Anglo Saxon Roots and Prefixes

What is Anglo-Saxon?

Anglo-Saxon refers to the variety of language used by the Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons were a group of inhabitants of England during the Early Middle Ages (approximately 410 - 1066 AD), otherwise known as the Dark Ages.

Anglo-Saxon Roots and Prefixes

Anglo-Saxon roots and prefixes are word roots and prefixes that originate from the Anglo-Saxon language.

Fig. 1 - The Anglo-Saxons were migrants from Northern Europe who settled in Britain.

Words with Anglo-Saxon Roots and Prefixes

Here are some words that are derived from Anglo-Saxon roots:

• Burden (from the Anglo-Saxon root ber-)

• Drift (from the Anglo-Saxon root drif-)

• Loaf (from the Anglo-Saxon root laf-)

• Tale (from the Anglo-Saxon root tall-)

Here are some words that have Anglo-Saxon prefixes:

• re- (as in redo)

• pre- (as in precaution)

• dis- (as in disinterested)

• over- (as in overstep)

These prefixes originated from Anglo-Saxon English and are still regularly used in English today.

Anglo Saxon Roots and Prefixes in Writing

There are many Anglo-Saxon roots and prefixes used in Modern English. Words derived from Anglo-Saxon roots are typically viewed as the "base level of English"^1, with the more complex language derived from Latin, French, or Greek.

Anglo-Saxon roots and prefixes often appear in words used in more informal or relaxed registers, reaffirming the theory that Old English was never associated with prestige in the same way that Latin and French were.

Fig. 2 - In Anglo-Saxon times, elements of prestige such as education were associated with languages such as Latin and French while Anglo-Saxon was associated with more informal, day-to-day life.

List of Anglo-Saxon Roots and Prefixes

Let's look at some Anglo-Saxon roots with their meanings and examples of modern English words derived from those roots.

Now let's look at some prefixes from the Anglo-Saxon language, what they mean, and some examples of when they're used.

Anglo-Saxon Words Are Still Used Today

Not many Anglo-Saxon roots are still used in the base form in modern language. Instead, most Anglo-Saxon roots have prefixes or suffixes added to create meaningful words. However, some Anglo-Saxon roots are still used in their base form such as:

• kin
• dear
• wit
• ah
• spell
• less

Some other Anglo-Saxon roots are almost used in their base form but have perhaps one extra letter to make them fit in with modern language better. Some of these are:

• wife (from wif-)
• steer (from ster-)
• true (from tru-)
• tale (from tal-)
• wise (from wis-)
• know (from kno-)

It's more common though that Anglo-Saxon roots have been altered into the words we know today. Let's have a look at some.

Examples of Anglo-Saxon Roots and Prefixes

Now that we've gone through Anglo-Saxon roots and prefixes, let's look at how we can identify their meanings with the help of some examples.

Example 1: unwise

If we look at the word unwise, we can divide it into a root and a prefix.

un - wise

prefix - root

Remember that the root carries the main meaning of the word, and the prefix can then change the meaning.

Example 2: foresee

Let's follow the same steps to look for the meaning of foresee. First, let's split it into its root and prefix.

fore - see

prefix - root

Example 3: distrust

Let's divide distrust into its root and prefix and then look at their meanings.

dis - trust

prefix - root