in cases where the meaning of the prefix contributes neatly to the meaning of the whole word, and where the prefix has been assimilated and is not readily recognizable.
Assimilated prefixes are found in a range of words, including science terms. For example, consider the word evaporate ( e- + vapor + -ate). The prefix e- is an ancient assimilated form of the Latin prefix ex-, meaning 'out, upward'. Evaporate literally means 'to make vapor go out and upward.' Several fairly common words contain this assimilated prefix, including erase, erupt, elect, escape, enormous.
Want more?? Learn about prefixes and their various assimilated forms at Affixes.org, a website created by the highly respected Michael Quinion. View several lists of assimilated prefixes, created by Prof. Virginia Hellenga for her students in Scientific Terminology at Monmouth College, Illinois.
Also, word learners -- students and adults alike -- might study words with assimilated prefixes, take the associated Quizlet, or play some related word games, like Scatter and Space Ride. Click here to try it.
References
Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid: The story and science of the reading brain. New York: Harper / Perennial Press.
