J. Brown (1976) of U. Minnesota (based on work by Thompson, 1958) put together a list of 14 words, whose parts he claims can be used to build a vocabulary of 14,000. Each of the 14 basic words consists of a prefix and a root. (Since six of the words have two prefixes each, the list below consists of 20 prefixes rather than 14.) This program is the only systematic test of Brown's claim - set against the BNC frequency list of 20,000 families or about 100,000 individual word forms.

Prefix

Other spellings

Meaning

Master Word

Root

Other spellings

Meaning

de-

 

Down or Away

DETAIN

Tenere

Tain, ten, tin

To Have or Hold

inter-

 

Between

INTERMITTENT

Mittere

Mitt, Miss, Mis, Mit

To Send

pre-

 

Before

PRECEPT

Capere

Cept, Cap, Capt

To Take or Seize

ob-

Oc-, Of-, Op-

To, Toward, Against

OFFER

Ferre

Fer, Lat, Lay

To Bear or Carry

in-

Il-, Im-, Ir-

Into

INSIST

Stare

Sist, Sta,

To Stand, Endure or Persist

mono-

 

One or Alone

MONOGRAPH

Graphein

Graph

To Write

epi-

 

Over, Upon, or Beside

EPILOGUE

Legein

Log, Ology

Speech or Science

ad-

A-, Ac-, Ag-, Al-, An-, Ap-, Ar-, As-,

To or Towards

ASPECT

Specere

Spect, Spec, Spi, Spy

To Look

un-

 

Not

UNCOMPLICATED

Plicare

Plic, Play, Plex, Ploy, Ply

To Fold, Bend, Twist, Interweave

com-

Co-, Col-, Con-, Cor-

With or Together

non-

 

Not

NONEXTENDED

Tendere

Tend, Tens, Tent

To Stretch

ex-

E-, Ef,

Out or Formerly

re-

 

Back or Again

REPRODUCTION

Ducere

Duct, Duc, Duit, Duk

To Lead, Make, Shape or Fashion

pro-

 

Forward or In Favor of

in-

Il-, Im,-, Ir

Not

INDISPOSED

Ponere

Pos, Pound, Pon, Post

To Put or Place

dis-

Di-, Dif-

Apart From

over-

 

Above

OVERSUFFICIENT

Facere

Fic, Fac, Fact, Fash, Feat

To Make or Do

sub-

Suc-, Suf-, Sug-, Sup-, Sur, Sus-

Under

mis-

 

Wrong or Wrongly

MISTRANSCRIBE

Scribere

Scribe, Scrip, Scriv

To Write

trans-

Tra-, Tran-

Across or Beyond