Word formation is called

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For the geological formation, see Word Formation. For the study of the origin and historical development of words, see Etymology.

In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term^[1] that can refer to either:

• the processes through which words can change^[2] (i.e. morphology), or
• the creation of new lexemes in a particular language

Morphological[edit]

A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivational affixes.

Derivation[edit]

Examples include:

• the words governor, government, governable, misgovern, ex-governor, and ungovernable are all derived from the base word (to) govern^[3]

Inflection[edit]

Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence.^[4] For example:

• manages and managed are inflected from the base word (to) manage^[1]
• worked is inflected from the verb (to) work
• talks, talked, and talking are inflected from the base (to) talk^[3]

Nonmorphological[edit]

Abbreviation[edit]

Examples includes:

• etc. from et caetera

Acronyms & Initialisms[edit]

An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words.^[5] For example:

• NASA is the acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• IJAL (pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym for International Journal of American Linguistics

Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, like radar, are now treated as common nouns.^[6]

Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example:

• ATM for Automated Teller Machine
• SIA for Singapore International Airlines^[1]

Back-formation[edit]

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base.^[3] Examples include:

• the verb headhunt is a back-formation of headhunter
• the verb edit is formed from the noun editor^[3]
• the word televise is a back-formation of television

The process is motivated by analogy: edit is to editor as act is to actor. This process leads to a lot of denominal verbs.

The productivity of back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation being hypocoristics.^[3]

Blending[edit]

A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments. For example:

• smog is a blend of smoke and fog
• brunch is a blend of breakfast and lunch.^[5]
• stagflation is a blend of stagnation and inflation^[1]
• chunnel is a blend of channel and tunnel,^[1] referring to the Channel Tunnel

Although blending is listed under the Nonmorphological heading, there are debates as to how far blending is a matter of morphology.^[1]

Compounding[edit]

Compounding is the processing of combining two bases, where each base may be a fully-fledged word. For example:

• desktop is formed by combining desk and top
• railway is formed by combining rail and way
• firefighter is formed by combining fire and fighter^[3]

Compounding is a topic relevant to syntax, semantics, and morphology.^[2]

Word formation vs. Semantic change[edit]

There are processes for forming new dictionary items which are not considered under the umbrella of word formation.^[1] One specific example is semantic change, which is a change in a single word’s meaning. The boundary between word formation and semantic change can be difficult to define as a new use of an old word can be seen as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form.

References[edit]

See also[edit]

• Neologism

Plan

1. Word-formation.
   General notes.

2. Affixation.

3. Compounding
   (Composition).

4. Reduplication.

5. Phrasal
   verbs.

6. Conversion

7. Substantivation.

8. Adjectivization.

9. Phrasal
   nouns.

10. Shortening.

11. Abbreviation.

12. Back-formation
    (Reversion).

13. Blending.

14. Minor
    types of word-formation: change of stress.

15. Sound
    interchange (Gradation).

16. Sound
    imitation (Onomatopoeia).

17. Lexicalization
    of the plural of nouns.

1. Word-formation

Word-formation
is the process of creating new words from the material available in
the word-stock according to certain structural and semantic patterns
specific for the given language.

Various
types of word-formation in Modern English possess different degrees
of productivity. Some of them are highly-productive
(affixation,
conversion, substantivation, compounding, shortening, forming phrasal
verbs); others are semi-productive
(back-forming,
blending, reduplication, lexicalization of the plural of nouns,
sound-imitation), and non-productive
(sound
interchange, change of stress).

2. Affixation

Affixation
is a word-formative process in which words are created by adding
word-building affixes to stems. Affixation includes preftxation,
i.e.
forming
new words with the help of prefixes, and suffixation,
i.e.
forming new words with the help of suffixes.

From
etymological point of view affixes are classified according to their
origin into native
(e.g.
-er, -nese, -ing, un-, mis-, etc.) and borrowed
(Romanic,
e.g. -tion, -ment, -ance, -re-, sub-, etc.; Greek, e,g. -ist, -ism,
anti-, etc.).

Affixes
can also be classified into
productive (e.g.-er,
-ness, -able, -y, -ize, un- re-, dis- etc.) and non-productive
(e.g.
-th, -hood, -en, -ous, etc.).

Affixes
and a root constitute the meaning of the word, the root morpheme
forming its semantic centre, affixes playing a dependent role in the
meaning
of the word.

Prefixes
and suffixes are semantically distinctive,
they
have their own
meaning. Affixes
and a root constitute the meaning of the word, the root morpheme
forming its semantic centre, affixes playing a dependent role in the
meaning of the word.

Prefixes
change
or concretize the meaning of the word. The main
word-building
prefixes are:

1. prefixes
   with a negative
   meaning (e.g.
   un-, in-, il-, ir-, im-, dis-, de-, non-);

2. prefixes
   with different
   meanings (e.g.
   anti-, co-, counter-, inter-, mis-, over-, en-, post-, pre-, re-,
   self, semi-, sub-, ultra-, super-, undre-).

   Suffixes
   have
   a grammatical meaning they indicate or derive a certain part of
   speech. Most of frequently used suffixes are:

1. noun-forming:
   -er,
   (-or), -tion (-sion), -ity, -ance, -ence, -ment, -ness, -ics, -ture,
   -sure, -age, -ing;

2. verb-forming:
   -ize,
   (-ise), -fy (-ify), -en, -ate;

3. adjective-forming:
   -able,
   -ible, -al, (-ial), -fill, -less, -ive;

4. adverb-forming:
   -ly;
   -ward (-wards).

3. Compounding
(Composition)

Compounds
are
words produced by combining two or more stems, which occur in the
language as free forms. They may be classified proceeding
from different criteria:

-according
to the parts of speech to which they belong (e.g. cut-throat,
shoe-maker- compound
nouns, watch
making , tooth-picker- verbal
compound
nouns; bring
up, sit down —
compound verbs, life-giving,
long-tailed —
compound adjectives, etc.);

-according
to the means of composition used to link their ICs (immediate
constituents) together (e.g. classroom,
timetable, H-bomb, grey-green,
etc);

-according
to the structure of their ICs (e.g. gasometre,
handicraft, Anglo-Saxon, etc.);

-according
to their semantic characteristics (e.g forget-me-not,
up-to-date, son-in-law, etc).

The
classification of compounds according to the means of joining their
ICs together distinguishes between the following structural types:

1. juxtapositional
   (neutral) compounds whose
   ICs are merely placed one after another: classroom,
   timetable, heartache, whitewash, hunting-knife, weekend, grey-green,
   deep-blue, U-turn, etc.;

2. morphological
   compounds whose
   ICs joined together with a vowel or a consonant as a linking
   element, e.g. gasometre,
   sportsman, saleswoman,
   electromotive, postman, etc.;

3. syntactic
   compounds (integrated phrases) which
   are the result of the process of semantic isolation and structural
   integration of free word-groups, e.g. blackboard
   (>black
   board), highway
   (>high
   way), forget-me-not
   (>forget
   me not), bull’s
   eye, go-between, known-all, brother-in-law, upside-down, etc.

The
classification of compounds according to the structure of their ICs
includes the following groups:

Group
1. Compounds consisting of simple stems: railway, key-board,
snow-white, bookshelf, scarecrow, browbeat, etc.

Group
2. Compounds where at least one of the ICs is a derived stem:
chain-smoker, shoe-maker, pen-holder, snow-covered, moon-tit,
price-reduction,
etc.

Group
3, Compounds where at least one of the ICs is a clipped stem:
photo-intelligence, bacco-box, maths- mistress, T-shirt, TV-set,
X-mas, etc.

Group
4. Compounds where at least one of the ICs is a compound stem:
wastepaper-basket, newspaper-ownership, etc.

Note:
Compounds of Group 2 should not be mixed with derivational compounds
(Group 5) in which the second component doesn’t occur as a free
form. Derivational compounds are built by adding a suffix to phrases
of the A+N, N+N, Num+N type.

Cf:
chain-smoker (N + (V = -er)):: slim-waisted ((A + N) + -ed).

In
many English words one can find unstressed stems approaching the
status of derivational affixes. They have generalized meaning and
their combining
capacity is very great. Such morphemes are called semi-affixes.

Semi-affixes
can be used in preposition (semi-prefixes,
e.g.:
half-, ill-, mini-, midi-, maxi-, self-) and in postposition
(semi-suffixes,
e.g.
-man, -land,
-monger, -wright, -worthy, -proof, -like, -way(s)).

4. Reduplication

In
reduplication compounds are made by doubling a stem (often a
pseudomorpheme). Reduplicative compounds fall into three main
subgroups:

1. Reduplicative
   compounds proper whose ICs are identical in their form, e.g.:
   murmur, bye-bye, blah-blah, pooh-pooh, goody-goody, etc.

2. Ablaut
   (gradational) compounds whose ICs have different root-vowels, e.g:
   riff-raff, dilly-dally, ping-pong, chit-chat, singsong, etc.

3. Rhyme
   compounds whose ICs are joined to rhyme, e.g.: willy-nilly,
   helter-skelter, hoity-toity, namby-pamby, walkie-talkie, etc.

5. Phrasal
verbs.

Phrasal
verbs are combinations of a verb and adverb or a verb and preposition
(or verb with both adverb and preposition).

Phrasal
verbs may be either non-idiomatic or idiomatic. Non-idiomatic phrasal
verbs can retain their primary local meaning, e.g.: come in, come
out, come out of, take off, put down, etc. They may also have a kind
of perfective colouring, e.g. add up, eat up, drink up, swallow up,
rise up, etc.

In
idiomatic compounds meaning cannot be derived from ICs, e.g.: bring
up — виховувати,
bear out — підтверджувати,
give in – піддаватися,
fall
out — сваритися,
take in — обманювати,
etc.

In
modern English fiction one can often come across verbs which denote
an action and at the same time modify it in occasional colligations
with prepositions
or adverbs e.g. He
then tiptoed down to dinner. We forced our way into the buffet.

6. Conversion

Conversion
is a special type of affixless derivation where a newly-formed word
acquires a paradigm and syntactic functions different from those of
the original word (by conversion we mean derivation of a new word
from the stem of a different part of speech without the adding of any
formatives).

A
s
a result the two words are homonymous, having the same morphological
structure and belonging to different parts of speech. As
a matter of fact, all parts of speech can be drawn into the
wordbuilding process of conversion to a certain extent. Its
derivational patterns are varied,
the most widespread among them being N —► V, V
N,
A —► V.

For
example: N+V:
a face-to face, a walk-to walk, a
tube — to tube, a pen — to pen. V—>N:
to make-a make, to bite-a bite,
to
smoke — a smoke, to talk — a talk.

A—>V:
narrow-to narrow, empty-to empty, cool-to
cool.

7. Substantiation

Substantivation
is the process in which adjectives (or participles) acquire the
paradigm and syntactic functions of nouns. One should distinguish two
main types of substantivation: complete
and partial.

C

ompletely
substantivized adjectives have
the full paradigm of a noun, i.e. singular and plural case forms.
They may be associated with various determiners (definite, indefinite
and zero articles, demonstrative and possessive pronouns, etc.), e.g.
an
official, the official, officials, the officials, official’s,
officials this official, our officials, etc.
Complete substantivation is often regarded as a pattern of conversion
(A N), though it may be argued, since, as a rule, it is the
result of ellipsis in an attributive phrase: a conservative
politician
—► a
conservative, a
convertible
car
a convertible.

In
the case of partial
substantivation adjectives
do not acquire the full paradigm of a noun. They fall into several
structural-semantic
groups:

1. partially
   substantivized adjectives (PSA) or participles which
   are singular in form though plural in meaning. They are used with
   the definite article and denote a group or a class of people, e.g.
   the
   rich, the accused, the English, the blind, the twing, etc.;

2. PSA
   used
   mostly in the plural and denoting a group or a class of people, e.g.
   reds,
   greens, buffs, blues, etc.

3. PSA
   used
   mostly in plural and denoting inanimate things, e.g. sweets,
   ancients, eatables, etc.

4. PSA
   presenting
   properties as substantive abstract notions, e.g. the
   good, the evil, the beautiful, the singular, etc.

5. PSA
   denoting
   languages, e.g. English,
   German, Ukrainian, Italian, etc.

8. Adjectivization

Premodification
of nouns by nouns is highly frequent in Modern English. Non-adjuncts
should not be considered as adjectives produced by means
of conversion. Nevertheless, some nouns may undergo the process of
adjectivization and function as attributes with idiomatic meanings,
e.g.: coffee-table
(n.) —> coffee-table (adj.) — «Of a large size and richly
illustrated.»

9. Phrasal
nouns

Phrasal
nouns are
built from phrasal verbs as a result of a combined effect of
compounding, conversion, and change of stress. They consist of ICs
identical to those of the corresponding phrasal verbs, but obtain, as
a rule, the single-stress pattern and either solid or hyphenated
spelling, e.g.: to
break
down —> a
breakdown (a break-down).

10. Shortenings

There
exist two main ways of shortening: contraction
(clipping) and
abbreviation
(initial shortening).

Contraction.
One
should distinguish between four types of contraction:

1. Final
   clipping (apocope), i.e. omission of the final part of the word,
   e.g.: doc (< doctor), lab (< laboratory), mag -(<
   magazine), prefab (< prefabricated),
   vegs (< vegetables), Al (< Albert), Nick (< Nickolas), Phil
   (< Philip), etc.

2. Initial
   clipping (apheresis), i.e. omission of the fore part of the word,
   e.g.: phone (< telephone), plane (< aeroplane), story (<
   history), van (< caravan), drome (< airdrome), Dora (<
   Theodora), Fred (< Alfred), etc.

1. Medial
   clipping (syncope), i.e. omission of the middle part of the word,
   e.g.: maths (< mathematics), fancy (< fantasy), specs -(<
   spectacles), binocs
   (< binoculars), through (<thorough), etc.

2. Mixed
   clipping, where the fore and the final parts of the word are dipped,
   e.g.: tec (< detective), flu (<influenza), fridge (<
   refrigerator), stach (< moustache), Liz (< Elizabeth), etc.

Contractions
may be combined with affixation, i,e. by adding the suffixes -y, -ie,
-o, to clippings, e.g.: hanky (<handkerchief), comfy
(<comfortable),
unkie (<uncle), ammo (< Ammunition), etc.

11. Abbreviation

Abbreviations
(initial shortenings) are words produced by shortening the ICs of
phrasal terms up to their initial letters. Abbreviations are
subdivided
into 5 groups:

1. Acronyms
   which are read in accordance with the rules of orthoepy as though
   they were ordinary words, e.g.: UNO /’ju:nou/ (< United Nations
   Organization), UNESCO /’ju:’neskou/ (< United Nations Educational
   Scientific and Cultural Organization), NATO /’neitou/ (< North
   Atlantic
   Treaty Organization), SALT /so:lt/ (<Strategic Arms Limitation
   Talks), STEM /stem/ (< scanning transmission electron
   microscope), radar /reida/ (< radio detecting and ranging), etc.

2. Alphabetic
   abbreviation in
   which letters get their full alphabetic pronunciation and a full
   stress, e.g.: USA /’ju:es’ei/ (< the United States ofAmerica),
   B.B.C. /’bi:’bi:’si:/ (< the British Broadcasting Corporation),
   M.P. /’em’pi:/ {<
   Member
   of Parliament), F.B.I. /’efbir’ai/ (< FederalBureau
   of Investigation), etc.

Alphabetic
abbreviations are sometimes used for famous persons’ names, eg.: B.B.
(< Brigitte Bardot), FDR (< Franklin Delano Roosevelt), G.B.S.
(< George Bernard Shaw), etc.

3)Compound
abbreviations
in which the first IC is a letter (letters) and the second a complete
word, e.g.: A-bomb (<
atomic
bomb), V-day (<

Victory
day), Z-hour (< zero hour), L-driver (< learner-driver), ACD
solution (<acid citrate dextrose solution), etc.

One
or both ICs of compound abbreviations may be clipped, e.g.:
mid-August, Interpol (< International police), hi-fi (< high
fidelity), sci-fic (< science
fiction), etc.

4) Graphic
abbreviations which
are used in texts for economy of space. They are pronounced as the
corresponding unabbreviated words,
e.g.:
Mr.
(< Mister), m. (< mile), fl. (< foot/feet), v. (< verb),
ltd. (< limited), govt. (< government), usu. (< usually),
pp. (< pages, Co (< Company), X-mas
(< Christmas), etc.

5) Latin
abbreviations which
sometimes are not read as Latin words but as separate letters or are
substituted by their English equivalents, e.g.:

i.e.
/ai’i:/-that is, a.m. /ei’em/-before midday, in the morning, e.g.
-for example, Id. -in the same place, cf. -compare, etc.

12. Back-formation
(Reversion)

Back-formation
is the derivation of new words (mostly verbs) by means of subtracting
a suffix or other element resembling it, e.g.: butle < butler,
combust
< combustion, greed < greedy, lase < laser, luminisce <
luminiscent, sculpt < sculptor, etc.

13. Blending

Blending
is the formation of new lexical units by means of merging fragments
of words into one new word, or combining the elements of one word
with
a notional word, e.g.: smog (< smoke+fog), radiotrician
(radio+electrician), drunch (drinks+lunch), cinemagnate
(cinema+magnate), etc.

14. Minor
types of word-formation: change of stress

Several
nouns and verbs of Romanic origin have a distinctive stress pattern.
Such nouns, as a rule, are forestressed, and verbs have a stress on
the second
syllable, e.g. ‘accent (a):: ac’cent (v.), ‘contest (n.):: ‘con’test
(v.), ‘record (n.):: re’cord (v.), etc.

The
same distinctive stress pattern is observed in some pairs of
adjectives and verbs, e.g.: ‘absent (a):: ab’sent (v.) ‘abstract (a)
::ab’stract(v.), etc.

15.
Sound
interchange (Gradation)

Words
belonging to different parts of speech may be differentiated due to
the sound interchange in the root, e.g.: food (a):: feed (v.), gold
(a):: gild (v,), strong (a):: strength (n), etc.

16. Sound
imitation (Onomatopoeia)

Sound-imitative
(onomatopoeic) words are made by imitating sounds produced by living
beings and inanimate objects, e.g.: babble, bang, buzz, crash,
giggle, hiss, moo, purr, rustle, etc.

17. Lexicalization
of the plural of the nouns

There
are cases when the grammatical form of the plural of nouns becomes
isolated from the paradigm and acquires a new lexical meaning. This
leads to the appearance of new lexical units, cf: look “погляд”
::
looks «зовнішність».

REVISION
MATERIAL

1. Be
   ready to discuss the subject matter of word-formation

2. Tell
   about affixation

3. What
   do you know about compounding (composition)?

4. Give
   examples of reduplication

5. What
   are phrasal verbs and phrasal nouns?

6. What
   can you tell about conversion?

7. Comment
   on the substantivation and adjectivization.

8. Tell
   about shortening: contractions and abbreviations.

9. What
   is back-formation?

10. Give
    examples of blending.

11. Comment
    on the minor types of word-formation.

12. What
    is the difference between gradation and onomatopoeia?

13. What
    does «lexicalization of the plural of nouns» stand for ?

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Definition

Word Formation Process (also called Morphological Process) is a means by which new words are produced either by modification of existing words or by complete innovation, which in turn become a part of the language.

Types of Word Formation Processes

Different types of word formation processes are employed to create new words. However, all word formation processes basically bring either inflectional or derivational changes. Therefore, inflection (also called inflexion) and derivation are the two core processes of word formation. Inflection differs from derivation to the following extent:

Inflection	Derivation
Produces grammatical variants of the same word.	Produces a new word on the basis of an existing word.
Modifies a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case.	Changes the word class (also called parts of speech; form class; lexical class; syntactic category).
Does not change the meaning of a word. For example: determine→ determines, determining, determined.	Modifies the meaning of the root. For example: modern → modernize (to make modern).

The major word formation processes include but are not limited to the following:

Affixation

It is a word formation process wherein an affix is attached to a root (also called stem; base) to form a new word. A root is a free morpheme (also called unbound morpheme) that can appear alone. On the other hand, an Affix is a bound morpheme which never occurs by itself, but is always attached to some free morpheme and can be either inflectional or derivational. An Inflectional affix modifies the form/grammatical category of a word, i.e., tense, person, number, gender, case, etc. For example: rat → rats. Contrariwise, a derivational affix modifies the parts of speech of the root, while leaving the grammatical category unchanged. In this way, there is a change of meaning of the root. For example: write → writer.

In English there are two types of affixations:

1. Prefixation: In this morphological process words are formed by adding an affix to the front of a root. The type of affix used in this process is referred to as prefix. For example: un + tidy → untidy
2. Suffixation: In this morphological process words are formed by adding an affix to the end of a root. The type of affix used in this process is referred to as suffix. For example: fear + less → fearless

Conversion

This refers to the change of function or parts of speech of a word without adding an affix. Conversion is also called zero derivation or null derivation since the functional change is brought about by supplementing an invisible affix. Sometimes it is also called functional shift. Typically conversion is made from “noun to verb” and from “verb to noun”. Less frequently, conversion is also done from “adjective to verb” and “adjective to noun”. For instance:

 Noun to Verb:  

• access
• email
• film
• name
• shape

Verb to Noun:

• attack
• alert
• hope
• increase
• visit
• cover

Adjective to Verb:

• brown
• black
• slow

Adjective to Noun:

• crazy
• nasty

Back-formation

Back-formation is a morphological process in which new word is created by extracting affixes from another word. In this way, it is the reverse of affixation, in which affixes are added. Back-formation is also different from clipping since it brings a change in the parts of speech or the word’s meaning. For example: the noun insertion has been back-formed into verb insert by removing the suffix ion.

Clipping

As the name suggests, clipping is the word formation process in which a word is reduced to a shorter form. With a sharp contrast to back-formation, clipping keeps the original word meaning intact. These words are very common in everyday speech. For instance: lab is the clipped form of laboratory. . There are four types of clippings:

1. Back clipping: (also called final clipping; apocope) it involves the truncation of end of a word as in ad from advertisement.
2. Fore-clipping: (also called initial clipping; apheresis) it is the removal of the beginning of a word as in phone from telephone.
3. Middle clipping: (also medial clipping; syncope) it is the extraction of the beginning and end of a word as in flu from influenza.
4. Complex clipping: is removing multiple parts from multiple words as in cablegram from cabletelegram.

Compounding

Also called composition, by this process two or more than two words are combined together to create a single word, having a single idea and function. In English, there are compound nouns, compound adjectives, and compound verbs. Customarily compound words are spelt as a single word, or as two or more hyphenated words, and even as two or more separate words. For example:

• life + style → lifestyle
• mother + in + law → mother-in-law
• shopping + mall → shopping mall

There are no specific rules for hyphenated compounds. Generally, some new and original compound nouns are hyphenated, but the hyphen is ignored when they become more familiar. However, there are some compound adjectives that are always hyphenated. For instance: state-of-the-art. The hyphen is often retained when two vowels come together, such as: Co-operation. Hyphens are often used to tell the ages of people and things, for example: 10-year-old. The general rule is that words are combined with hyphens to avoid confusion.

Borrowing

This refers to the words adopted from other languages. There are two types of borrowings:

1. Loan-word: By this process, a word is borrowed from another language without translating it into the target language. For example: the phrase tour-de-force is borrowed directly from French, which means a masterly or brilliant feat.
2. Loan-translation: Also known as calque, a morphological process wherein a word or phrase from another language is borrowed by literally translating it into the target language. For example: the phrase point of view has been translated into English from the French phrase point de vue.

Coinage

Also called invention, is a morphological process by which new words are invented. Sometimes popular trademark names of various products are adopted by people so extensively that they ultimately become the everyday words of language. For example:

• Heroin
• Aspirin
• Escalator
• Xerox
• Kerosene
• Nylon
• Band-Aid
• Vaseline
• Margarine
• Videotape

Again, some words are being invented due to rapid cultural changes and the spread of information technology, mass media, internet, etc. For example:

• Google
• Blog
• Hotspot
• Netbook
• Tablet
• Tweet
• Emoticon
• Smartphone

Blending

Blending (also called portmanteau) is a morphological process in which the parts of two or more words are combined together to form a new word. Usually, the parts consist of the beginning of one word and the end of the other word(s). Typically, the meaning of the blended word reverberates with the meanings of the original words. For example:

• breakfast + lunch → brunch
• motor+hotel → motel

However, blending should not be confused with compounding, which combines two words without truncation of parts of the roots of the blended words.

Acronyms

These words are formed with the initial letters or each of the major parts of a word or a longer phrase. With a few exceptions, acronyms are usually capitalized. Some linguists confuse acronyms with initialisms, which are also abbreviations formed in the similar manner as the former. In essence, there is a sharp difference between the two. In language, an acronym is pronounced as a single word rather than just a sequence of individual letters, which is characteristic of initialisms. For example:
Acronyms:

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization → UNESCO
• Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation → Laser
• International Criminal Police Organization → Interpol

Initialisms:

• Personal Computer → PC
• Asian Development Bank → ADB
• Liquid Crystal Display → LCD

Reduplication

Reduplication (also called cloning; doubling; duplication; repetition; tautonym) is a word formation process in which a new word is created by repeating all or part of a root or a stem, often with a change of vowel or initial consonant. Reduplication is not a major means of creating lexemes in English, but it is perhaps the most unusual one. Based on their usage, the techniques of reduplication could be classified in the following manner:

1. Repetition without Change: bye-bye, tick-tick
2. Rhyming Reduplication: ding-dong, super-duper, bow-wow
3. Repetition with Change of Vowel: tiptop, chitchat, flip-flop, ping-pong, dilly-dally, wishy-washy
4. Repetition with Change of Initial Consonant: teeny-weeny

 

 

 

References

“English Word Formation Processes.” Really Learn English. 2016. Really-Learn-English.com.

14 July 2016 <http://www.really-learn-english.com/word-formation-processes.html>.

 “Inflection.” Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 July 2016

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflection>.

“Morphological Derivation.” Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 July 2016

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphological_derivation>.

Yule, George. The Study of Language. 2^nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 1996.

“Word Formation.” Wikipedia. 2016. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. 14 July 2016

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_formation>.

В английском языке, как и в других, словообразование является инструментом обогащения речи.

В этом материале рассмотрены наиболее распространенные способы, с помощью которых образуются новые слова:

• префиксы (prefixes);
• суффиксы (suffixes);
• конверсия (conversion);
• словосложение (compounding);
• сокращение (abbreviation).

Краткий обзор понятий и принципов словообразования облегчит понимание языка. Знание основ образования новых слов значительно ускорит процесс изучения английского.

Таблица 1. Префиксация

Примеры

• re + build (строить) = rebuild (перестроить по новой)
• mis + conduct (поведение) = misconduct (плохое поведение)

В таблице рассмотрены префиксы, которые встречаются наиболее часто.

Приставки и их значения	Примеры
un- , dis- , in- , non- , il- , im- , ir- : указывают на отрицание, делают слово противоположным по значению	belief (вера, доверие) – unbelief (неверие) claim (утверждать) – disclaim (отрицать)  dependence (зависимость) – independence (независимость)  admission (допущение) – nonadmission (недопущение) logical (логичный) – illogical (нелогичный)  patience (терпение) – impatience (нетерпение) reality (реальность) – irreality (фантастичность)
sub- : придает значение «под» over- : «сверх», «чрезмерно» under- : «недостаточный»	address (адрес) – subaddress (подадрес) boil (варить) – overboil (переварить)  feed (кормить) – underfeed (недокармливать)
ex- : значение «из», «вне», «бывший» en- : «делать», используется для образования глаголов от существительных и прилагательных	prisoner (заключенный) – ex-prisoner (бывший заключенный) tract (трактат, брошюра) – extract (фрагмент, отрывок) code (код) – encode (кодировать)  crimson (малиновый цвет) – encrimson (красить в малиновый цвет)
pre- : указывает на значение «до», «перед» post- : «после»	historic (исторический) – prehistoric (доисторический)  production (постановка напр. кинокартины) – postproduction (обработка отснятого видеоматериала)
mis- : меняет смысл слова на «неверный», «ложный»	apply (применить) – misapply (неправильно использовать)  fortune (удача) – misfortune (неудача)  guide (направлять, вести) – misguide (неправильно направлять)
re- : «снова», «вновь»; сделать что-либо повторно	book (бронировать) – rebook (бронировать повторно) educate (воспитывать) – reeducate (перевоспитывать)  join (соединяться) – rejoin (воссоединяться)
co-: аналог приставки в русском языке «со»	worker (рабочий) – co-worker (сотрудник, коллега)  author (автор) – co-author (соавтор)  owner (владелец) – co-owner (совладелец)

Таблица 2. Суффиксация

Примеры

• teach + er = teacher (учитель)
• child + hood = childhood (детство)

В таблице рассмотрены суффиксы, которые встречаются наиболее часто.

Суффикс и его значения	Примеры
Образование существительного
-er, -or, -ar: из глагола переходит существительное в значении «исполнитель действия»	avenge (мстить) – avenger (мститель)  narrate (рассказывать) – narrator (рассказчик) lie (лгать) – liar (лжец)
-ment, -age, -ure, -dom, -tion, -sion: глагол > существительное	advertise (рекламировать) – advertisement (реклама)  use (использовать) – usage (использование) depart (уезжать) – departure (отъезд)  bore (скучать) – boredom (скука)  hesitate (сомневаться) – hesitation (сомнение)  impress (производить впечатление) – impression (впечатление)
-hood, -ship: образуют существительные от других существительных	false (ложный, ошибочный) – falsehood (ложь, ошибка)  owner (владелец) – ownership (владение)
-ist: используется для указания принадлежности к профессии или политическому званию	archeologist (археолог)  federalist (сторонник принципов федерализма)
-ian: указывают на национальность, реже профессию	Bulgarian (болгарин, болгарка)  historian (историк)
-ness: преобразовывает прилагательное в существительное	cheerful (веселый) – cheerfulness (жизнерадостность)  awkward (awkward) – awkwardness (неловкость)  good (добрый) – goodness (доброта)
Образование прилагательного
-ful: образует прилагательные от существительных и означает наличие качества	colour (цвет) – colourful (полный цвета, яркий)  thought (мысль, мышление) – thoughtful (задумчивый) delight (предмет восхищения) – delightful (восхитительный)
-able, -ible: образуют прилагательные от глаголов и выражают возможность подвергнуться действию, выраженному соответствующим глаголом	accept (принимать) – acceptable (приемлемый; можно принять)  force (сила) – forcible (насильственный, принудительный) compare (сравнивать) – comparable (сравнимый)
-less: образует прилагательные от существительных и означает отсутствие качества	worth (стоящий) – worthless (ничего не стоящий; никчемный) home (домашний) – homeless (бездомный) use (польза) – useless (бесполезный)
-ish: национальная принадлежность; качество	Flemish (фламандский)  modish (модный)
-y: образует прилагательные от существительных	air (воздух) – airy (воздушный) rock (скала) – rocky (каменистый, скалистый)
Образование глагола
-en: образует глаголы от прилагательных и существительных	fasten (пристегивать)  listen (слушать)  shorten (укорачивать)
-fy, -ify: обычно образует глаголы от прилагательных	notify (извещать)  horrify (ужасать, шокировать)  glorify (восхвалять)
-ise, -ize: обычно образует глаголы от существительных	realize (осуществлять) patronise (покровительствовать)

Таблица 3. Конверсия

Конверсия – переход слова в другую часть речи, без изменения его структуры.

Глагол > существительное
to call (кричать, звонить)	call (крик, телефонный звонок)
to hope (надеяться)	hope (надежда)
to attack (атаковать)	attack (атака)
Глагол > существительное (с изменением ударения и произношения)
to ac’cent (акцентировать)	‘accent (акцент)
to use (использовать): буква s читается как русская з	use (использование): буква s читается как русская с
to excuse (извиняться): буква s читается как русская з	excuse (извинение): буква s читается как русская с
to pre’sent (дарить)	‘present (подарок)
Существительное > глагол
love (любовь)	to love (любить)
trip (путешествие)	to trip (отправляться в путешествие)
film (фильм)	to film (снимать фильм)
Прилагательное > существительное
calm (спокойный)	calm (спокойствие)
black (чёрный)	black (чёрный цвет)
dead (мёртвый)	dead (мертвец)

Таблица 4. Словосложение

Словосложение – соединение двух слов и более в сложное слово. Такие слова пишутся как через дефис, так и слитно.

Сложные существительные
toothpaste (зубная паста)	существительное (tooth) + существительное (paste)
highway (большая дорога, шоссе)	прилагательное (high) + существительное (way)
underworld (преисподняя)	предлог (under) + существительное (world)
haircut (стрижка, причёска)	существительное (hair) + глагол (cut)
Сложные глаголы
to babysit (присматривать за ребенком)	существительное (baby) + глагол (sit)
to window-shop (рассматривать витрины)	существительное (window) + существительное (shop)
to downgrade (понижать)	наречие (down) + существительное (grade)
to blackwash (клеветать)	прилагательное (black) + существительное (wash)
Сложные прилагательные
smoke-free (бездымный)	существительное (smoke) + прилагательное (free)
part-time (занимающий меньше стандартного времени)	существительное (part) + существительное (part)
short-sighted (близорукий)	прилагательное (short) + глагол (sighted)
Сложные наречия
outside (снаружи)	предлог (out) + существительное (side)
everywhere (везде, всюду)	прилагательное (every) + наречие (where)

Таблица 5. Сокращение

Усеченные слова
laboratory	lab	лаборатория
refrigerator	fridge	холодильник
cinematograph	cinema	кинематограф
Аббревиатуры и сокращения
electronic mail	e-mail	электронная почта
between	betw.	между, в промежутке
United Nations Organization	U.N.O.	Организация Объединённых Наций (ООН)
Слова-гибриды (образование нового слова путем сочетания частей нескольких слов)
documentary + drama	docudrama	документальная драма
science + fiction	sci-fi	научная фантастика
smoke + fog	smog	густой туман с дымом и копотью; смог

Другие полезные материалы

1. Упражнение на словообразование (с ответами)

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Практические расчеты на срез и смятие При изучении темы обратите внимание на основные расчетные предпосылки и условности расчета…

Функция спроса населения на данный товар Функция спроса населения на данный товар: Qd=7-Р. Функция предложения: Qs= -5+2Р,где…

Аальтернативная стоимость. Кривая производственных возможностей В экономике Буридании есть 100 ед. труда с производительностью 4 м ткани или 2 кг мяса…

Вычисление основной дактилоскопической формулы Вычислением основной дактоформулы обычно занимается следователь. Для этого все десять пальцев разбиваются на пять пар…

In linguistics (particularly morphology and lexicology), word formation refers to the ways in which new words are formed on the basis of other words or morphemes. This is also known as derivational morphology.

Word formation can denote either a state or a process, and it can be viewed either diachronically (through different periods in history) or synchronically (at one particular period in time).

In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, David Crystal writes about word formations: 

«Most English vocabulary arises by making new lexemes out of old ones — either by adding an affix to previously existing forms, altering their word class, or combining them to produce compounds. These processes of construction are of interest to grammarians as well as lexicologists. … but the importance of word-formation to the development of the lexicon is second to none. … After all, almost any lexeme, whether Anglo-Saxon or foreign, can be given an affix, change its word class, or help make a compound. Alongside the Anglo-Saxon ​root in ​kingly, for example, we have the French root in royally and the Latin root in regally. There is no elitism here. The processes of affixation, conversion, and compounding are all great levelers.»

Processes of Word Formation

Ingo Plag explains the process of word formation in Word-Formation in English:

«Apart from the processes that attach something to a base (affixation) and processes that do not alter the base (conversion), there are processes involving the deletion of material. … English Christian names, for example, can be shortened by deleting parts of the base word (see (11a)), a process also occasionally encountered with words that are not personal names (see (11b)). This type of word formation is called truncation, with the term clipping also being used.»

(11a) Ron (-Aaron)
(11a) Liz (-Elizabeth)
(11a) Mike (-Michael)
(11a) Trish (-Patricia)
(11b) condo (-condominium)
(11b) demo (-demonstration)
(11b) disco (-discotheque)
(11b) lab (-laboratory)

«Sometimes truncation and affixation can occur together, as with formations expressing intimacy or smallness, so-called diminutives:»

(12) Mandy (-Amanda)
(12) Andy (-Andrew)
(12) Charlie (-Charles)
(12) Patty (-Patricia)
(12) Robbie (-Roberta)

«We also find so-called blends, which are amalgamations of parts of different words, such as smog (smoke/fog) or modem (modulator/demodulator). Blends based on orthography are called acronyms, which are coined by combining the initial letters of compounds or phrases into a pronounceable new word (NATO, UNESCO, etc.) Simple abbreviations like UK or USA are also quite common.»

Academic Studies of Word-Formation

In the preface to the Handbook of Word-Formation, Pavol Stekauer and Rochelle Lieber write:

«Following years of complete or partial neglect of issues concerning word formation (by which we mean primarily derivation, compounding, and conversion), the year 1960 marked a revival—some might even say a resurrection—of this important field of linguistic study. While written in completely different theoretical frameworks (structuralist vs. transformationalist), both Marchand’s Categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Formation in Europe and Lee’s Grammar of English Nominalizations instigated systematic research in the field. As a result, a large number of seminal works emerged over the next decades, making the scope of word-formation research broader and deeper, thus contributing to better understanding of this exciting area of human language.»

In «Introduction: Unravelling the Cognitive in Word Formation.» Cognitive Perspectives on Word Formation, Alexander Onysko and Sascha Michel explain:

«[R]ecent voices stressing the importance of investigating word formation in the light of cognitive processes can be interpreted from two general perspectives. First of all, they indicate that a structural approach to the architecture of words and a cognitive view are not incompatible. On the contrary, both perspectives try to work out regularities in language. What sets them apart is the basic vision of how language is encapsulated in the mind and the ensuing choice of terminology in the description of the processes. … [C]ognitive linguistics concedes closely to the self-organizing nature of humans and their language, whereas generative-structuralist perspectives represent external boundaries as given in the institutionalized order of human interaction.»

Birth and Death Rates of Words

In their report «Statistical Laws Governing Fluctuations in Word Use from Word Birth to Word Death,» Alexander M. Petersen, Joel Tenenbaum, Shlomo Havlin, and H. Eugene Stanley conclude:

«Just as a new species can be born into an environment, a word can emerge in a language. Evolutionary selection laws can apply pressure on the sustainability of new words since there are limited resources (topics, books, etc.) for the use of words. Along the same lines, old words can be driven to extinction when cultural and technological factors limit the use of a word, in analogy to the environmental factors that can change the survival capacity of a living species by altering its ability to survive and reproduce.»

Sources

• Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
• Onysko, Alexander, and Sascha Michel. “Introduction: Unravelling the Cognitive in Word Formation.” Cognitive Perspectives on Word Formation, 2010, pp. 1–26., doi:10.1515/9783110223606.1.
• Petersen, Alexander M., et al. “Statistical Laws Governing Fluctuations in Word Use from Word Birth to Word Death.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 15 Mar. 2012, www.nature.com/articles/srep00313.
• Plag, Ingo. Word-Formation in English. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
• Stekauer, Pavol, and Rochelle Lieber. Handbook of Word-Formation. Springer, 2005.