7.5.2.1
Formal guessing

This denotes reliance on resemblance to a word already known to the reader, while any guessing which does not is contextual.

When they encounter unfamiliar words, students need to be encouraged to try to recognize those parts of the word they do know to help them make a guess at the overall meaning. This ability to make formal guesses can be developed through work on the following:

  • word roots;
  • the formation of compounds;
  • the role of affixes in building up words, especially suffix and prefix meanings;
  • recognition of morphological clues, especially in inflected languages;
  • identification of grammatical category (nouns, adverbs, adjectives, etc).

For example, in German, one might present students with a list of common verbal prefixes and their meanings and subsequently provide practice in recognizing them in context:

ab- away; off :
abfahren to depart, absteigen to get off, abstellen to put down or to turn off

an- to / onto; starting something; doing something partially: ankommen to arrive, anlaufen to start up, anbrennen to catch fire or to singe

auf- up; on:
aufstehen to get up, aufsetzen to put on

aus- out; off:
ausgehen to go out, ausmachen to switch off

Alternatively, students might be invited to explore adjectival suffixes:

-arm (nouns) poor in, and -reich (nouns) rich in:
kalorienarm low in calories, nikotinarm low-nicotine, vitaminreich rich in vitamins, kinderreich with lots of children

-bar (verbs) often equivalent of English '-able' and '-ible':
fahrbar mobile / on castors, trinkbar drinkable

-en / -ern (nouns) denotes something made of the material of the original noun (-ern forms take an umlaut):
bronzen bronze, stählern made of steel

-feindlich (nouns) hostile towards, and -freundlich (nouns) friendly towards:
frauenfeindlich misogynous, umweltfeindlich harmful to the environment, hundefreundlich welcoming dogs, kinderfreundlich welcoming children

-frei (nouns) free from, and -los (nouns) without, like English '-less':
alkoholfrei non-alcoholic, autofrei car-free, zeitlos timeless, endlos endless

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