Morphology and Etymology involve looking at the structure and origin of words. These strategies can help students to better understand where words come from, what words mean and how to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Morphology is the study of the structure of words. According to Adolescent Literacy "Morphology describes how words are formed from morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word." (2007, p. 8) Morphemes include roots, prefixes and suffixes. As students learn morphemes, they increase their abilities to decode, comprehend and spell words. (2007, p. 9) Etymology is the study of the origins of words. Studying etymology involves learning the Latin and Greek roots and their meanings. |