Word Families
Esperanto Word-Building
Chapter 9 · Word Families
🌳 Word Families — Vortfamilioj
Eight chapters have given you the pieces. This one shows them working together on two real families from the Reta Vortaro, san- (health) and lern- (learn). You will read each word as a short sentence of parts, notice where a derived word has taken on a meaning of its own, and meet the pitfalls that catch learners.
The san- family
| Word | Built from | Meaning (ReVo) |
|---|---|---|
| sana | san + a | healthy |
| sano, saneco | san + o; san + ec + o | health |
| sanigi | san + ig + i | to cure, to heal someone |
| saniga | san + ig + a | healthful, salubrious |
| sanilo | san + il + o | a remedy, medicine |
| malsana | mal + san + a | ill, sick |
| malsano | mal + san + o | disease, illness |
| malsanema | mal + san + em + a | prone to frequent illness |
| malsaniĝi | mal + san + iĝ + i | to fall ill |
| malsanulo | mal + san + ul + o | a sick person, a patient |
| malsanulejo | mal + san + ul + ej + o | a hospital |
| resaniĝi | re + san + iĝ + i | to recover health |
| resanigi | re + san + ig + i | to cure someone; figuratively, to reform something |
Look at malsanulejo: ill (malsan), person (-ul-, Chapter 3), place (-ej-, Chapter 4): a place for ill people, a hospital. Each affix works on everything before it. Compare remalsaniĝo from Chapter 2, which adds one more layer.
The lern- family
| Word | Built from | Meaning (ReVo) |
|---|---|---|
| lerni | lern + i | to learn |
| lernejo | lern + ej + o | a school |
| lernejano | lern + ej + an + o | a schoolchild |
| lernanto | lern + ant + o | a learner, a student |
| lernantaĉo | lern + ant + aĉ + o | a poor, unmotivated learner |
| lernema | lern + em + a | eager to learn, studious |
| lernilo | lern + il + o | a learning aid, a tutorial |
| lernebleco | lern + ebl + ec + o | learnability |
| lernigi | lern + ig + i | to make someone learn; to teach |
| ellerni | el + lern + i | to learn thoroughly, to master |
| mallerni | mal + lern + i | to unlearn, to forget |
| bazlernejo, mezlernejo | baz/mez + lern + ej + o | primary school, secondary school (compounds, Chapter 8) |
| memlernanto | mem + lern + ant + o | a self-taught learner |
The suffix -ant- in lernanto is the active present participle from Esperanto Grammar 1: someone who is learning. Chapter 5 gave you -aĉ- for lernantaĉo.
Fixed meanings and free building
Some words are exactly their parts. Others have a settled meaning that you could not predict.
| Free: you can predict it | Settled: check the dictionary |
|---|---|
| lernejano (school + member) | mallerni is "unlearn, forget", not simply the opposite of learning |
| malsanulo (ill + person) | resanigi has a figurative sense, "to reform" |
| lernema (learn + tendency) | lernigi can mean "to teach", while a separate verb instrui also exists |
Compare the family of instru- (teach): instrui (to teach), instruisto (a teacher), instruejo (a school or classroom), instruiĝi (to become educated) and malinstrui, which ReVo glosses as "to unlearn or break a habit". Here too the mal- word is a specialised sense.
Pitfalls
A method for any new word
- Remove the ending and identify the part of speech.
- Find the root, then read the affixes from the root outwards.
- Say what the parts would mean together.
- Check the dictionary: does the meaning match, or has it settled into something else?
📖 A Short Text — Mallonga teksto
Find every member of the san- and lern- families.
Mia frato
Show a translation
My brother fell ill and went to the hospital. After a week he recovered, and now he is healthy again. He has gone back to school and is very studious.
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Take apart malsanulejo one affix at a time.
Show answer
san (healthy), malsan (ill), malsanul (an ill person), malsanulej (a place for ill people), plus -o: a hospital.
2. Which means "to fall ill" and which "to recover": malsaniĝi, resaniĝi?
Show answer
malsaniĝi is to fall ill; resaniĝi is to recover (re- back + san + iĝ).
3. Build the word for "a place for learning" and for "a schoolchild".
Show answer
lernejo and lernejano.
4. What does the participle ending add in lernanto? And -aĉ- in lernantaĉo?
Show answer
-ant- makes a person who is learning; -aĉ- adds contempt: a poor, unmotivated learner.
5. Why does ReVo gloss mallerni as "unlearn, forget" instead of "the opposite of learn"?
Show answer
Because the word has a specialised meaning: mal- gives a logical opposite, and the opposite of acquiring knowledge is losing it. Treat such words as separate items.
6. Choose the right word: "a medicine" is sanilo or saniga?
Show answer
sanilo (tool for health). saniga is an adjective meaning healthful.
7. The root instru- gives instruisto. Take it apart and compare it with lernanto.
Show answer
instru + ist + o (teacher by profession); lern + ant + o (someone learning right now). -ist- is regular work; -ant- is the participle.
8. A learner writes Li elektigis libron for "He chose a book". What is wrong?
Show answer
elekti is already transitive, so -ig- adds nothing; it should be Li elektis libron.
9. Why can reprezenti not be read as "present again"?
Show answer
Its meaning (to represent) has moved away from "again", and many dictionaries treat it as a separate root.
10. Pick a root you know and write five members of its family with a one-line gloss each. Check them in ReVo.
Show answer
For example from labor-: labori (to work), laboristo (worker), laborema (hardworking), mallaborema (lazy), kunlabori (to collaborate).
Words used in this chapter
sana healthy · malsano illness · malsanulejo hospital · resaniĝi recover · sanilo remedy · lernejo school · lernanto learner · lernema studious · mallerni unlearn · instruisto teacher · semajno week · denove again