Product Description
Having grasped the rudiments of Japanese grammar, what the student needs next are more words, more phrases, more turns of phrase. In short, more ways to get across the ideas that can be expressed so easily in English but for which the student simply doesn't have the requisite Japanese vocabulary.

One answer to this problem is found in affixes -- nifty little prefixes and suffixes, written with a single kanji, that can be attached to ordinary words to create new ones. They function much like Latin-derived prefixes and suffixes do in English. Just as you can attach "anti-" to almost any noun to create a new one (e.g., anti-American), you can attach its Japanese equivalent in the same way (e.g., han-amerika). Once you know this, you can "anti" and han yourself left and right and, for the most part, be understood.

Thus, without going through the laborious process of slowly acquiring these useful affixes through many hours of reading, you can quickly build a larger vocabulary and expand your range of speech and your ability to comprehend. Even for those who have good many kanji under their belt, this is a great time saver. For those whose kanji is rather minimal or nonexistent, it provides a means of picking up words that would ordinarily be far beyond their reach, for they can learn these prefixes and suffixes as sounds.

In short, it is as though you only knew the word "simple" and then one day acquired "simplify," "simplistic," and "simpleton." And, perhaps more importantly, this approach allows you not only to learn words that are in the dictionaries but to actually create new words to suit what you want to say, just as you would do in English. The Japanese themselves are constantly doing this, and you have to know what is going on in order to keep up. Whether for your active or passive vocabulary, the use of kanji prefixes and suffixes is one area that should not be ignored.

There are 13 kanji prefixes and 50 kanji suffixes in this book.

Previously published as Instant Vocabulary through Prefixes and Suffixes in the Power Japanese series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fantastic reference, unsure of best use
This book is a wonderful compilation of new vocabulary created by adding suffixes and prefixes to many words students already know. A problem many students have is the lack of confidence in creating new words because there is so much variety. For example, to negate a word using a prefix, will you use "MU," "HI,"or "FU"? In some cases, it may take only one. In other cases, it may take more than one for different nuances. There is also the possibility that it takes none of them. Making that judgment can be discouraging for many students of Japanese.

This book will not give you EVERY word that can be made using a given prefix or suffix, but it will provide you with a significant number of useful examples. For the main examples, the author provides example sentences. After the main examples, there is an additional list of words provided that only have a translation. For the most part, prefix and suffix words are easily understood by intermediate-advanced students as long as they understand the meaning of the root word. Therefore when reading, they tend not to be very problematic. However, there are times in conversation or writing that these words would be useful, but they are very hard to think of. Reviewing this book for that purpose is probably the best way to use it.

I have had this book for a few weeks, and am still unsure of exactly how I intend to use it. I would like to take one suffix or prefix each week and review the words. If they don't stick, perhaps making a flashcard with examples for each of the suffixes and prefixes may be a good idea. Finally, just becoming familiar with all of the suffixes and prefixes may be useful. That way if you want to give it a try in conversation, you won't be limited to the words in the book. Even if you make a mistake, surely your conversation partner will understand or correct you. In all, I highly recommend this book because vocabulary limitations are an ongoing problem for foreign language students, and this will give you A LOT of new words to use.

Unparalleled...
I have owned this book for about five years, and just finished reading it for about the fifth time.It seems to keep jumping off that bookshelf and landing right in my lap!

Four years ago, when I was preparing for level two of the Japanese Proficiency Exam, I summoned this thin volume to assist me in building my vocabulary.It proved instrumental in helping me pass that exam.

Just 63 prefixes and suffixes in 127 pages...Doesn't sound like a lot. But in just a short amount of time with this book, a student can increase their Japanese vocabulary by a couple thousand words.The example sentences provided within are both meaningful and interesting.Perhaps the best thing about this book is that, through teaching prefixes and suffixes, it prepares students to recognize and then comprehend the meaning of new kanji compounds which they encounter in their readings.

I highly recommend this book.It definitely provides a lot of bang for the buck.

Easy way to learn new words
I like this book for the prefixes and suffixes it introduces. After reading the book, I can recognize them more easily when they come up in something I'm reading. But I also learned a lot from what the author calls the "bases," that is, the basic words that the prefixes and suffixes are attached to. Many of these words I didn't know. What I think is most valuable, though, is that you can now spot the prefixes and suffixes when you hear them in conversation. It's not just a matter of seeing them, but hearing them too. ... Read more

Product Description
Title: Word-Building. Fifty Lessons, Combining Latin, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes, Into About Fifty-Five Hundred Common Derivative Words in English, With a Brief History of the English LanguagePublisher: New York, E. Maynard ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Internationalization and Localization, Back-Formation, Nonce Word, List of Medical Roots, Suffixes and Prefixes, Compound, Longest Words, Phono-Semantic Matching, Anglicisation, Anglicism, Hybrid Word, Francization, Blend, Americanization, Russianism, Conversion, Inkhorn Term, Reborrowing, Word Formation, De-Russification, Gaelicization, Trinidadianization, Gallicism, Anthimeria, Latinism, Sanskritism. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 141. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: This is a list of roots, suffixes, and prefixes used in medical terminology, their meanings, and their etymology. There are a few rules when using medical roots. Firstly, prefixes and suffixes, primarily in Greek, but also in Latin, have a droppable -o-. As a general rule, this -o- almost always acts as a joint-stem to connect two consonantal roots, e.g. arthr- + -o- + logy = arthrology. But generally, the -o- is dropped when connecting to a vowel-stem; e.g. arthr- + itis = arthritis, instead of arthr-o-itis. Secondly, medical roots generally go together according to language: Greek prefixes go with Greek suffixes and Latin prefixes with Latin suffixes. Although it is technically considered acceptable to create hybrid words, it is strongly preferred to not mix different lingual roots. The following is an alphabetical list of medical prefixes and suffixes, along with their meanings, origin, and an English example. This section contains lists of different root classification (e.g. body components, quantity, description, etc.). Each list is alphabetized by English meanings, with the corresponding Greek and Latin roots given. (Internal Anatomy, External Anatomy, Body Fluids, Body Substances) (Amount, Quantity) ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=8611983 ... Read more

Product Description
Suggested Retail Price: $12.95, Ages 7-12, This versatile 48-page Instruction & Activity Book includes lesson plans, blackline masters and over 100 full-color demonstration cards that can be used alone or in a pocket chart. Cards are color-coded to match Reading Rods®. Activities encourage exploration of word building with prefixes and suffixes, spelling changes, root words, word analysis and vocabulary building. Aligned with Put Reading First. ... Read more

Product Description
Introduce Latin and Greek Roots Using Words Your Students Already Know!This easy-to-use PowerPoint is the perfect way to introduce your students to ten of the most common Latin and Greek Roots. Using context clues, students are guided through exercises in recognizing and defining common root words and then challenged to use their new knowledge to decipher unfamiliar words. ... Read more

Product Description
By the time your students have completed the 16 activities related to prefixes in this book and the 16 lessons on suffixes, they will be light-years ahead in reading comprehension and writing fluency. One of nine titles in the top selling Building FUNdamentals book series, Prefixes & Suffixes is loaded with activities and ideas designed to add FUN into learning. This unit is complete with a review test, extension ideas, reproducible pictures to supplement the lessons and a blank template for creating your own page. ... Read more

Product Description
The root words program is self teaching and involves students in repetitive behaviors as described by William James in his 1899 speech to teachers on students' habits in removing anxiety about the upshot of their education and becoming friends with their nervous system. This program is also visibly expressed by the mystery associated with the assurances inherent in the home court advantage and the repeating of behaviors by the sixth man in the stand in the short period of time it takes to view a basketball game.This visible representation is an excellent teaching model for understanding what the root words card games and program will do.Others have described repeating behaviors for visible observation but with far longer intervals of time between the repetitive behaviors and the assured outcome that repeating causes.Root words are foundational.Students become engrossed in the fun and entertainment of the program's activities. ... Read more