Lec.
7
Word-Formation Processes
To understand how new words are introduced
in a language.
To consider the processes involved in word-
formation.
To understand that some words involve more
than one word-formation processes.
How can the number words of a language be
increased? Why?
There is a regularity in the word formation
processes
Word formation processes is how new words are
created.
Etymology is the study of history and origin of
words.
By studying history of words, we can understand
how new words enter a language.
New words may cause some outrage...
1. Coinage (or word manufacturer)
2. Borrowing
3. Compounding
4. Blending
5. Clipping
6. Backformation
7. Acronyms
8. Derivation
9. Conversion
10. Dulication
11. Multiple processes
One of the least common processes
It is the invention of totally new words, refers to
the process of selecting any acceptable sequence
of sounds to name an object.
These words have no etymology.
E.g.; aspirin, nylon, vaseline, zipper, kleenex,
Xerox . Older examples: aspirin, nylon, Vaseline •
Newer examples: Kleenex, Xerox, Google
Eponyms are new words based on the name of a
person or place, such as; hoover, sandwich,
jeans, fahrenheit, volt, watt etc.
Very common process
It is the process of taking words from other
languages and use them in another.
• E.g.; dope (Dutch), lilac (Persian), piano
(Italian), sofa (Arabic), yogurt (Turkish),
alcohol (Arabic) croissant (French) etc.
Loan translation or calque is a direct
translation of the elements of a word into the
borrowing language. For instance; the English
word “skyscraper”:
◦ French: gratte-ciel “scrape-sky”
◦ Dutch: wolkennkrabber “cloud scratcher”
◦ German: wolkenkratzer “cloud scraper”
English: “superman” from German Ubermensch
English: “loan word” from German lehnwort
Chinese: “nan pengyn” from English boyfriend
Very common in English
It is the joining of two separate words to produce a
single form, there should be a syntactic link.
They could be compound nouns, Bahuvrihi compounds
and compound adjectives.
Nouns: bookcase, doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn,
textbook, waterbed, tear gas, pain-killer etc.
Bahuvrihi: cut-throat, heartthrob, hold-all
Adjectives: good-looking, low-paid,
Adjective + Noun: fastfood, fulltime
Note:
Use a hyphen if the two or more words are functioning
together as an adjective before the noun they are
describing.
E.g. That good-looking building is our home.
It is a combination of two separate forms in
which the beginning of one word is joined to
the end of another word.
They are called blends or portmanteau words.
Examples:
◦ gashol (gasoline+ alcohol)
◦ smog (smoke+ fog)
◦ Interpol (international +police
◦ bit (binary+ digit)
◦ brunch (breakfast+ lunch)
◦ Slanguage (slang + language)
◦ Guesstimate (guess + estimate)
It is when a word of more than one syllable is
reduced to a shorter form, usually used in
informal speech.
fax (facsimile), gas (gasoline) , flu (influenza),
ad (advertisement), exam (examination),
Gym (gymnastics)
Hypocorisms is a particular kind of reduction: It
is when a longer word is reduced to a single
syllabe, then –y or –ie is added to the end.
◦ movie (moving pictures)
◦ telly (television)
◦ brekky (breakfast)
It is a word of one type reduced to create a
word of another type.
Sometime the deleted part is a suffix, while in
some cases it is a part of the root.
E.g.;
◦ televise from television
◦ donate from donation
◦ babysit from babysitter
◦ backform from backformation
known as category change, grammatical class change or
function shift
It is a change in the function of a word, as:
Verbs as nouns:
◦ a guess
◦ a spy
◦ a must
Nous as verbs:
o Have you buttered the toast?
◦ He chaired the meeting.
◦ I am vacationing in London.
Phrasal verbs as nouns: A print out/ a take over
Verbs as adjectives: see-through material/ a stand-up
comedian
Adjectives as verbs: to dirty/ to empty
Prepositions as verbs: They’re going to up the price of oil.
We downed the prices.
Acronyms are new words formed from the
initial letters of a set of other words. E.g.;
◦ RADAR (radio detecting and ringing)
◦ LASAR (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
of Radiation)
Initialism: pronounced letter by letter
◦ CD (Compact Disk)
◦ ATM (automatic teller machine)
◦ UN (United Nations)
◦ BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
The most common process in English
By adding affixes:
◦ Prefixes
◦ Infixes (rare in English)
◦ Suffixes
urgent (adjective) + -cy = urgency (noun)
irresponsible (adjective) + y = irresponsibly (adverb)
national (adjective) + -ise = nationalise (verb)
contribute (verb) + ion = contribution (noun)
◦ Repeating at item with a change in the
initial consonant or medial vowel.
◦ Hanky-panky nitty-gritty
◦ Zig-zag ping-pong
It is when more than one process is used in the
creation of a certain word. E.g.;
Clipping + Derivation
Handkerchief – hanky
Nightgown – nighty
Blending + Derivation
Poromeric = porosity +polymer + ic
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