This document discusses morphemes, which are the meaningful parts of words including root words, prefixes, and suffixes. It describes the two types of morphemes - free morphemes which can stand alone as words, and bound morphemes which cannot. It provides examples of common prefixes, suffixes, Greek roots, and Latin roots. It also discusses compound words, affixes, and analyzes data on the most frequent prefixes and suffixes in English.

1. Morphemes
Word-part clues, the meaningful parts of words
• Root words
• Prefixes
• Suffixes
• Greek and Latin roots

2. Types of Morphemes
• There are 2 basic types of morphemes: free and bound.
Types of Morphemes
Free morphemes:
Can stand alone as words
Anglo-Saxon root words: help, play, run
Bound morphemes:
Cannot stand alone as words
• Prefixes: dis-, in-, re-, un-
• Derivational suffixes: -ful, -less, -ly
• Inflectional suffixes: -ed, -es, -ing, -s
• Greek roots: bio, graph, scope
• Latin roots: dict, ject, struct

3. Compound Words
• Compound words are composed of two Anglo-Saxon root words.
• The meaning of some compound words can be derived from the
meanings of the two smaller words that comprise them: for example,
doghouse and bluebird.
• Other compound words have a meaning different from the meaning
of the two smaller words: for example, butterfly and airline.

4. Affixes
• Affixes are bound morphemes. This group of word parts includes
prefixes and two kinds of suffixes: derivational and inflectional.
• Prefixes: are fixed to the beginning of root words. They usually alter
the meaning of the root word.
• Derivational Suffixes: are fixed to the end of root words. They usually
alter the meaning of the root word. It may also change the root word’s
part of speech, pronunciation, or spelling.
• Inflectional Suffixes: are endings, fixed to the end of root words. They
usually change the form of a root word but not its part of speech. If
the root word is a noun, the suffix might show possession (hers), or
plurality (boxes). If the root word is a verb, the suffix may show tense
(walked), active or passive (it was driven), or state (she had been
singing). If the root word is an adjective, the suffix may show
comparison (louder, loudest).

5. Greek and Latin Roots
• Greek and Latin Roots are also bound morphemes. Most Greek roots
appear in combination with each other. Most Latin roots appear in
combination with one or more affixes.

6. Most Frequent Prefixes Attached to Free Morphemes
Prefix Meaning Example Percent
un- not unkind 26%
re- again, back redo, return 14%
in-, im-, il-, ir- not injustice, impossible 11%
dis- not, opposite to disagree 7%
en-, em- cause to encode, empower 4%
non- not nonsense 4%
in-, im- in, on insane, imprint 4%
over- too much overdo 3%
mis- wrong misfire 3%
sub- under sublease 3%
pre- before preview 3%
inter- between interact 3%
fore- before foreclose 3%
de- not, opposite deactivate 2%
trans- across transplant 2%
super- above superstar 1%
semi- half semicircle 1%
anti- against antiwar 1%
mid- middle midway 1%
under- below undersea 1%
All others 3%

7. Most Frequent Suffixes Attached to Free Morphemes
Suffix Meaning Example Percent
-s, -es more than one books, boxes 31%
-ed past tense verbs played 20%
-ing verb form/ present participle running 14%
-ly characteristic of quickly 7%
-er, -or one who worker, actor 4%
-ion, -tion, -ation, -ition act, process collection, infusion 4%
-able, ible can be done comfortable 2%
-al, -ial having characteristic of personal 1%
-y characterised by jumpy 1%
-ness state of, condition of kindness 1%
-ity, -ty state of formality 1%
-ment action or process enjoyment 1%
-ic having characteristic of Linguistic 1%
-ous, -eous, -ious possessing the qualities of joyous 1%
-en made of wooden 1%
-er comparative higher 1%
-ive, -ative, -itive adjective form of a noun active 1%
-ful full of careful 1%
-less without fearless 1%
-est comparative longest 1%
All others 7%

8. Common Latin Roots
Root Meaning Example Root Meaning Example
aud hear audible man hand manual
bene well, good benefit mem mind memory
centi hundred centipede migr move migrate
contra against contrary mit, miss send submit/mission
cred believe, trust credible ped foot pedal
dict tell dictate pop people popular
duct lead conduct port carry transport
equi equal equitable rupt break erupt
extra outside extravagant sign mark signal
fac make factory spect see inspect
fig form figure sta/stat stand statue
flec flex, bend flexible Struct build/ form construct
form shape formulate trac/ tract pull tractor
fract break fracture urb city suburb
init beginning initial vid/vis see video/ visible
ject throw reject voc voice vocal
junct join junction volv roll revolve

9. Common Greek Roots
Root Meaning Example Root Meaning Example
amphi both amphibian micro small microscope
astro star astronaut mono single monorail
auto self automatic ology Study of morphology
biblio book bibliography opt eye optical
bio life biology para beside parallel
chron time chronic phil love philosophy
geo earth geology phon sound phonograph
graph write, record autograph photo/phos light photograph
hemi half hemisphere pod foot podiatrist
hydr water hydraulic psych Mind, soul psychic
hyper over hyperactive scope see microscope
ist one who dentist sphere ball hemisphere
logo word, reason logic syn together synonym
macro large macrobiotic tele from afar telephone
mech machine mechanic therm heat thermometer
meter measure barometer

10. Australian Curriculum – Scope and Sequence
Sub-strand Foundation Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
Phonics and word knowledge sub-strand
Phonological
and phonemic
awareness of
the ability to
identify the
discrete sounds
in speech
(phonemes), and
to reproduce and
manipulate them
orally
Recognise and
generate
rhyming words,
alliteration
patterns,
syllables and
sounds
(phonemes) in
spoken words
(ACELA1439)
Segment
sentences into
individual words
and orally blend
and segment
onset and rime
in single syllable
spoken words,
and isolate,
blend and
manipulate
phonemes in
single syllable
words
(ACELA1819)
Segment
consonant
blends or
clusters into
separate
phonemes at the
beginnings and
ends of one
syllable words
(ACELA1822)
Manipulate
phonemes in
spoken words by
addition, deletion
and substitution
of initial, medial
and final
phonemes to
generate new
words
(ACELA1457)
Orally
manipulate more
complex sounds
in spoken words
through
knowledge of
blending and
segmenting
sounds,
phoneme
deletion and
substitution in
combination with
use of letters in
reading and
writing
(ACELA1474)
From Year 3 onwards, knowledge about phonological and phonemic awareness continues to
be applied when making connections between the sounds (phonemes) in spoken words and
the letters (graphemes) in written words.

11. Australian Curriculum – Scope and Sequence
Sub-strand Foundation Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
Phonics and word knowledge sub-strand
Alphabet and
phonic
knowledge
The relationship
between sounds
and letters
(graphemes)
and how these
are combined
when reading
and writing
Recognise and
name all upper
and lower case
letters
(graphemes)
and know the
most common
sound that each
letter represents
(ACELA1440)
Write
consonant-
vowel-
consonant
(CVC) words by
representing
some sounds
with the
appropriate
letters, and
blend sounds
associated with
letters when
reading CVC
words
(ACELA1820)
Use short
vowels,
common long
vowels,
consonant
blends when
writing, and
blend these to
read one-
syllable words
(ACELA1458)
Understand that
a letter can
represent more
than one sound
and that a
syllable must
contain a vowel
sound
(ACELA1459)
Use most letter-
sound matches
including vowel
digraphs, less
common long
vowel patterns,
letter clusters
and silent letters
when reading
and writing
words of one or
more syllable
(ACELA1824)
Understand that
a sound can be
represented by
various letter
combinations
(ACELA1825)
Understand how
to apply
knowledge of
letter-sound
relationships,
syllables, and
blending and
segmenting to
fluently read
and write
multisyllabic
words with more
complex letter
patterns
(ACELA1826)
Understand how
to use phonic
knowledge to
read and write
multisyllabic
words with more
complex letter
combinations,
including a
variety of vowel
sounds and
known prefixes
and suffixes
(ACELA1828)
Understand how
to use phonic
knowledge to
read and write
less familiar
words that share
common letter
patterns but
have different
pronunciations
(ACELA1829)
Understand how
to use phonic
knowledge and
accumulated
understandings
about blending,
letter-sound
relationships,
common and
uncommon
letter patterns
and phonic
generalisations
to read and
write
increasingly
complex words
(ACELA1830
From Year 7
onwards,
knowledge
about alphabet
and phonic
knowledge will
continue to be
applied when
reading, writing
and spelling

12. Australian Curriculum – Scope and SequenceSub-strand Foundation Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
Language sub-strand
Spelling
Knowledge
about how
sounds
(phonemes) of
words are
represented by
letters or letter
patterns,
knowledge of
meaning units
within words
(morphemes)
and word
origins
Understand how
to use
knowledge of
letters and
sounds
including onset
and rime to spell
words
(ACELA1438)
Know how to
read and write
some high-
frequency words
and other
familiar words
(ACELA1817)
Understand that
words are units
of meaning and
can be made of
more than one
meaningful part
(ACELA1818)
Understand how
to spell one and
two syllable
words with
common letter
patterns
(ACELA1778)
Use visual
memory to read
and write high-
frequency words
(ACELA1821)
Recognise and
know how to
use simple
grammatical
morphemes to
create word
families
(ACELA1455)
Understand how
to use
knowledge of
digraphs, long
vowels, blends
and silent letters
to spell one and
two syllable
words including
some
compound
words
(ACELA1471)
Use knowledge
of letter patterns
and morphemes
to read and
write high-
frequency words
and words
whose spelling
is not
predictable from
their sounds
(ACELA1823)
Build
morphemic
word families
using
knowledge of
prefixes and
suffixes
(ACELA1472)
Understand how
to use letter-
sound
relationships
and less
common letter
patterns to spell
words
(ACELA1485)
Recognise and
know how to
write most high
frequency words
including some
homophones
(ACELA1486)
Know how to
use common
prefixes and
suffixes, and
generalisations
for adding a
suffix to a base
word
(ACELA1827)
Understand how
to use
knowledge of
letter patterns
including double
letters, spelling
generalisations,
morphemic
word families,
common
prefixes and
suffixes and
word origins to
spell more
complex words
(ACELA1779)
Read and write
a large core of
high frequency
words including
homophones
and know how
to use context to
identify correct
spelling
(ACELA1780)
Understand how
to use
knowledge of
known words,
base words,
prefixes and
suffixes, word
origins, letter
patterns and
spelling
generalisations
to spell new
words
(ACELA1513)
Explore less
common plurals,
and understand
how a suffix
changes the
meaning or
grammatical
form of a word
(ACELA1514)
Understand how
to use
knowledge of
known words,
word origins
including some
Latin and Greek
roots, base
words, prefixes,
suffixes, letter
patterns and
spelling
generalisations
to spell new
words including
technical words
(ACELA1526)
Understand how
to use spelling
rules and word
origins, for
example Greek
and Latin roots,
base words,
suffixes,
prefixes,
spelling patterns
and
generalisations
to learn new
words and how
to spell them
(ACELA1539)
SSP - SSP Daily – 4 Code Levels – (simple code), Speedy Paired Decoding
Speedy Six Daily – (complex code) including morphology – Affixes, Greek and Latin Roots