WORD FORMATION

Word formation is the branch of lexicology which studies the derivative structure of existing words and the
patterns on which language builds new words. The basic ways of forming words are affixation, conversion and
compounding.

Affixation
Affixation is the formation of words by adding derivational affixes to different types of bases. Words which
consist of a root and an affix or several affixes are cold derived words or derivatives. A fixation is subdivided
into prefixation and suffixation.

Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes. Prefixes are derivational morphemes which
precede the root in the structure of the word. Prefixes may be classified on different principles. Diachronically
distinction is made between prefixes of native and foreign origin (-be, - mis, -un --- native. Dis, ex, re -- foreign).

Synchronically prefixes may be classified.

1. According to the class of words there are verb forming prefixes (enclose, befriend), noun forming
prefixes (nonsmoker, ex-husband), adjective forming prefixes (unfair, irregular), adverb-forming
prefixes (unfortunately).
2. As to the type of lexical grammatical character of debase there are deverbal prefixes (rewrite, overdo),
denominal prefixes (unbutton, ex-president), deadjectival prefixes (uneasy).
3. According to the denotational meaning there are negative prefixes (non-scientific, ungrateful, dislike,
incorrect, illegal, impolite), prefixes of time and order (foretell, pre-war, ex-president), prefects of
repetition -re (rebuild, rewrite), locative prefixes (subway, intercontinental).
4. According to their stylistic reference there are neutral and stylistic recolored prefixes. Prefixes like un,
out, re, under are unknown, oversee, underestimate are neutral. Prefixes like super, ultra are
stylistically colored (superstructure, ultraviolet).
5. Semantically prefixes can be monosemantic - having one meaning, and polysemantic - having more
than one meaning.
6. Prefixes may be also classified as to the degree of productivity into highly-productive, productive and
non-productive.

Suffixation
Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes - derivational morphemes which follow the root.

1. According to the part of speech in which the most frequent suffixes occur there are noun forming
suffixes (kingdom, kindness, teacher, creation, employee), adjective forming suffixes (unbearable,
useless, beautiful, cloudy, Irish, active), verb-forming suffixes (shorten, satisfy, realize, establish),
adverb forming suffixes (quickly, coldly, upward, likewise), numeral forming suffixes (fourteen, twofold,
seventh, sixty).
2. According to the lexical-grammatical character of the base there are deverbal suffixes added to the
verbal base (speaker, writing, agreement, suitable), denominal suffixes added to the noun (mouthful,
violinist, troublesome, handless), de-adjectival suffixes added to the adjective base (blacken, slowly,
reddish, brightness).
3. According to the criterion of sentence noun suffixes can denote the agent of an action (baker, dancer,
defendant), appurtenance (Arabian, Chinese, Japanese), collectivity (kingdom, peasantry),
diminutiveness (girlie cloudlet, wolfling).
 4. Suffixes can be those characterized by neutral stylistic reference (agreeable, dancer, meeting), those
having a certain stylistic value (rhomboid, cruciform, cyclotron).
5. Derivational affixes also undergo semantic change. The noun-suffix -er denotes:
 people following some special trade or profession (baker, driver, hunter)
 people doing a certain action at the moment in question (packer, giver, chooser)
 a device, tool, implement (boiler, traler, transmitter).

CONVERSION

Conversion is one of the most productive ways of modern English word-building. The term conversion refers to
the so cold initial forms of two words belonging to different parts of speech (love - to love, work - to work,
house - to house).

Conversion has been the subject of a great many linguistic discussions since 1891 when Henry Sweet first use
the term in his ''New English grammar". Some scholars consider that conversion is not a word-building act but a
mere functional change. From this point of view the ward "hand' in the sentence "hand me that book" is not a
verb, but a noun use in a verbal function. The case cannot be treated as word formation for no new word
appears. We accept the conception of those scholars who consider that conversion consists in making a new
word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech, the morphemic shape of the
original word remaining unchanged. The new word has a meaning which differs from that of the original one.
For instance yellow in "the leaves were turning yellow" denotes color. Yet in "The leaves yellowed" the
converted unit no longer denotes color, but the process of changing color. These two words differ in the
paradigm. Hence, we may define conversion as the formation of a new word through changes in its paradigm.
As soon as the word has crossed the category borderline, the new word automatically acquires all the
properties of the new category.

Conversion is a convenient and easy way of enriching the vocabulary with new words.

The two categories of parts of speech especially affected by conversion are nouns and verbs. Verbs made from
nouns are the most numerous amongst awards produced by conversion (to hand, to face, to eye, to
honeymoon). Nouns are frequently made from verbs (do - event, accident, go - energy, run, cut, worry).

COMPOUNDING

Compounding is a type of word building in which new words are produced by combining two or more stems.
There are at least two aspects of composition that present special interest. The first is the structural aspect.
Compounds are not homogeneous in structure. Traditionally 3 types are distinguished: neutral, morphological
and syntactic.

In neutral compounds the process of compounding is realized without any limiting elements, by amir
juxtaposition of 2 stems (blackboard, sunflower, bedroom). Neutral compounds are subdivided into three
types:

1. Simple neutral compounds that consists of simple affixless stems (sunflower, bedroom, tallboy).
2. Derived or derivational compounds which have suffixes in their structure (blue-eyed, golden-haired,
music-lover, newcomer).
3. Contracted compounds: these words have a shortened stem in their structure (TV set, V-Day, G-Man).
Morphological compounds are few in number. This type is non-productive. It is represented by words in which
two compounding stems are combined by a linking vowel or consonant (Anglo-Saxon, spokesman, statesman).

In syntactic compounds words are formed from segments of speech preserving in their structure numerous
traces of syntagmatic relations typical of speech: articles, prepositions, adverbs (mother-in-law, sit-at-home,
jack-of-all-trades know-all).

According to the semantic aspect compound words can be divided into three groups:

1. The first group seems to represent compounds whose meanings can be really described as the sum of
their constituent meanings (classroom, bedroom, reading room, dancing hall).
2. In the second group one of the components or both has changed its meaning (blackboard, lady-killer - a
man who fascinates women).
3. In the 3rd group of compounds the process of deducing the meaning of the whole from those of the
constituents is impossible. For instance lady bird is not a bird but an insect, tall boy is not a boy but a
piece of furniture. The compounds whose meanings do not correspond to the separate meanings of
their constituents are called idiomatic compounds.

The suggested subdivision into of three groups is based on the degree of semantic cohesion of the constituent
parts, the 3rd group representing the extreme case of cohesion where the constituents' meanings blend to
produce an entirely new meaning.