Lecture № 3

Word-formation in Modern English.

The morphological structure of a word.
Productive and non-productive ways of word-formation.
Гайдай Ірина Олегівна, в.о. завідувача кафедри педагогічних технологій та мовної
підготовки
Герасимчук Юлія Петрівна
асистент кафедри педагогічних технологій та мовної підготовки
 Words are divisible into smaller units –
morphemes
- All morphemes are subdivided into roots
(radicals) and affixes (prefixes and suffixes)

- Words consisting of a root and an affix are

derivatives

- Derived words are produced by the process of

word-building
 Word-formation

- branch of Lexicology which studies the

patterns on which the English language
builds words
- process of creating new words from
resources of the language after certain
semantic and structural formulas and
patterns
- Is one of the ways enriching vocabulary of
the language
 Main types of word-formation

 word-derivation
 word-composition
 Affixation
 Conversion
 shortening and
abbreviation
Minor types of word-formation

 sound- and
stress interchange
 back
formation
 sound
imitation
 blending
Derivational Pattern (DP)

 Is a regular meaningful arrangement, a structure

thatimposes rules on the order and the nature of
thederivational bases and affixes that may be
broughttogether.is a meaningful combination of bases and
affixesregularly reproducedindicates the grammatical part-
of-speech meaningEX verbal base ee = noun (‘one who is
V-ed’)examine ee = examinee
DPs represent the derivational structure at different levels:

structural types.
Patterns of this level are structural formulas which specify
the class membership of Immediate Constituents and the
directions of motivation
Suffixal derivatives,
Prefixal derivatives,
Conversions,
Compound words
 Structural patterns

 specify the base classes and individual

affixes which refer derivatives to specific
parts of speech
EX Adj + ish (resemblence)
c) structural –semantic patterns
specify semantic peculiarities of bases and
individual meanings of affixes
EX -ness (female)
 WORD-DERIVATION
Affixation
Conversion
 Affixation formation of words by adding derivational
affixes to bases one of the most productive ways of word-
building
 Types of Affixation:
 Affixation
 SUffixation
 Prefixation
 mixed
 SUFFIXATION
Is the formation of the words with the help of suffixes

 Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a different
part of speechSuffixes are classified into different types according to different principles
 1. according to lexico-grammatical character of the base
Deverbal suffixes (added to the verbal bases)-er, -ing, -ment, -ableDenominal suffixes
(added to nominal base)-less, - ful, -ist, -someDeadjectival suffixes (added to adjectival
base)-en, -ly, -ish, -ness
 2. According to the part of speech formed suffixes are
Noun-forming–age, -ance\ -ence, -dom, -er, -ess, -ing, -hood, -ness, -shipAdjective-
forming–able\ -ible\ -uble, -al, -ic, -ant\ -ent, -ed, --ful, -ish, -ive, -ousNumeral- forming-
fold, -teen, -ty, -thVerb-forming–ate, -er, -fy, -ize, ishAdverb-forming- ly, -ward, -wise
 3. Semantically
Monosemantic (one meaning)-ness “female” lionessPolysemantic (some meanings)-
hood“condition or quality” womanhood“collection or group” brotherhood
PREFIXATION The formation of words
with the help of prefixes
Deverbal prefixes (added to the verbal bases)
Re-, over-, out-
Denominal prefixes (added to nominal base)
Un-, de-, ex-
Deadjectival prefixes (added to adjectival base)
Un-, bi-
2. According to the class of words formed
prefixes are
Noun-forming
non-, sub-, ex-
Adjective-forming
un-, il-, ir-
Verb-forming
en- \ em-, be-, de-
Adverb-forming
un-, up-
Monosemantic (one meaning)

 3. Semantically
 Monosemantic (one meaning)
 Ex- “former” ex-husband
 Polysemantic (some meanings)
 dis-
 “not’ disadvantage
 “reversal or absence of action” diseconomy
 “removal of” to disbranch
 “Intensification of an unpleasant action” disgrantled
4. Origin of affixes
Native
 Suffixes –er, - ness, - dom, -ing, -hood, -ship, -let, -ful,-
ish, -ty, -en, - like,
 Prefixes mis-, un-, over-, be-
 Latin-able\ -ible, -ant\ -ent,- extra-, pre-, ultra-
 Greek -ist, -ism, -ite, -izeanti-, sym-\ syn-
 French–age, -ance\-ence, -ard, - ate, -ee, -ess,en-\-em
HYBRIDS are words made up of elements
derived from
 two or more different languages
 A foreign base is combined with a native affix
 EX schoolboy (Greek + English)
 A native base is combined with a foreign affix
 EX blackguard (English + French)
Productivity of affixes

 Productive affixes take part in deriving new words in modern language:

• Prefixex de-, re-, pre-, non-, un-, anti-
• Suffixes:
• Verb ize\ -ise, -ate
• Noun er\-or, -ing, - ness, -ation, -ee, -ism, -ist, -ry, -ics,
• Adjective -able, - ic, -ish, -ed, -less, -y
• Adverb ly
• Non-productive affixes are not used very often
• Noun th, -hood, -ship
• Verb en
• Adjective - ful, - some, -en, -ous
Affixation Suffixation words are formed
with the help of suffixes
 changes a part-of-speech meaning (e.g. work – worker)
 transfers a word into a different semantic group (e.g. child – childhood)
 is characteristic of noun and adjective formation
 Prefixation
 words are formed with the help of prefixes
 does not change a part-of- speech meaning (e.g. usual – unusual)
 about 25 prefixes form one part of speech from another (e.g. head – to behead)
 is characteristic of verb formation
Practice

 Add appropriate suffixes to the verbal bases to form words corresponding to the meaning
of the given sentences and analyze the process
 EX There was an (amuse) story in the paper.
Verbal base AMUSE + adjective forming suffix –ING= adj AMUSING
 He made himself (use) by handing round the coffee cups.
Verbal base USE + adj forming suffix –FUL = adj USEFUL
 The photos made him look quite (attract)
Verbal base ATRACT + adj forming suffix –IVE = adj ATTRACTIVE
 He didn’t want to meet other (appoint) to the post.
Verbal base APPOINT + noun forming suffix –EE = noun APPOINTEE
Main types of word-formation

 word-derivation
 word-composition
 Affixation
 Conversion. Conversion is a process of creating a new word from an existing word by
changing its part of speech. The morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged.
The new word acquires a meaning, which differs from that of the original one though it can
be easily associated with it. The converted word acquires a new paradigm and a new
syntactic function
 shortening and abbreviation
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