The base or root of a word gives it what meaning?

Answer 1

Yes, it does. Here's my favourite example; Latin 'pene' means 'almost' Latin 'insula' means 'island' A peninsula, therefore, is an 'almost' 'island', a long spit of land, extending into water, almost an island Both roots contribute to the meaning

Answer 2

The "base word form" is the "root word". A root word can be expanded into many forms.

(noun) car = cars

(noun) animal = animals

(verb, present tense) go = I go, you go, he goes, we go, they go

(verb, future tense) go = I will go, you will go, he will go, we will go, they will go

(verb, past tense) go = I went, you went, he went, we went, they went

(verb, continuous) go = I am going, you are going, he is going, we are going, they are going

In English, we have what are called helper verbs. The help a verb to be more accurate in describing an action.

Common helpers include, "have been", "had been", "will have been", and "will had been". In Greek, all of these helpers are combined into the spelling of the root verb form. In English, these helpers appear as separate words, that appear in a certain order.

Answer 3

The base form of a word may also be referred to as the root word. A root word neither has a prefix nor a suffix.

Answer 4

Root