Root, Base and Stem

Basic Parts of a Word

• The English language is made up of many closely related words. It is possible to build new
words from existing words by adding affixes to the beginning and/or end of a base word or root.
• Many words in the English language have been borrowed from other languages. The origins are
usually Latin or Greek.
• A word can have three parts to it: a root, a prefix and a suffix.
• A prefix or suffix is a meaningful affix that doesn't function as a word on its own but can be
attached to a base word or root.
• Prefixes (like: pre-, anti- or de-) go at the beginning of a base or root word.
• Suffixes (like: -tion, -ness and -ment) go at the end of a base or root word.
• It's the middle part of a word that holds the most meaning, however. This may be a root or a
base word.
 Root Words

Definition:

“A root is a form which is not further analyzable, either in terms of derivational or inflectional
morphology. It is that part of word-form that remains when all inflectional and derivational
affixes have been removed.
• In the form ‘untouchables’ the root is ‘touch’.”
 English has two types of roots:
1. Independent (free) Roots: 2. Dependent (bound) Roots:

• Can occur alone ( meaningful) • Can not occur alone ( not meaningful)
• Other bound morphemes can be • They can only be attached to specific
attached to it morphemes to acquire meaning.
• Of English origin • Usually of Greek of Latin origins

For Example, ‘beauty’ For Example, ‘aud’ (which is a Latin

- Beautify word meaning ‘to hear or to listen’
- Beautiful - auditorium
- Beautification - audio
- audience
- audition
Two-Root words:

Some words have two roots. The roots may be Dependent Roots or Independent Roots.
With two roots, each root contributes near equal meaning to the word.

Two Bound Roots

• Word: geography Dependent Root: geo (earth) Dependent Root: graph (write)
• Word: carnivore Dependent Root: carn (flesh) Dependent Root: vor (swallow)
• Word: cardiovascular Dependent Root: cardi (heart) Dependent Root: vas (vessel)
Two Free Roots

• Word: bathroom Independent Root: bath Independent Root: room

• Word: downfall Independent Root: down Independent Root: fall
• Word: popcorn Independent Root: pop Independent Root: corn
 Base Words
Definition:

A base word is a word without any affixes that can stand alone in English. It can also has prefixes and
suffixes added to it to make new words.

• If we can add a prefix or suffix to something, we can call it a base.

• We can add a prefix or suffix to every base even if it already has a prefix or suffix.
• If a word cannot stand alone when we remove all of the prefixes and suffixes, then it is not a base
word.
• Sometimes a base is a root, and sometimes it is not a root. (In other words, free roots are bases while
bound roots are not).
For example, the word ’ cycle’

• ‘cycle’ is the base word, or the simplest form of the word without any prefixes or
suffixes added.
• Prefixes can be added to make words like bicycle, tricycle and motorcycle.
Suffixes can be added to make words like cyclist, cyclical or cyclers.

• The word cycle, for example, is actually based on a Greek word ‘cyc’ (which means
circle).
Thus, we say:
Word: cycle base: cycle root: cyc
 Bases vs. Roots Confusion
When dealing with root and base words, the fact that most English base words actually have a Greek or
Latin root can cause things to get a bit tricky.

For example, the word ’civil’ meets the definition of a base word. It is a standalone English word that
can stand on its own. However, it does also have a Latin root.

‘Civil’ as a Base Word

‘Civil’ is a base word that describes someone courteous, the rights of ordinary citizens or
legal proceedings based on legal matters that are not criminal in nature. This English word
can stand alone, and it can also be expanded to create words like:
civilization, civility and civilian.
‘Civil’ as a Root Word

Though ’civil’ can stand alone as a base word in English, it comes from the Latin root ’civ’,
which relates to citizens.

You can't use ’civ’ on its own in English, but it's still part of the base word ‘civil’.
So, ’civ’ is the root of ‘civil’, and ‘civil’ serves as a base word forming other words.
Thus,

To make sense of what this means, consider the breakdowns of words related to civil (base
word) and civ (root).

• civil: The root of civil is ’civ’. ‘Civil’ is a base word.

• civilization, civility and civilian: The root of these words is ’civ’. They also have a base
word, which is ’civil’.
 Identical Roots and Bases
Occasionally, a base word in English is the same as a Latin root.

For example, ’act’:

• ’act’ is a standalone word in English, making it a base word.

• However, ’act’ is also a Latin root that comes from the Latin word ’actum’.
• Prefixes and suffixes can be added onto ’act’ in order to make English words
like; action, reaction and actual.
• In this case, the root word and base word are the same (act) for each of these terms.
Examine the morphological structure of the word ‘responding’:

1. ‘re-’ is a prefix
2. ‘spond’ is a Latin word which comes from sponder, which means ’to
pledge’. So, it is the root
3. The word ‘spond’ can’t stand alone in English, so, it is not a base. The base
is ‘respond’ because it can stand alone in English and we can add affixes to
it to make new words.
4. ‘-ing’ is a suffix
 More Examples
Word: reread Base: read Root: read

Word: unhelpful Base: help Root: help

Word: unreliable Base: rely Root: rely

Word: preponderance Base: ponder Root: ponder

Word: responded Base: respond Root: spond

Word: preapproved Base: prove Root: prove

 Stem
“A stem is of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology. To find the stem, simply remove
the inflectional suffixes. Inflectional suffixes are different from derivational affixes.

In short, when you remove the inflectional suffixes, you have the stem.
More Examples:

Word: reddest Stem: red

Word: girls Stem: girl
Word: boats Stem: boat
Word: preapproved Stem: preapprove
Word: justifying Stem: justify
Word: responded Stem: respond
Word: unjustifiable Stem: no stem
Word: kindness Stem: no stem
 Roots vs. Stems Confusion
A root: is that part of a word that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been
removed; it cannot be analyzed further.

e.g. ‘unpredictability’ the root is: ‘predict’

A stem: is that part of a word that remains when all inflectional suffixes have been removed.

e.g. ‘agreements’ the stem is: ‘agreement’

 Roots, Bases and Stems
When does it get complicated?
Sometimes the ‘root’ and the ‘base’ are the same thing.

Take the word “wins”:

The base is ‘win’
The root is also ‘win’.
And when the inflectional suffix ‘-s’ is removed, we have the stem which is also ‘win’.

So, for some words (usually the short ones), the root, base and stem are the same.
 ‘win’

Root Base Stem

‘win’ ‘win’ ‘winner’ – ‘win’

Winners > root: win

Winners > base: win Winners > stem: winner
Wins > root: win
Wins > base: win Wins > stem: win
 Stable

Root Base Stem

stable stable stabilize

stabilizes > root: stable stabilizes > base: stable stabilizes > stem: stabilize
stabilize > root: stable stabilize > base: stable Stabilize > stem: --
stability > root: stable stability > base: stable stability > stem: --
 More Exmples:
‘Happy’
• Unhappy
(remove ‘un-’/derivational prefix) > happy: root / base
• Happiness
(remove ‘-ness’/derivational suffix) > happy: root / base
• Unhappiness
(remove ‘un-’/derivational prefix and ‘-ness’/derivational suffix) > happy: root / base
• Happily
(remove ‘-ly’/derivational suffix) > happy: root / base
• Happier
(remove ‘-er’/inflectional suffix) > happy: root / base / stem
• Happiest
(remove ‘-est’/ inflectional suffix) > happy: root / base / stem
 More Examples
word root Why? stem Why?

untouchables touch Un-, -able, -s untouchable -s

removed removed

touched touch -ed removed touch -ed

removed

agreements agree -ment , -s agreement -s

removed removed

drives drive -s removed drive -s

removed
 Exercise
word root Why? stem Why?
teacher

elective

bigger

Uncountable

Boy’s

disagreed