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When you first started studying words scientifically with students, you were taking a risk. Most of us come to our work with our lesson plans and our big brains full of knowledge about words ready to impart it on willing students.
Unfortunately, not all students are willing. And some who are willing struggle with the phonology aspect of words. So maybe you went looking for something different and you found scientific word study.
In both instances, you had to humble yourself. You thought maybe the way you've been teaching about words isn't working. You opened yourself up to not knowing about a word a student wonders about. You have to show vulnerability.
But what is the base of this word? And what does it have to do with other "abilities?"
This investigation gives us a chance to look at the forms nouns and adjectives and how they function in context. We'll look at how to go from a Latin noun to an English base. After situating our word in its morphological family, we will talk about schwas and liquids and nasals. We have a lot to dig into...
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Meaning
What is this word's meaning and how does the word function?
When we show our vulnerability, we open ourselves up and admit our shortcomings. If I was working on this word with a student right now, I'd ask them if there was a time when they had to show vulnerability. What did it feel like?
The Collins online dictionary entry for vulnerable (where a search for vulnerability led me) says that someone who is vulnerable is "weak and without protection" and they "are easily hurt." A second definition tells us that we can be vulnerable to disease, meaning we are more likely to get it.
The word vulnerable is an adjective, but the word vulnerability is a noun. A suffix carries grammatical information.
- The Honda Accord is one of the car models most vulnerable to theft in the U.S.
- The Honda Accord's vulnerability to theft is driven by the high demand for its parts.
We can recognize vulnerable as an adjective, because we've used most to modify it here. It is modifying the noun models.
We can recognize vulnerability as a noun, because it functions as the subject of the sentence. We can also pluralize it, vulnerabilities. Nouns may also function as direct objects:
- Owners can reduce this vulnerability by installing a lock on the steering wheel.
Nouns may also function as indirect objects.
- Insurance adjusters give the vulnerability extra consideration when calculating premiums.
In that sentence, consideration is the direct object and vulnerability is the indirect object. I could rewrite the sentence to show this a little more explicitly.
- When calculating premiums, insurance adjusters give extra consideration to the Honda's vulnerability.
An indirect object can often be positioned after to or for.
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Structure
What are the elements that make up this word's structure?
We already have looked at both vulnerable and vulnerability. When considering those words next to each other, we see they both share
vulner + ability
We know ability exists as a word in English. However, the suffix <-ability> is not related to the word ability, just as the suffix <-able> is not related to the word able. The suffix <-ability> can be traced back to the Latin <-abilis>. The word ability is derived from Latin habilis, "easy to manage" (same source as the word able)
Can we analyze further? Let's look at Etymonline.
The entry for vulnerability leads us to the entry for vulnerable, just as it did in Collins. This word joined the English lexicon somewhere around 1600, in the Modern English period. It is ultimately from a Latin noun, vulnus, "wound." This makes sense when you consider that to be vulnerable, you are exposing your "wounds."
When dealing with Latin nouns, you want to look at the genitive form in order to obtain the English base. The Etymonline entry tells us the genitive form is vulneris. If we remove the Latin genitive suffix <-is>, we are left with
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Relatives
What are the word's relatives and history?
Words that share the base vulnus can be said to make a morphological family. We already have vulnerable and vulnerability. We could attach the prefix invulnerableand invulnerability. We can also have the adverb vulnerably in our matrix.
The Etymonline entry says that vulneris is perhaps from the verb vellere, "pluck; pull." The word "perhaps" is something to be cautious of when determining a relationship. However, if it is true, we can see vulnerable has an etymological relationship to convulse, revulsion, velvet, and svelte.
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Graphemes
What can the pronunciation of the word teach us about the relationship of its graphemes and its phonology?
The liquid consonants like
The suffix <-ability> has four vowel graphemes. The first is pronounced as some call "short" . The final schwa. A schwa is the mid-central vowel. It appears in unstressed syllables.
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Next Steps
What concepts from this investigation can we explore next to learn more about the English orthographic system?
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Many teach about "parts of speech," or "word forms," but maybe how that part of speech functions might be a next step? |
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The suffixes <-able>, <-ably>, and <-ability> also have the counterparts <-ible>, <-ibly>, and <-ibility> that you might look at. (Big Idea #4) |
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Experiment with your students how the nasals and liquids affect how a vowel is pronounced. It may be different in your dialect. Especially if it's non-rhotic. |
When students see that we make mistakes and don't know all the answers, a level of trust begins to form. Turns out vulnerable wasn't just about being "hurt," but about being "open."
Stay curious,
Brad
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PS. Did the connection between vulnerability and wound shift how you might use this word with students? Hit reply and let me know how.
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