Word formation

 Word formation in linguistic it refers to the ways

in which new words are made on the basis of
other words or morphemes.
 Morphology is the study of the internal structure
of words.
 It deal with how words are formed out of smaller
units called morphemes
 It includes: (inflection and word formation)
 The key element of morphology are:
 Words, morphemes and lexicon
Con’t
 Word refers to the smallest free form found in
language
e.g. this women teaches languages
(This, women, teach and language are words)
 Morpheme is a smallest, indivisible unit of
semantic content or grammatical function which
make up words.
e.g. unkind = un – kind ( two morphemes)
Types of morpheme
1. Free morpheme
 They are capable of standing alone/
independently in a sentence.
e.g. juma is kind.
Tanzania is a good nation.
2. Bound morpheme
 They can not stand alone in a sentence.
 They need to be attached to other words.
e.g. juma is unkind
I have several books
Con’t
 Bound morphemes have two categories namely:
i. Bound lexical morphemes
They can not stand alone but carry semantic
content.
e.g. un in the word unkind means not
ii. Bound grammatical morphemes
They can not stand alone but mark grammatical
functions such as (tense and plural).
e.g. ----ed in walked mark tense.
-----s in books mark plural.
Affixes
 Affixes refers to a morpheme which only occur when
attached to some other morphemes/words.
 Affixes are bound morpheme
Types of affixes
a) Prefixes
They are attached before the root/stem/base
e.g. re-make, un-kind, il-legal, mal-nutrition
b) Suffixes
They are attached after a base/root/stem.
e.g. kind-ly, wait-er, walk-ed, child-ish.
Con’t
 Two major functional categories of affixes
a) Derivational morphemes
When attached they form new words or new form
of a word.
This is done though the following ways
Changing the meaning of the base to which they
are attached.
e.g. kind vs un- kind
Obey vs dis- obey
Con’t
 Changing the word class
e.g. kill vs kill-er
v n
Kind vs kind-ly
adj adv
 Shifting the base to different sub class within the same
broader word class.
e.g. pig (n) – piglet (diminutive noun)
Book ---- booklet
Friend (common) ---- friendship (abstract)
Leader --- leadership
Con’t
b) Inflectional morphemes
 Do not change the referential meaning
 They modify the form of a word to fit into a
particular syntactic slot.
 They also signal grammatical roles such as:
i. Number ( singular, plural)
ii. Tense (aspect and mood)
iii. Person
e.g. books --s donate plural
 It takes --s for tense
 He cooked --ed marks tense
 Good- better - best ---est for superlative
Process of forming words
 Due to invention and change every language
needs new words.
There are different process of forming words:
1. Affixation
 Is the process of forming words by attaching
some particles to the root.
 e.g. un + kind = unkind
 Il + legal = illegal
 Quick + ly = quickly
Types of affixation
i) Pre fixation
 It involves attaching some particles before the
root or stem.
 The particles are called prefixes.
e.g.in- correct
 Un- kind
 Re- write
 Im- possible
 Table showing Negative prefixes
Prefix In put meaning Out put example

In- adj not adj In- accurate

In- correct
Un- adj not adj Un-wise
Un- happy
Dis- v not v Dis-obey
Dis-like
Non- adj not adj Non-smoker
Non-scientific
a- adj Lack of, without adj a. Moral
b. sexual
Im- adj not adj Im-possible
Im-movable
Reversative prefixes
prefix input meaning output example
Un- V To reverse an action v Un- tie
Un-dress
Re- V Again, back v Re-play
Re -call

De- V Reverse the action v De-code

Opposite of De-forest

Pejorative prefixes
prefix input meaning output example
Mis- V badly V Mis –judge
Mis -lead
Mal- V Bad V Mal –practice
Mal -treat
Pseudo - V False, imitation v Pseudo-scientific
Pseudo-intellectual
Prefixes of degree
PREFIX INPUT MEANING OUTPUT EXAMPLE
Arch- N Supreme, N Arch bishop
highest Arch enemy
Supper - N Above, more N Super human
than Super tonic
Sub - N Under, lower N Sub standard
than Sub marine
Sur - N Over and N Sur base
above Sur charge
Locative prefixes
PREFIX INPUT MEANING OUTPUT EXAMPLE

Inter- V Between, among V Inter crop, inter play

N Occur, between N Intercity, inter tropical

Trans- N Across, from one N Trans-Saharan

side to another Trans-Atlantic
Intra- adj Within Adj Intra-cellular
Intra-muscular
Circum- N Around N Circum-pacific
Circum-polar
Prefixes of time
prefix Meaning examples
Fore- Occurring before, Fore tell,
earlier Fore knowledge
Pre- Occurring before, Pre independence
earlier Pre Cambrian
Post- after Post-colonial
Post consonantal
Ex- former Ex-president
Ex-soldier
Number prefixes
Prefix Meaning Examples
Un-, mono- one Unicellular
Monoculture

Bi-, di-, two Bilingual

bilateral

Tri- Three Tri cycle

triangular

Multi-, poly-, Many, more than Multibillionaire

one polygamy
CON’T
ii)Suffixes
 This involves attaching particles after the root
or stem.
 The particle is called suffixes
e.g. child + hood = childhood
Friend + ship =friendship
Teach + er =teacher
Verb forming suffix
Suffix Meaning examples
-ify Cause to be Solidify
simplify
-en Cause to be Sharpen
Cause to have lengthen
-ise Cause to be Modernize
legalize
-ate Cause to become activate

Adverb forming suffixes

Suffix Meaning Examples
-ly In a specific manner, Slowly
specified time quickly

-words That occurs, is situated Eastward

leftward
-wise In the manner of Clockwise
In the direction of crabwise
Noun forming suffixes
Suffix Meaning examples
-hood status Childhood brotherhood

-ship State or condition Friendship

leadership
-dom Domain or condition Freedom
chiefdom
-ocracy System of government Democracy
Autocracy

Noun to adjective suffixes

Suffix Meaning Examples
-an Of or belonging to Tanzanian
American
-ese Relating to, originating in a certain Japanese
place Senegalese
-full Having, full of Hopeful
powerful
-less Without, not having Careless
cloudless
Verb to noun suffixes
Suffix Meaning Examples
-ant One that perform a Accountant
specific action Informant
-ee Recipient or Employee
beneficiary Trainee
-ion State, action or Visitation
process memorization
ment Action, state Government
Entertainment
-al Action Refusal
dismissal
-ance Action or process Performance
Con’t
2. Borrowing
 It involve taking word from one language and use it in
another language.
 The borrowed words are called loan words.
 It mainly involves borrowing content words such as: noun,
adjectives, verbs and adverb.
 e.g. biology, boxer, ozone from German .
 Safari, baraza, shamba, from swahili.
 Pistol, robot,from czech.
 Alcohol, algebra, almanac from Arabic.
 Solar, stratum, dental from latin.
 El nino, embargo,huricane from spain.
Types of borrowing
i. Direct borrowing
Is when the borrowed words are the native word of
the language from which they are taken.
e.g. safari, barza, and shamba from swahili to
English.
ii. Indirect borrowing
It involve taking word from one language via
another language that uses the item as a loan word.
This is from intermediate language
e.g. banana from wolf via Spanish to English.
Con’t
3. Coinage
 Is the invention of totally new words in a
language.
 It is usually associate with new product, name,
or scientific discovery.
e.g. Xerox, Kodak, Kleenex.
4. Acronym/Initialism.
 Is the process of forming words by combining
initial letters of several words.
Con’t
 It is pronounced if consonant and vowels line up.
 e.g. NASA ( National Aerobatics and Space
Administration)
 NATO ( Northern Atlantic treaty organization)
 Rader ( radio detecting and ranging)
 They may pronounced as single word.
 Also may pronounced as a string of letters.
e.g. CD ( Compact Disc)
 UN (United Nations)
 EAC (East African Community)
Con’t
5. Compounding
 Is the process of forming new words by combining two or more
independent words.
 New words donates one thing and pronounced as a unit.
e.g. girl + friend = girlfriend,
Text + book = textbook
 The meaning of compound may be obtained from individual words.
e.g. Coconut oil ( oil made from coconut)
Olive oil ( oil made from olive)
 Meaning of compound also can be different from its parts.
 e.g. Baby oil = does not mean oil from babies
 But oil used by babies
 Honeymoon = a trip taken by a newly married couple.