The chameleon game: Ratio to ration to rational to rationale

Learning more about word structure and formation in English   進一步了解英語的構詞特色

T : Thomas | C : Cynthia

C: Hi Thomas. Can you show me how to turn any English word around into a new word with a new meaning?

T: Certainly. Take the word “ratio”. Do you know what it means?

C: It’s basic arithmetic. For example, the ratio of any two sides of a square is 1:1, right ?

T: Correct. Now add an “n” to this word “ratio”. What do we get?

C: It’s now “ration”. Meaning?

T: We can say “food rationing”, which was important in war times. Now add “al” to this new word “ration” - and see what we get.

C: Ah, it’s now “rational”, which is what I am, right?

T: (Thomas smiling instead of speaking) … Now add an “e” to this new word and what do we have?

C: It’s “rationale” now.

T: We’re actually on word formation in English. All we need to do is to first of all get a word root ready, and add something to its last letter, in which case it’ll be a suffix. That way, the basic meaning will be modified or even completely changed.

C: Ah, word structure and formation isn’t that complicated as I thought…  (Thomas smiling again, instead of speaking)

C: 嗨，Thomas。你能夠告訴我如何將一個英語單詞變成另一含義的新詞嗎？

T: 當然可以。以「ratio」一字為例，你知道它的意思嗎？

C: 這是基本的算術。例如正方形任何兩條邊的比例是 1：1，對嗎？

T: 正確。在「ratio」這個字上添加一個「n」。我們得到了甚麼？

C: 現在是「ration」。意思是?

T: 我們可以說「食物配給」，這在戰爭時期很重要。現在將「al」添加到「ration」後面 - 看看我們得到了甚麼?

C: 啊，現在是「rational」（理性），這就是我，對吧？

T: （Thomas笑而不語）⋯⋯在這個新詞後面加上一個「e」，我們又得出甚麼？

C: 現在是「rationale 」（理由）。

T: 我們剛觸及英語構詞。我們需要做的就是首先準備好一個詞根， 然後在其最後一個字母中添加一些字母，在這種情況下，它就是後綴。這樣，基本含義就會被修正甚至完全改變。

C: 原來英語構詞不是我想像中那麼複雜。（Thomas 再次笑而不語）