Morphology

Lecture 3
 Word-formation processes
cranberry morphemes – bound root morphemes whose distribution is restricted to just one
(compound) word

cranberry huckleberry elderberry waxberry

cranberry (? + N) huckleberry (? + N) elderberry (N + N) waxberry (N + N)

The forms ‘cran-’ and ‘huckle-’ never occur in English as independent words (free morphemes) or
even as bound morphemes – they are called cranberry morphemes
 Word-formation processes
Derivation – a morphological process that forms a word with a meaning and/or lexical category
distinct from that of its base through the addition of an affix

Some derivational morphemes of English. Complete the table with the missing information.

non- noun negation

adjective
-ity adjective changes to noun
-un verb reverses action
adjective opposite quality
-ous noun changes to adjective
re- verb repeat action
-able verb changes to adjective
We often find more than one derivational morpheme added to a word. For each of the words below,
identify the processes involved in their formation. For each process, identify the base and the attached
derivational morpheme. What is the root in each of the analysed words? Use labelled bracketings to
show the internal structure of the following words.

preshrinkage unlockable unlockable able to be

unlockable (ambiguous) unlocked
unlock lockable
unable to be
locked
un- lock -able un- lock -able

[shrink]V
prishrinkage [lock]V [lock]V
[pre-[shrink]V]V
[un-[lock]V]V [[lock]V-able]A
preshrink
[[pre-[shrink]V]V-age]N
[[un-[lock]V]V-able]A [un-[[lock]V-able]A]A
pre- shrink -age
indecipherability

indecipherability

[cipher]N
indecipherable
[de-[cipher]N]V

[[de-[cipher]N]V-able]A
decipherable
[in-[[de-[cipher]N]V-able]A]A
decipher
[[in-[[de-[cipher]N]V-able]A]A-ity]N

in- de- cipher -able -ity

 Word-formation processes
Blending – a process of reduction which involves taking only the beginning of one word and joining it
to the end of the other word

Word Derived from Word Derived from

mimsy miserable + flimsy smog smoke + fog

slithy slimy + lithe brunch breakfast + lunch

gasohol gasoline + alcohol urinalysis urine + analysis

biopic edutainment education +

biography + picture
entertainment
motel motor + hotel glitterati glitter + literati
telecast television + broadcast heliport helicopter + airport
frenemy friend + enemy compfusion computer + confusion
 Word-formation processes
Backformation – a process whereby a word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form another
word of a different type (usually a verb)

Word Derived from Word Derived from

peddle peddler babysit babysitter

enthuse enthusiasm donate donation

opt option intuit intuition

televise television assassinate assassination

burgle burglar sculpt sculptor
edit editor / edition housekeep housekeeper

If there is a noun ending in ‘-er’, then we can He was enthusing over a wonderful restaurant he’d been to.
create a verb for what the noun ‘-er’ does. He intuited that I was worried about the situation.
 Word-formation processes

Hypocorism – a reduced form of a word with ‘-y’ or ‘-ie’ added to the end

Word Derived from Word Derived from

barbie barbecue sangie sandwich

Aussie Australian prostie prostitute

hankie handkerchief mouthie mouth

movie moving pictures Chrissy pressies Christmas presents

telly television
 Word-formation processes

Acronyms – new words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words

alphabetisms – pronounced as a set of letters initialisms – pronounced as single words

DVD digital versatile disc

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

MERS Middle East Respiratory Syndrome

 Word-formation processes

some acronyms lose capital letters

laser light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

radar radio detecting and ranging

scuba self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

nimby not in my back yard

dinky dual income no kids (yet)

This followed a nimby campaign against the noise made by the wind farm.
This area is too expensive for most people to live in, but it's particularly popular with dinkies.

ATM automatic teller machine

- What’s your PIN number?
PIN personal identification number - Where is the nearest ATM machine?
Word-formation processes
 Word-formation processes
Coinage – the invention of totally new terms
kleenex ‘paper tissue, handkerchief’
vaseline (petrolatum)
jello (Jell-O)
Typical sources of coinages – invented trade
names for one company’s products which
become general terms for different brands of
these types of products
nylon (on the pattern of cotton and rayon)
teflon (tetra-fluoro-ethylene)
scofflaw
• scofflaw
- one who habitually violates the law or fails to
answer court summons
- it was the winning entry in a national contest during
Prohibition to coin a word to characterize a person
who drinks illegally
- it was chosen from more than 25,000 entries ($200
winning prize)