Finding Meaning in Roots

By Doug Buehl,
Madison East High School teacher
Member, Wisconsin State Reading Association

September 1999

Can you guess this word? It once referred to a scrap of food given to a person less fortunate. The word, initially a Latin term, was later adopted by the French in medieval times to signify a lump of bread or other leavings of a meal provided to a beggar. The English expanded the word’s usage from “a gift begged” to “a present.” Along the way, the word has taken on a decidedly negative connotation. Today’s meaning is to offer a gift, sometimes substantial, to influence someone’s behavior.

The word? To “bribe.” What an interesting etymological journey – from a small gesture of generosity to a calculating act of corruption! One can almost speculate the circumstances that led the word bribe to be associated with a different class of “beggar.”

Clearly, a word such as “bribe” has deep and involved meaning for us. We understand the word far beyond any terse dictionary definition. All sorts of connections may come to mind: a parent who offers a child candy to quell a tantrum; a favor from a sibling for keeping quiet about a family rule infraction; a payment made to a decision-maker to influence the awarding of a contract; a campaign contribution handed to a politician to further a group’s political (or financial) agenda. For us, bribe is a rich concept with many layers of meaning; it is not a mere vocabulary word.

The Strategy

Students, however, often view vocabulary learning in a very narrow sense. They look up a new word in a dictionary, perhaps obtaining only a foggy notion of its meaning or grasping quickly at a possible synonym. If they must master the word for a vocabulary quiz, they memorize it as an act of short-term learning, forgetting it soon after and never incorporating the new word into their speaking and their writing. Students often attempt to learn vocabulary as facts (definitions), not as concepts.

Encouraging students to be “word browsers,” to become playfully engaged with new vocabulary, can help reinforce that true vocabulary acquisition involves more than quick trips to a dictionary.

Step 1: Begin with activities that pique students’ interest in word origins. Key terms from a unit of study or other frequently occurring words are excellent candidates for etymological exploration.

For example, a “What’s the Word Connection” exercise establishes that a glimpse into a word’s history can provide additional insight into its current meanings.

What’s the word connection between:

• A bow and arrow, and to be very drunk?
• A person who sits beside you at a meal and flatters you, and an organism that lives off others?
• A baptism sponsor and someone who spreads small talk about you?

As you invite student speculations, provide students with the original word forms: the Greek toxon (bow & arrow), the Greek parasitos (para - beside and sitos - wheat, grain, or food), and the Anglo-Saxon godsibb (God and sib - a relation).

Students will notice root forms and may be able to provide the modern equivalents: intoxicate, parasite, and gossip. Then they discover that the Greeks dipped their arrows in poison, and to be poisoned was to be intoxicated!

They learn that parasites originally were folks who wheedled meals (and eventually their living) by “buttering up” their wealthy benefactors.

Gossips originally were individuals very close to a family, but apparently they came to be regarded as talkative and ready sources for information. Today a gossip spreads idle talk and rumors, and the word has strayed from a praiseworthy to a pejorative connotation.

Step 2: As a follow-up, begin to acquaint students with the variety of reference materials that provide background on vocabulary.

First, scout out the school library media center for sources available to students, both in print and electronically. You will likely discover a wealth of under-utilized materials: unabridged dictionaries (including perhaps the CD-ROM version of the Oxford English Dictionary), specialty dictionaries (such as law and medical dictionaries), dictionaries that deal with informal language (slang, euphemisms, the Dictionary of American Regional English), and works that emphasize words and phrases derived from mythology, folklore, or other origins.

To encourage browsing, arrange the reference materials on a series of library carts, and organize students into teams. Assign each team a cart to investigate (one team may be assigned electronic sources). Their task is to browse the materials on their cart so that they become familiar with the nature of the information in their sources. To focus their browsing, ask the group to create an activity that will introduce the rest of the class to their sources. This activity should:

• Target a variety of sources in their collection.
• Guide classmates into discovering features that make these sources especially useful, unique, interesting, or different.
• Be done in about 10 minutes.

Step 3: The next class period, provide photocopies of each team activity for the entire class. Have students work with partners to visit the various collections and complete the team activity for each. As the students “paw” through the materials, they will connect with a number of interesting stories and origins of words, and they will become conversant with reference sources that extend far beyond standard abridged dictionaries.

Step 4: Integrate consideration of word origin as a regular routine in classroom learning.

Advantages

Word browsing activities encourage students to develop conceptual understandings of new words rather than merely obtaining dictionary definitions. In addition:

• Students come to see the organic nature of vocabulary, as word meanings have grown and changed over the years.
• Students begin to identify useful word roots and notice connections among words derived from similar origins.

Further Resources:

Pauk, W. (1997) How To Study in College, 6th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Posted August 24, 1999