Greek and Latin Roots: Part II - Greek

Reviewed by Sydnor Roy, Assistant Professor of Classics, Marshall University on 1/12/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book is the second book in the series Greek and Latin Roots for Science and the Social Sciences. The series offers an overview of how English vocabulary was influenced by both Latin (Part I) and Ancient Greek (Part II) and guides students in recognizing and analyzing English word formation from these languages. Part II provides a strong introduction to Ancient Greek’s influence on English, with the unusual but welcome choice to teach students the basics of the Greek alphabet, its pronunciation, and transliteration (i.e. how Greek is rendered into the Roman alphabet). It covers essential Greek roots, explains important prefixes and suffixes, and offers a useful appendix of vocabulary tables at the end. The book, however, lacks an index, which may be frustrating to students hoping to look up or review specific words or roots. The book makes frequent references to Part I – Latin, but with guidance can stand alone. While the series title suggests that these books will focus on English vocabulary prevalent in the sciences and social sciences, it focuses more on standard English vocabulary; only Chapters 20 (Numerals in Greek and Latin) and 23 (Some Medical Terminology) might be viewed as serving this purpose.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content presented is accurate and error-free except for one significant typo in Chapter 22, p. 76. The Greek provided (< ποιν-, “make”; cf. ποιν-της >) should read ποιε- and ποιη-της. This mistake makes the connection Smith wants his readers to see harder to grasp.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

While the content presented will not become outdated, the range of what is covered is at risk of becoming so. An additional chapter on technological terms, especially those that have become significant in the 21st century, would be a welcome addition and easy to accomplish given the format. The cultural references in the text will largely be unrelatable to most students, but they are few and far between.

Clarity rating: 4

Smith writes in a clear and gently humorous style; he makes use of complex vocabulary but makes it clear, usually through italics, that these words are from roots he expects readers to recognize or learn about. This practice, however, can occasionally go too far, especially early in the book before students have been exposed to roots that will help them decode these words. A glossary or index would ameliorate this issue. Smith uses Canadian/British spelling.

Consistency rating: 5

Smith’s organization and writing are consistent across chapters; students will quickly become familiar with how to navigate each unit.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is divided into manageable chapters and subsections, although instructors should plan to spend more time on the initial chapters “The Greek Language” (chapter 15) and “Compound Words in Greek” (Chapter 17). Chapter numbers continue from Part I - Latin, with Chapter 15 as the first chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Smith chooses to begin the book with an introduction to the Greek language – the history of its influence, the alphabet and pronunciation, and an explanation of transliteration – which is more comprehensive than other books that cover Greek and Latin roots in English. He organizes the chapters that follow by Greek grammatical divisions such as nouns (by declension), adjectives, prefixes, and verbs. In each of these sections, Smith explains how Greek (and thus often English) uses suffixes to transform these types into other parts of speech. As a professor of Ancient Greek, I appreciated this organization, but it is my sense that students and other instructors may prefer thematically organized chapters, like the final one on medical terminology, especially for stand-alone Etymology courses. The structure of the book makes it an especially useful supplemental text for an Introductory Ancient Greek language course, which is how I intend to use it.

Interface rating: 5

The online version of the text is easy to navigate, especially using the drop-down table of contents. Neither the online nor the downloadable versions showed any distortions in the text or charts.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no significant grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text is generally free from bias, although some small comments relating to “modern feminism” (Chapter 16, p 22) and the persistence of misogyny (Chapter 16, p. 32) may come across as condescending to some readers.

Comments

Greek and Latin Roots Part II: Greek provides students with an excellent and accessible introduction to the influence of Ancient Greek on the English language. It also provides students with the tools to break down English words in order to better identify those roots. Alongside Part I: Latin, this book provides a good basis for a Latin and Greek Etymology course, although the instructor would need to do more work to make it specific to the sciences and social sciences. The focus on the history, structure, and pronunciation of both languages provides a fascinating basis for students to build upon, but the Introduction to the Greek Language chapter may prove daunting to instructors not already familiar with Ancient Greek. This series should prove to be invaluable supplementary texts for instructors of Latin and Greek who are interested in incorporating English vocabulary building into their language courses.