There are four main kinds of word formation: prefixes, suffixes, conversion and compounds.
Prefixes
We add prefixes before the base or stem of a word.
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examples |
prefixes |
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monorail, monolingual |
mono— means ‘one’ |
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multipurpose, multicultural |
multi— means ‘many’ |
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post-war, postgraduate |
post— means ‘after’ |
|
unusual, undemocratic |
un— means ‘not’ or ‘opposite to’ |
Suffixes
We add suffixes after the base or stem of a word. The main purpose of a suffix is to show what class of word it is (e.g. noun or adjective).
|
examples |
suffixes |
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terrorism, sexism |
-ism and -dom are used to form nouns |
|
employer, actor |
-er and -or are used to form nouns to describe people who do things |
|
widen, simplify |
-en and -ify are used to form verbs |
|
reasonable, unprofitable |
-able is used to form adjectives |
|
unhappily, naturally |
-ly is a common suffix used to form adverbs |
Conversion
Conversion involves the change of a word from one word class to another. For example, the verbs to email and to microwave are formed from the nouns email and microwave:
Can you text her? (verb from noun text, meaning to send a text-message)
They are always jetting somewhere. (verb from noun jet)
If you’re not careful, some downloads can damage your computer. (noun from verb download)
OK, so the meeting’s on Tuesday. That’s a definite. (noun from adjective)
It’s a very big if and I’m not at all sure we can afford it. (noun from conjunction, meaning ‘it’s not at all certain’)
All companies have their ups and downs. (nouns from prepositions)
We also use conversion when we change a proper noun into a common noun:
Has anybody seen my Dickens? (copy of a book by Dickens)
Compounding
When we use compounding, we link together two or more bases to create a new word. Normally, the first item identifies a key feature of the second word. For example, the two bases back and ache can combine to form the compound noun backache, and the two bases post and card combine to form the compound noun postcard.
Compounds are found in all word classes. The most common types of compounds are: Nouns: car park, rock band
Adjectives: heartbreaking, sugar-free, airsick
Verbs: oven-bake, baby-sit, chain-smoke
Adverbs: good-naturedly, nevertheless
It is sometimes difficult to know where to put hyphens in words that are compound ed. It is also difficult to know whether to separate words (e.g. post box) or to join the words (e.g. postbox). In such cases, it is best to check in a good learner’s dictionary.
Abbreviation
Abbreviation involves shortening a word. We do this in three main ways: clipping, acronyms and blends.
We use clipping when we shorten or ‘clip’ one or more syllables from a word. We also commonly clip proper names for people:
ad: advertisement, advert
lab: laboratory
Matt: Matthew
Acronyms are a type of abbreviation formed when the initial letters of two or more words are combined in a way that produces consonant and vowel sequences found in words. Acronyms are normally pronounced as words:
RAM: random access memory (RAM is a term used to describe a computer’s memory.)
Initials are similar to acronyms but are pronounced as sets of letters, not as words:
WHO: World Health Organisation, pronounced W–H–O
CD: compact disc, pronounced C–D
We form blends when we combine parts of existing words to form a new word:
blog: blend of web and log
motel: blend of motor and hotel
smog: blend of smoke and fog
Back-formation
We form words with back-formation when we remove part of a word, usually something which we think is a suffix (or occasionally a prefix). We do this commonly when we form verbs from nouns.
For example: to liaise (back-formed from the noun liaison); to intuit (back-formed from the noun intuition), to enthuse (back-formed from the noun enthusiasm):
Can you liaise with Tim and agree a time for the meeting, please?
She’s always enthusing about her new teacher.
Loan words and new words
Loan words
Loan words are words that are borrowed from other languages. Some recent loan words for food taken from other languages include: sushi, tapas, chapatti, pizza. When we use loan words, we do not normally change them, though we do sometimes inflect them if they are singular countable nouns (pizzas, chapattis). We also sometimes pronounce them more like English words, instead of using their original pronunciation.
New words
Some prefixes are commonly used to create new words. In modern English the prefix e- is used to create new words that are connected with the Internet and the use of the Internet:
e-bank, e-cards, e-commerce, e-learning
Almost any noun may potentially combine with any other noun to form new noun compounds (e.g. computer virus, carbon footprint, quality time).
Grammar > Words, sentences and clauses > Word formation
There are four main kinds of word formation:
prefixes (unusual, multipurpose)
suffixes (employer, reasonable)
conversion (email, microwave — verbs from nouns)
compounds (backache, easy-going)
Click on a topic to learn more about word formation.
Word formationPrefixesSuffixesCompoundsAbbreviations, initials and acronyms-ish and -yDiminutives (-let, —y and mini-)Hyphens
1.Что такое словообразовательные словари
В основе словообразовательных словарей лежит морфемный принцип. В них лексика группируется по отношению к одному и тому же корню и логически соотносится друг с другом в зависимости от использованных дополнительных морфем. Словообразовательный словарь – такой словарь, где однокоренные слова группируются в одном месте. Это позволяет отслеживать как изменение слова с течением времени, в том числе формирование новой лексики в структуре развития языка, так и учить слова тематически, общим пластом однокоренной лексики.
2. Кому пригодятся английские словообразовательные словари
Английские словообразовательные словари в первую очередь полезны студентам лингвистических и филологических учебных заведений, изучающим современное языкознание в той или иной форме. Поскольку главное предназначение английского справочника – анализ развития слова от того или иного корня с использованием тех или иных приставок – то немаловажную роль такой словарь сыграет в обучении студента-лингвиста.
Список специальностей, изучение которых потребует работы с английским словообразовательным словарем, следующий:
- переводчик;
- лингвист;
- языковед (в этом случае английский словообразовательный словарь пригодится даже тем студентам, у которых в программе нет иностранных языков, а речь идет исключительно об российской современной лингвистике, поскольку примеры в нем наглядны, и легко переносятся на языковую практику других стран);
- студент, изучающий английскую литературу;
- студент, изучающий историческое развитие английского языка.
3. Как пользоваться такими словарями
Методика использования словарей разительно различается в зависимости от конечной цели или направления учебной программы, в рамках которой используется английский этимологический словарь.
Очевидная методика – поиск нужного слова, опираясь на корень, и уже по корню следуя к гнезду развития слова. Здесь берут поморфемный разбор слова и, при необходимости, соотнести с другими, отслеживая развитие морфемной структуры английского словообразования.
Отличаются словари словообразования тем, что поиск в них надо вести по основному корню слова, а не по первой букве, как в обычных справочников. Однако в появляющихся онлайн словарях словообразования, в том числе и англоязычных запрашивается конкретное слово и по нему переходят на гнездо корня. Использовать сам корень при этом не требуется.
4. Словообразовательный словарь английского языка онлайн
Словообразовательных онлайн-словарей еще мало, эта сфера лингвистического знания не очень развита. По личному наблюдению, базовые онлайн-словари (чаще технического или специального направления) предлагают функцию словообразования, выводя на одной странице все слова, принадлежащие к одному корню. В этом случае провести разбор и последующий анализ становится на порядок труднее, но возможно.
Словообразовательные словари онлайн есть на на этих сайтах, их можно скачать.
- «Word-formation in English» by Ingo Plag — Скачать или читать онлайн
- Пособие «Малова Яна — ЕГЭ и ОГЭ. Англ. язык на 5. Словообразование — 2019» скачать
- Рекомендую пользоваться онлайн-словарем Dictionary.com. В этом онлайн словаре есть все, что может потребоваться: и thesaurus, и origin, и примеры, и дефиниции из разных источников. Ни разу меня не подводил.
Еще хорошие и полезные словари для тех, кто изучает английский:
- The Free Dictionary — очень классный словарь. Здесь вы найдете идиомы, акронимы, legal, medical, financial dictionary. Можно поиграть в языковые игры.
- Dictionary.cambridge.org — отличный словарь, особенно для учеников и студентов уровня A1-B1 (начинающих) — понятия в этом словаре объясняются очень просто и лаконично. Рекомендую. Отличные предложения-примеры.
- Merriam-Webster com — замечательный словарь, есть игры со словами.
Например, мы хотим узнать словообразование слова «collection». Заходим на сайт Dictionary.com, вводим нужное нам слова. Нажимаем «Word Origin», где узнаем происхождение слова и как оно образовалось.
Есть еще приложение по словообразованию английского языка Roots of English: an Etymological Dictionary* by Prof. Eugene Cotter, Seton Hall University
Также оказать помощь в работе с английским словообразованием могут этимологические словари, созданные по схожему корневому и гнездовому принципу.
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word formation Definitions and Synonyms
noun uncountable linguistics
UK
/ˈwɜː(r)d fɔː(r)ˌmeɪʃ(ə)n/
DEFINITIONS1
-
1
the process by which new words are formed out of all or parts of existing ones
Another highly productive word formation process is conversion, which is the term used to describe a word class change without any morphological marking.
Synonyms and related words
General grammatical and linguistic terms
cognitive grammar
concordance
conversation analysis
…
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Definition and synonyms of word formation from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.
This is the British English definition of word formation.View American English definition of word formation.
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View the pronunciation for word formation.
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In word formation exercises the learner is given the most basic form of a word, known as “the root” form. You need to change the prefix or suffix to adapt the word into the correct form and make it fit in the 8 gaps in the text so that it makes perfect sense.
The best way to do this exercise is to focus on the word class (type of word: noun, verb, adjective, adverb), grammar (singular or plural, verb tenses, +/-) and spelling. The words must be spelled correctly and if a capital letter is needed, it must be used.
You ought to think of this as a 3 step process:
What type of word do I want? Noun, verb, adjective or adverb.
What grammar is needed? Singular or plural noun, the tense of the verb
Is it affirmative or negative? Which prefix or suffix do I need?
To aid the candidate’s understanding of this part of the exam. we have included a prefix and suffix list, high frequency root words list and also example sentences with answers in the extra resource section.
Key materials in PDF:
Study word formation on our site to improve your understanding of word classes. See the Root Word HERE and our Prefix and Suffix list HERE. We also have example exercises in alphabetical order HERE
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Task Type: Word formation
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Focus: Lexical-grammatical.
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Format: A text containing 8 gaps. Each gap corresponds to a word. The stems
of the missing words are given beside the text and must be changed
to form the missing word.
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Number of questions: 8.
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How many marks are there: One mark for each correct answer.
What is testing:
- conversions from noun to adjective
- conversions from verb to noun
- conversions from adjective to adverb
- conversions from verb to adjectives
- conversions from a positive to negative form
General Advice
- Never leave the base word unchanged
- Look at each sentence and decide what kind of word is required
- Check the spelling carefully
- Tje words you need might have to change into a negative or plural
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cambridge english first certificate (fce) test
Word Formation
- FCE : Word Formation 1
- FCE : Word Formation 2
- FCE : Word Formation 3
- FCE : Word Formation 4
- FCE : Word Formation 5
- FCE : Word Formation 6
- FCE : Word Formation 7
- FCE : Word Formation 8
- FCE : Word Formation 9
- FCE : Word Formation 10
- FCE : Word Formation 11
- FCE : Word Formation 12
- FCE : Word Formation 13
- FCE : Word Formation 14
- FCE : Word Formation 15
- FCE : Word Formation 16
- FCE : Word Formation 17
- FCE : Word Formation 18
- FCE : Word Formation 19
- FCE : Word Formation 20
- Top Definitions
- Synonyms
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- Examples
- British
- Scientific
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
[ fawr-mey-shuhn ]
/ fɔrˈmeɪ ʃən /
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
noun
the act or process of forming or the state of being formed: the formation of ice.
the manner in which a thing is formed; disposition of parts; formal structure or arrangement.
Military.
- a particular disposition of troops, as in columns, squares, etc.
- any required assembling of the soldiers of a unit.
Geology.
- a body of rocks classed as a stratigraphic unit for geologic mapping.Compare member (def. 8).
- the process of depositing rock or mineral of a particular composition or origin.
QUIZ
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Origin of formation
1375–1425; late Middle English formacioun<Latin fōrmātiōn- (stem of fōrmātiō), equivalent to fōrmāt(us) (see form, -ate1) + -iōn--ion
OTHER WORDS FROM formation
for·ma·tion·al, adjectivemis·for·ma·tion, nounnon·for·ma·tion, nounself-for·ma·tion, noun
sub·for·ma·tion, nounsu·per·for·ma·tion, noun
Words nearby formation
Forman, form an opinion, formant, format, formate, formation, formation dance, formation rules, formative, formative assessment, formative element
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to formation
arrangement, construction, creation, design, development, evolution, forming, pattern, production, structure, accumulation, architecture, compilation, configuration, constitution, crystallization, deposit, dispersal, disposition, embodiment
How to use formation in a sentence
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The formation of the Earth was a violent process, marked by shuddering asteroid impacts and infernal, large-scale collisions.
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To try to explain this, astronomers invoke the idea of “quenching,” where something acts to suppress or shut down the formation of new stars across galaxies.
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Scientists also think the atmosphere has likely encouraged the formation of organic compounds on Titan, another boost to hopes for life.
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While the second-year quarterback’s elevated play was key to the unit’s success, the usage of its trio of tight ends and the stable of backfield mates for Jackson allowed the offense to truly flourish – especially out of heavy formations.
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Crunching all sorts of numbers about star formation rates and ages, results of planet searches and other astronomical studies yields estimates for each term in the CETI equation.
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Twin buglers played “Taps” and three police helicopters flew overhead in the missing-man formation.
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“Stay in formation,” a sergeant from the ceremonial unit said over a public address system to the cops along the street.
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This led to the formation of a Christian militant group to counter the rebels, and all-out sectarian violence exploded.
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They looked up into the blue sky as the helicopters flew over in a lost man formation.
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For that reason, we will never see the formation of another solar system unfold before our eyes.
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The significance of the different varieties is more readily understood if one considers their mode of formation.
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Indications of asbestos are found at most points throughout the whole serpentine formation.
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This island, like Number 1, which we visited in 1819, appears to be principally of quartzose formation.
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For new taxes, however, it would doubtless be necessary to await the formation of a new ministry.
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The formation of a new ministry was not an unusual occurrence in the early years of King George the Third.
British Dictionary definitions for formation
noun
the act of giving or taking form, shape, or existence
something that is formed
the manner in which something is formed or arranged
- a formal arrangement of a number of persons or things acting as a unit, such as a troop of soldiers, aircraft in flight, or a football team
- (as modifier)formation dancing
geology
- the fundamental lithostratigraphic unit
- a series of rocks with certain characteristics in common
ecology a community of plants, such as a tropical rainforest, extending over a very large area
Derived forms of formation
formational, adjective
Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for formation
A long, mappable body of rock that is recognizable by its physical characteristics and by its location within the rock record.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.