Word Formation

08/02/19
Lecture
Types of Word Formation

1. Compounding
2. Conversion
3. Clipping
4. Blends
5. Acronyms
6. Onomatopoeia
7. Eponyms
 1. Compounding
 Definition: Two or more words joined
together to form a new word.
 There are three different types of
compound words:
1. Closed form: Two words are joined
together to create a new meaning
(firefly, softball, redhead, keyboard,
makeup, notebook, pickpocket).
2. Hyphenated form: Words are joined
together by a hyphen (daughter-in-law,
over-the-counter, six-year-old).
3. Open form: Words are open but when
read together, a new meaning is formed
(post office, real estate, full moon).
Note: The meaning of a compound is not
always the sum of the meanings of its parts.

 Coconut oil  oil made from coconuts.

 Olive oil  oil made from olives.
 Baby oil  NOT oil made from babies
 cathouse  a house where men visit prostitutes
 blue-movies  a pornographic film
 blue-chip  of highest quality
 2. Conversion
 Definition: It is a kind of word
formation involving the creation of
a word (of a new word class) from an
existing word (of a different word class)
without any change in form.
 Examples
eye (N)  to eye
fool (N)  to fool
empty (N)  to empty
host (N)  to host
bottle (N)  to bottle
 3. Clipping

 Definition: Shortening a polysyllabic word

by deleting one or more syllables
 Examples:
 Facsimile  fax
 Hamburger  burger
 Gasoline  Gas
 Advertisement  Ad
 Omnibus  bus
 4. Blends

 Definition: Similar to compounds, but

parts of the words are deleted.
 Examples:
 Motor + hotel  Motel
 Breakfast + lunch  Brunch
 Wireless + Fidelity  Wi-Fi
 Hungry + Angry  Hangry
 Friend + Enemy  Frenemy
 Spoon + Fork  Spork
 6. Acronyms
 Definition: Words derived from the initials of
several words
 Examples:
 severe acute respiratory syndrome
 SARS
 Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
 SCUBA
 Other examples of Acronyms:

a) Radar a) Radio detecting and ranging

b) FYI b) For Your Information
c) TGIF c) Thanks God It’s Friday
d) a.k.a d) also known as
e) Html e) Hypertext mark-up language
f) www f) World wide web
g) SWOT g) Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats
 7. Onomatopoeia
 Definition: Words created to sound like the
thing that they name.

English Japanese Tagalog Indonesian

Cock-a-doo Kokekokko Kuk-kakauk Kukuruyuk

Meow Nya Niyaw Meong

 8. Eponyms

 Definition: Words derived from

proper names or things.
 Examples:
 Kodak
 Sandwich
 Celcius
 Find out the Compound Words
Skate Shine
Camp Berry
Butter Prints
Pan Burger
Rattle Mint
Pepper Snake
Cheese Cake
Blue Board
Sun Port
Foot Fly
Pass Fire
Thank you