Word Formation

Word formation is the creation of a new word

• It is a branch of science of the language, which studies the pattern on which a language
forms new lexical items (new unities, new words)
• It’s a process of forming words by combining root and affixal morphemes.

Different types of Word Formation

• There are 2 ways of word formation: productive and non-productive ways.
• Productive ways includes affixation, word composition, conversion, abbreviation.
• Non-productive way includes sound intercharge, stress interchange, sound imitation,
blending, back formation.

Productive Way
Affixation
• It consists of adding an affix to the stem of a definit part of speech. The main function of
suffixation is to form one part of speech from another.
• The secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech.
• Affixation is devided into suffixation and prefixation.

Prefixation
• A prefix is an affixation process that includes adding a morpheme at the beginning of the
word. There are different types: negative prefixes(unfair, non-stop), pejorative prefixes(to
misbehave), prefixes of place (Locative prefixes)(midway, transatlantic), prefixes of size,
degree and status (micro-, macro- , mini-, co-, vice-), prefixes of time and order(ex-wife,
midnight, preview), prefixes of number (mono-, poly-, semi-, tri-) and others.

Suffixation
• It is a formation of new words by adding suffixes to the stem.
• There are 5 groups of suffixation:

-Noun-forming -er, -dom, -ism

-Adjective-forming -able, -less, -ous

-Adverb- forming -ly, -ward, -wise

-Numeral- forming -teen, -ty, -fold

COMPOUNDING

• It refers to the joining of two separate words to produce a single word. The two words don't
lose their individual sounds.
o Bookcase
o Fingerprint
o Sunburn
o Doorknob
 o Basketball

CONVERSION
• This is the change of the function of the word. For example when a noun comes to be used
as a verb.
o Bag - to bag
o Back - to back
o Bottle - to bottle

ABBREVIATION

• Word groups can be shortened.

Examples:

o professor-prof.
o Fantasy-fancy.

Abbriviation can be graphical (a.m.- in the morning, i.e that is) and Initial (J.V.- joint venture, BBC,
UK, UNESCO)

Abbreviation of words consists in clipping a part of a word.

CLIPPING

• Clipping a synonym of reduction. In this process a word that has more than one syllable is
reduced to a shorter form.

Brassiere (bra)

Fanatic (fan)

Situation Comedy (sitcom)

NON-PRODUCTIVE WAY
BLENDING

• New words are formed from a word group or two synonyms by clipping the end of the first
component and the beginning of the second component.

medical + care = medicare

Spanish + English = Spanglish

Modulator + demodulator = Modem

BACKFORMATION

• or Negative derivation.
• A complex word exists first, the non-affixed form is derived later, e.g

-baby-sitter to baby-sit

-editor to edit
 SOUND IMITATION

• Other terms for sound imitation are onomatopoeia and echoism.

• Words coined by this type of word building are made by imitating different kinds of sounds
that may be produced by animals, birds, human beings and inanimate objects.

Dogs - bark
cocks - cock-a-doodle-doo
ducks - quack
cats - mew (miaow, meow)
cows - moo (low).
STRESS INTERCHANGE

• is one of the ways of word building, based on a shift of Stress.

'conduct - to con'duct

‘present - to pre’sent

‘frequent - to fre’quent