The lexical family or word family, as it is also known, is an excellent resource for children to expand their vocabulary. Not only does it help them learn new words, but it also helps them learn about different related concepts and meanings that they may not have known. In addition, it is a good resource to motivate them to know the origin of each term, while stimulating their creativity during writing, allowing them to use different words to refer to the same concept.

Obviously, the first step for children to take advantage of these advantages is to explain to them what a lexical family is. Ideally, you use simple terms, adapted to the level of child development, and teach them step by step everything they need to take into account when working with lexical families. To make your job easier, we explain it quickly and easily. If your child tells you something… listen with all your senses!.

What is a lexical family?

Basically, a lexical family is a set of words that share the same root or lexeme, which is nothing more than the part that remains unchanged. In other words, a lexical family is understood as that group of words that derive from a term and whose meanings are related to each other. Its main parts are the lexeme and the morpheme.

As we have mentioned, the lexeme is the root of the word, that is, the part that contains the essence of the meaning. Instead, the morpheme is the part of the word that changes, that is, the prefixes, suffixes or interfixes that are added to the root and that give rise to a new term. A trick to learn to identify the lexeme and the morpheme is to pay attention to their meaning, in general, the lexeme by itself has a meaning while the morpheme has no meaning.

Unlike the semantic field and the lexical field, in which the words are related to each other because they share a semantic link, that is, they refer to the same topic, even if they do not share the same root, in the lexical family this link is essential . , even if the meanings differ somewhat from the main stem.

Primitive and derived words in the lexical family

The lexical family is classified into primitive and derived words. As its name indicates, the primitive word is the one that gives rise to new words, that is, it is the “original” word, so they contain the most semantic information. For example, in the case of the lexical family pan, baker, bakery, panera, panificar and panecillo , the primitive word is pan .

On the other hand, a derived word is understood as one that is formed from a primitive word, that is, that shares its root, so that it is closely related in terms of meaning. For example, in the lexical family flower, vase, florist, florist, florist, bloom, and floral , derived words are all those that include an added morpheme, i.e., vase, florist, florist, florist, bloom, and floral .

50 examples of lexical family

A simple way for children to master what a lexical family is and understand the difference between primitive and derived words is to offer them different examples, either to complete the lexical families themselves or to analyze the relationship between words.

  1. Blue: blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue, blue and blue.
  2. Student: students, study, studied, studied, student, student, student body, student, student, study, studiously, studiousness and studious.
  3. Hand: hands, little hands, big hands, slap, slap, slap, smack, smack, slap, bunch and mitten.
  4. Mouth: puff, abocar, mouth, bite, gape, sandwich, mouth, mouth open and mouthpiece.
  5. Sport:  athlete, sports, sports, sportsmanship and unsportsmanlike.
  6. Sponge: spongy, sponginess, spongiosity and spongiform.
  7. Running: runner, runners, running around, running around, running around and running around.
  8. Dance: dancer, dance, danceable, dancer, dancer and dancer.
  9. Fruit:  fruity, fruit bowl, fruit, greengrocer, fruity, fruit, fruit grower, fruit grower and fruit.
  10. Sea:  sailor, maritime, tidal wave, tide, marine, tidal wave, submarine, diving, high seas and overseas.
  11. Salt:  salt shaker, salt, salt, salt, salad, desalt, salting, salary, salinity, saltpeter and brine.
  12. War: guerrilla, warrior, guerrilla, brave and war.
  13. Color: colorful, coloring, coloration, colorada, colorado, color, color, rouge, colorín, colorcito, colorista and colorismo.
  14. Paint: painting, painter, painters, little paint and painted.
  15. Sun:  solar, sunny, sun, sunflower, insolar, mirasol, parasol, resolana and solano.
  16. Earth:  terrestrial, alien, land, terrain, unearth, banish, banish, territory, bury, underground, embankment, earthen, earthling, and landowner.
  17. Zapato:  shoemaker, shoemaker, shoemaker, shoemaker, shoemaker and shoemaker.
  18. Soap:  soap dish, soap, unsoap and soapy.
  19. Medical: medicine, medicate, self-medicate, overmedicate, medicate, medication, medicate, medicate, medicated, medicastro and medicinal.
  20. Art: artistic, craftsman, artisan, handicraft, artist and artificial.
  21. Market: merchandise, flea market, merchant, marketing and libremercadista.
  22. Tree: grove, arborist, treeless, little tree, tree, arboreal, arborescent, arboreal, arboriculturist, arboriculture, arborescence and hoist.
  23. Paper: wastebasket, stationery and paperwork.
  24. Skilful: skilful, skill, enable, skilful and enabled.
  25. Horse: cavalry, hair, hair, gentleman and chivalrous.
  26. Natal: birth, birth, prenatal and perinatal.
  27. Sorcerer: witchcraft, witchcraft, witchcraft, bewitch, bewitching and witchcraft.
  28. Herb: herbivore, herbalist, weeding, weed, herbalist, herbage, herbajero, mint and herbalist.
  29. Grain: barn, threshing, hail, granar and grained.
  30. Emprende: undertake, entrepreneur, undertook, company and businessman.
  31. Labor: labor, laborious, laborable, laborante and laborear.
  32. Break: broken, broken, brittle, broken and broken.
  33. Scrape: scrape, scrape, scrape, scraper, and scrape.
  34. Factory: manufacturer, manufacturer, manufacture and manufacture.
  35. Ego: selfishness, egocentric, egomaniac, selfish and egomaniac.
  36. Jump: jump, jumper, jumped, jumper and grasshopper.
  37. Pasture: grazing, shepherdess, pastoral and grassland.
  38. Leaf: leaf through, leaf through, defoliate and puff pastry.
  39. Heat: hot, hot, heated and calorie.
  40. Cooperate: cooperative, cooperativism, cooperative, cooperative and cooperation.
  41. Speak: speak, spoken, talkative, talkative, talkative, talkative and spoken.
  42. Content: container, container, contains, contain and subcontent.
  43. House: little house, mansion, mansion, farmhouse, landlord, mansion, booth and box.
  44. Artery: arterial, arteriosclerosis, arteriography, arteriole, arteriology, and arteritis.
  45. America: American, Americanist, South American, North America, North American, South America, Hispanic American, Central America, and Latin American.
  46. Walk: walk, walk, road, walker, walking and path.
  47. Child: little boy, babysitter, childhood, childishness, childish and childish.
  48. Ball: ballplayer, ball, rally, rally and ball.
  49. Person: personal, character, personality, personalism, personalistic, personalization, personalize, personify, personification and personify.
  50. Paste: paste, stuck, sticky, stickiness, stickiness, sticky and glue.