CHAPTER 3: WORD-BUILDING

Questions / Topics Main ideas / Details

I. OVERVIEW
Morpheme: - the small word
- don’t occur as free form but only as constituents
of words.
- possess meanings.
Ex: farmer unhappy
- All morphemes are subdivided into two large
classes:
+ Root
+ Affixes ( prefix, suffix)
1. Root words 1. have only a root morpheme in its structure
2. represented by a great number of words belonging to the
original English stock or to earlier borrowings.
3. in Modern English, it has been enlarged by conversion.
Ex: house, book, tree, plant, plan,..
2. Derived words 1.consist of a root and an affix (or several affixes).
Ex: Worker(work is root and –er is affix, particularly suffix)
2. are produced by the process of word-building known as
affixation (or derivation)
3. are extremely numerous in the English vocabulary.
Ex: happiness, teacher, wonderful, …
3. Compound words 1. consisting of two or more stems.
2. are produced by the word-building process called
composition.
Ex: dancing-hall, dancing-partner, mother-in-law, …

4. Shortenings 1. the somewhat odd-looking words

2. are produced by the way of word-building
Ex: pram(Parallel Random Access Machine) , M.P (Military
Police), lab(laboratory),…
5. Affixation 1. What are affixes?

 Affixes are bound morphemes that can be added before or

after a word to form a new word and modify the meaning of
this word.

+ include prefixes and suffixes

2. What is a prefix? What is a suffix?

What is the difference between prefixes and suffixes?

 - A prefixe is bound morpheme that can be added before a

word to form a new word. It doesn’t change part of speech.

- A suffix is bound morpheme that can be added after a word to

form a new word. It rarely changes part of speech.

- Difference:

+ Prefix: added before a word ( Ex: unhappy, impossible,

incorrect,..)

+ Suffix: added after a word ( Ex: careful, actor, studying,…)

3. What is affixation? Characteristic features.

Classification of affixation

 Affiixation is the process of affixation consists in coining a

new word by adding an affix or several affixes to some root
morpheme.

- Characteristic features:

+ consider certain facts about the main types of affixes.

+ are specific and considerably differ from those of root

morphemes

- Classification: base on
 origin

 Native affixes

+ Noun-forming: -er, -ness, -ing, -dom, -hood, -ship, -th

Ex: Farmer, loneliness, meaning, freedom, childhood,

friendship, length,...

+ Adjective-forming: -ful, - less, - y, -ish, - ly, - en, -some

Ex: beautiful, cloudless, snowy, childish, likely, golden,

handsome,…

+ Verb-forming: -en

Ex: darken, sadden,..

+ Adverb-forming: -ly,

Ex: hardly, simply,…

 Latin affixes

+ Nouns: suffix –ion, surffix –tion

Ex: Communion, opinion, relation, revolution,…

+ Verbs: suffix –ate, suffix –ute, remnant suffix –ct,

remnantsuffix –d (e), prefix dis-

Ex: congratulate, contribute, act, divide, disagree,…

+ Adjective: suffix –able, -ate (it), -ant, -ent, -or, -al, -ar

Ex: curable, accurate, important, absent, major, maternal,

solar,…

 French affixes

+ Nouns: -ance, -ence, -ment, -age, - ess

Ex: endurance, intelligence, appointment, marriage, actress...

+ Adjectives: -ous

Ex: dangerous, serious, …

+ Verbs: en-

Ex: enable, enact,…

 Greek affixes

+ Nouns:

 Suffix: -logy, -tomy

Ex: bacteriology, anatomy, …

 Prefix: dys-, eu-, hyper-, macro-, micro-, phil-

Ex:dysentery, eugenics, hypertension, macrophone,

microphone, philanthropist,…

+ Adjective: hetero-, a-(an-), homo-

Ex: heterogenous, amoral (anomalous), homogenous,…

 semantic (meaning)

 Negative and positive preffixes

Ex:+ anti- (means against): antisocial, antonym
+ de- (means opposite, reduce): decrease, degrade
+ mis- (means wrong, mistakenly): misinform, misspell
……..
 Prefixes of Location
Ex: + ex- (means out): export, exile
+ re/retro- (means back): return, retroactive, …
+ trans- (means across): transplant, translate,…
……..
 Prefixes of time or order
Ex: + post- (means after): postpone, postgraduate,…
+ pre- (means before): premature, preliminary,…
+ prime- (means first): primary, primitive,…
………..

 Prefixes of size
Ex: + equi- (means equal): equi-distant, equivalent,…
+ maxi- (means big): maximum, maximal,…
+ mini- (means little, small): miniproject, minibus,…
……….
 Prefixes of number
Ex: + semi- (means half, partly): semicircle, semicolon,…
+ mono- (means one/single): monoculture, monotone,…
+ multi- (means many): multiform, multicolored,…
……..

 functions

- Noun-forming suffixes :
+ -ance ( means state): performance, attendance,..
+ -ence (means quality of): independence, confidence,…
+ -er (means a person who or): interpreter, writer,…
+ -or (means a thing which): translator, actor,…
+ -ness (means condition of): cleanliness, happiness,…
……..

- Verb-forming suffixes
+ -ize : computerize, modernize,…
+ -ate : automate, activate,…
+ -fy : simplify, electrify,…
+ -en : harden, widen,…

- Adverb-forming suffixes
+ -ly (means in the manner of): electronically, logically,…
+ -ward (s) (means motion toward): downward, homeward,..
+ -wise (means direction or manner): clockwise, likewise, …
- Adjective-forming suffixes
+ -ic (means have the quality of): automatic, magnatic,…
+ -able (means capable of being): changeable, comparable,…
+ -ful (means characterized by): helpful, careful,…
………….

 part of productivity

 Productive affixes: which take part in deriving new words in

this particular period of language development.
+ Noun-forming suffixes: -er, -ing, -ness, -ism, -ist, -ance

Ex: farmer, meaning, happiness, tourism, journalist,

appearance,..
+Adjective-forming suffixes: -y, -less, -able, -ish, -ed

Ex: snowy, loneliness, comparable, childish, ..

+ Adverb-forming suffix: -ly

Ex: hardly, ..
+ Verb-forming suffixes: -ise, -ize, -ate

Ex: computerize, automate,..

+ Prefixes: un-, re-, dis-

Ex: unhappy, return, dishonest,..

 Non-productive affixes:
+ Noun-forming suffixes: -th, -hood
Ex: length, childhood, …
+ Adjective-forming suffixes: -ly, -some, -ous, -en
Ex: friendly, handsome, dangerous, darken,…
+ Verb-forming suffix: -en
Ex: whiten, redden,..

4. What is prefixation? Characteristic features.

Classification of prefixes.

 - Prefixation is the formation of words by means of adding a

prefix to the stem.

- Characteristic features:

+ Change the meaning : honest -> dishonest

+ Keep the part of speech: honest (adjective) -> dishonest

(adjective)

- Classification

 According to the meaning

 Negative and positive prefixes (un-, in-, mis-, dis-, non-)

Lucky - unlucky

Honest - dishonest

Sense - nonsense

Understand - misunderstand

 Prefixes of location: + ex- (means out): export, exile

+ re/retro- (means back): return, retroactive, …

+ trans- (means across): transplant, translate,…

 Prefixes of time and order:

+ post- (means after): postpone, postgraduate,…

+ pre- (means before): premature, preliminary,…

+ prime- (means first): primary, primitive,…

 Prefixes of size

+ equi- (means equal): equi-distant, equivalent,…

+ maxi- (means big): maximum, maximal,…

 + mini- (means little, small): miniproject, minibus,…

 Prefixes of number

+ semi- (means half, partly): semicircle, semicolon,…

+ mono- (means one/single): monoculture, monotone,…

+ multi- (means many): multiform, multicolored,…

 According to their origin

- Native: be-, mis-, un-, over-

Ex: behavior, misspell, untie, overall, ..

- Borrowed: dis-, ex-, super-, re-

Ex: dishonest, export, supervise, return, …

 According to productivity

+ Productive: can be used synchronically to create a neww

word.

+ Non-production: cannot be used synchronically to create a

new word.

5. What is suffixation? Characteristic features.

Classification of suffixes.

 - Suffixation is the formation of words by means of adding a

suffix to the stem.

- Characteristic features:

+ Change the part of speech

+ Change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech.

- Classification:
 According to the part of speech (function)

+ Noun-forming suffixes : -er, -or, -ing, -tion, -ness, -ist

Ex: worker, actor, studying, conversation, happiness,

journalist,…

+ Adjective-suffixes: -able, -ish, -ed, -less, -y, etc

Ex: comfortable, selfish, bored, cloudless, snowy, …

+ Verb-suffixes: -ize, -en, -fy, etc

Ex: organize, darken, identify, ….

+ Adverb-suffixes: -ly, -ward(s), -wise, etc

Ex: hardly, homeward, otherwise, …

 According to their origin

+ Native suffixes: -dom, -ed, -hood, -less, -ness, -ship

Ex: freedom, childhood, carefulness, friendship, bored,

loneliness, ..

+ Borrowed suffixes:

 Latin: -able, -ent

Ex: comparable, independent,….

 French: -age, -ance, -ate, -sy

Ex: marriage, appearance, articulate, noisy,…

 Greek: -ist, -ism, -ite

Ex: journalist, organism, website, ..

 According to productivity

- Suffixes can be productive and non-productive

 + Productive: can be used synchronically to create a neww
word.

+ Non-production: cannot be used synchronically to create a

neww word.

6. What are inflectional affixes?

 Inflectional is an adjective that refers to the formation of a

new form of the same word through inflectional affixes.

In English, only suffixes are inflectional.

7. What are derivational affixes?

 Derivational is an adjective that refers to the formation of a

new word from another word through derivational affixes.

In English, both prefixes and suffixes are derivational..

8. What is derivation? What is inflection?

What is the difference between inflection and derivation?

 There are two main types of affixng processes: inflection and

derivation

- Inflection: a grammatical process which produces alternative

forms of the same lexeme.

- Derivation: the morphological process of forming a new word

from an existing one by the addition of a bound morpheme.

- Difference: inflection produces new forms of a single lexeme,

while derivation produces new lexeme.

II. CONVERSION
6. Conversion 1. is an affixless way of word-building or even affixless
derivation.
2. Conversion is the formation of a new word in a different part
 of speech without adding any element.
3. Conversion is also called “functional change” or “zero
derivation”.
Ex: lecture (n) => to lecture (v)
hand (n) => to hand (v)
to drop out (v) => a drop out (n)
3.1 What is the difference between the words in each pairs?
- Morphological: the verb “ to hand”, for example, has a new
paradigm (the system of forms)
hand (v) - hands -handed -handing
hand (n) - hands
- Syntactic: the function of “ to hand” is new, it is predicate:
“ he handed me a watch”
“ My hands are dirty”
- Semantics: the verb “ to hand” has a completely new
meaning: to give, to pass something to… but “ hand” is part of
the body.
3.2 Classification of conversion
- Complete conversion
+ water (n) => to water (v)
+ slow (adj) => to slow (v)
- Partal conversion
+ Conversion with sound gradation or stress shift
graduate (v) - graduate (n)
‘progress (n) - to pro’gress (v)
‘record (n) - to re’cord (v)

+ Conversion with shift of meaning

native (adj) - a native (n)
wrong (adj) - to wrong (v)

+ Conversion with vowel or consonant gradation

food (n) - feed (v)
blood (n) - bleed (v)
sing (v) - song (n)
live (v) - life (n)

7. Composition
 COMPOSITION

1. What is a compound?
- A compound is a word that is produced by the process of
composition.

Example: Boyfriend, household, grandfather, living room,

long-term, short-term.

2. What is compounding or composition?

- Composition: is a type of word-building in which new words
are produced by combining two or more stems. Composition is
one of the three most productive types in Modern English; the
other two are conversion and affixation.

- Composition is the process of creating compound words.

Example: Black + bird => Blackbird ( closed compound word)

Ice + cream => Ice cream (open compound word)

Mother + in + law => Mother -in-law (Hyphenated

compound word)

3. The characteristics of compounds.

- The first element modify the second element.

Example: boyfriend – 'boy' modifies 'friend'

- The stress is usually on the first element

Example: boyfriend – "boy' is stressed.

4. Classification of compounds
- In structural aspect, compounds are classified 3 types:

+ Neutral compounds:

Mere juxtaposition of 2 stems

 Compounds without any linking elements

There are 3 subtypes of neutral compounds depending on

the structure of the constituent stems.

 Simple neutral compounds: consist of affixes

stems
e.g. living room, watermelon

 derivational compounds (derived compounds):

have affixes in their structure.
e.g. narrow-minded

 contracted compounds: have a shortened

(contracted) stem in their structure.
e.g. E-learning, email

+ Morphological compounds: This type is non-productive.

Examples: spokesman, handiwork.

+ Syntactic compounds: mother-in-law, up-to-date, etc.

- In Semantic aspect (meaning), compounds are divided into 2

types:

+ Non-idiomatic compounds: Meaning of the compound is

the sum of its constituent meanings. e.g. Classroom, bedroom,
sleeping-car.

+ Idiomatic compounds: Meanings of the compounds do not

correspond to the separate meanings of their constituent parts.

e.g. football, pickpocket, ladybird, butter-fingers.

- In part of speech aspect

+ Compound nouns: door-handle, lady-killer, black-board,…
+ Compound adjectives: hot-tempered, easy-going, up-and-
coming!
 + Compound verbs: whitewash, team-teach,..
+ Compound adverbs: whole-heartedly, self-confidently,
therein, herein
+ Compound prepositions: onto, into,…

5. How to distinguish between free word groups and

compounds?
A compound can be distinguished by:

- The graphic criterion (spelling)

e.g. a black bird and a blackbird

- The semantic criterion (difference in the meanings of the word

and the word-group) e.g. 'a black bird' is a bird whose color is
black. "blackbird' is the name of a series of bird.

- The phonetic criterion (stress): e.g. 'black 'bird, 'blackbird

- The morphological and syntactic criteria: In a word group

each of the constituents is independently open to grammatical
changes peculiar to its own category as a part of speech.

E.g. I think that is the blackest bird.

Between the constituent parts of the word-group other words

can be inserted.

e.g. I like that black wood bird.

8. Shortening 1. or contracted or curtailed words are produced.

8.1 The first-clipping 1.1 is way of wordbuilding which make a new word from a
syllable(rarer, two) of the original word. The latter may lose
+ its beginning as in phone made from telephone ( initial
clipping)
+ its ending as in lab from laboratory (final clipping)
+ both the beginning and ending as in flu from influzena
(initial-final-clipping)
 + the medial part as in maths from mathematics (medial-
clipping)

8.2 Abbreviation * way of wordbuilding and it’s also a type of shortening which
make a new word from the initial letters of a group

1.2 What is the difference between abbreviation and

acronym?
- When initialisms are pronounced of the names of letters of the
alphabet, they may be called alphabetisms or abbreviations.
- But when they pronounced like individual lexical items, they
are acronyms.

Ex: - alphabetisms: AI, ATV, VIP, BP,…

- acronyms: laser, scuba, AIDS, ROM, RAM, NATO,
UNESCO,…

1.3 is way of wordbuilding and a special type of shortening in

which parts of words merge into one to form a new word.
8.3 The third-blending Ex: smoke + fog = smog
channel +tunnel = chunnel

binary + digit = bit

9. Minor types of
modern word-building
9.1 Onomatopoeia 1. Words coined by this interesting type of word-building are
(echoeism) made by imitating different kinds of sounds that may be
produced by animals, insects, human beings and inanimate
objects. ( Ex: crow, cuckoo, cricket, humming-bird, …)
9.2 Reduplication 2.1 a morphological device by which a new word is coined by
repeating the entire word.

2.2 Classification

- Boubling the stem ( without any phonetic change or with a

 variation of the root-vowel or consonant)
+ Ex: bye-bye, ping-pong, chit-chat

- Informal
9.3 Back-formation + Ex: walkie-talkie, riff-raff, chi-chi,…
(Reversion)
3.1 a morphological device whereby a new word is coined from
an existing one by removing actual or supposed affixes

3.2 The verb was made from the noun by subtracting ( instead
of a noun made from a verb by affixation, a verb was produced
from a noun by subtraction. (Ex: beggar-burglar, cobble-
cobbler, work-worker, …)