When you first launch the app, you see a common root
"quick chart" that you can scroll up or down in and
even filter. To filter the chart and show fewer
root word entries, tap
the chart's filter bar at the top center of the screen
and type in a few letters of the root word you
are interested in. Interested in meanings instead? No problem! Just tap
the button that says "Roots," and it will change to "Meanings" at which
point the filtered view will now be for the meanings
of root words.
Be careful not to type too many letters as you might
end up with no matches and therefore a blank screen. As
you type each letter, the filter narrows, and you can
tap the keyboard's Done button to see all your results.
Similarly, if you remember an example word but forgot
what was its applicable word root, you can tap the button
again until it says "Examples,"
and now the filtered view will be for the example words.
The default "quick chart" contains only the most common
root words, as determined at the companion site
prefixsuffix.com.
If you would like a large common root chart, tap the
Settings tab on the Tab Bar at the bottom of the screen,
then select
"More Roots" for Chart Contents. This setting will
give you approximately 30% more roots in your chart.
If your root word interests lie outside of the common
ones, do not fear! Tap Search on the Tab bar, and
you will see a message appear "Type at least two letters
in this search box above, and results will appear here."
Here the PrefixSuffix app is stealing this user's guide's
thunder -- anyway, do what it says. Type in at least
two letters into the search bar at the top of the screen,
and you will see search results not from the chart but
from the entire root word database.
As a note, the search box works almost identically to the
chart's filter except that you need at least two characters
to trigger results. (We'd show results for one character if
the view wasn't so huge as a result of the comprehensive
root word database we have assembled!)
The chart and search are independent features of the app,
so you can maintain
your position in the chart while breaking away temporarily
to do more refined searches.
To the left of some of the root word entries, you may have noticed
one or more blue letters. These are the optional classifications
as set by the PrefixSuffix.com staff: 'B' for Botany/Biology,
'C' for Chemistry, 'G' for Geology, 'M' for Medicine, 'P' for
geoPolitics, and 'Z' for Zoology. Would you like a legend? It's on
the Settings tab. Need a crutch? Just tap on a root word entry
to get its detail, and all of its classifications will be spelled out
for you.
That single bar in the screen's top left controls the summary
mode where there is only one line per word
root entry less the example words. Go ahead, tap it. See how
you get more root words on screen now? Some people prefer this
view even though you now have to tap into the details to
see the example words.
See how the single bar changed into a double bar after you tapped
it? That means that, if you tap it again (go ahead), you will
revert back to the two-line root entry view that includes
the example words.
If you need larger text, you can tap Settings on the tab bar
and slide the Text Size slider to the right. If you would
prefer smaller text and possibly more root words onto a
screen, you can move the slider to the left. You'll be able
to estimate the relative change to the font size by monitoring
the changing values of the point (pt) setting.
On the bottom of the Settings view, the Instructions button
takes you to this app's webpage and the
"go to prefixsuffix.com"
button takes you to the companion online reference which
has some additional resources and educational games.
We apologize if most of this was obvious from the app itself. We
did try to make the app self-explanatory. Our experience is that
some users like to have a one-stop guide, so here it is, or was, or
here it is for you anytime.
Anyway, enjoy the app! May it be a useful tool in your virtuous
quest for more information about the English language.
