Word forming is the process of changing

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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]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Bauer, L. (1 January 2006). «Word Formation». Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier: 632–633. doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/04235-8. ISBN 9780080448541. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Baker, Anne; Hengeveld, Kees (2012). Linguistics. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 978-0631230366.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). «Back-Formation». Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition): 642–645. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5. ISBN 9780080448541.
  4. ^ Linguistics : the basics. Anne, July 8- Baker, Kees Hengeveld. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-631-23035-9. OCLC 748812931.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ a b Aronoff, Mark (1983). «A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation». Annual Review of Anthropology. 12: 360. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.12.100183.002035.
  6. ^ Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2018). An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure (2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4744-2896-5.

See also[edit]

  • Neologism

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: ratrats. 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. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 1996.

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

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

Word Formation Process

The ‘Word Formation Process’ is regarded as the branch of Morphology, and it has a significant role in expanding the vocabulary that helps us communicate very smoothly. The main objectives of the word-formation process are to form new words with the same root by deploying different rules or processes.

In other words, we can say that the word-formation process is a process in which new words are formed by modifying the existing terms or completely changing those words.

Let us see the fundamental word-formation processes in linguistics:

Derivation

‘Derivation’ is a significant word-formation process that attaches derivation affixes to the main form to create a new word. Affixes (prefixes or suffixes) are regarded as bound morphemes.

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful syntactical or grammar unit of a language that cannot be divided without changing its meaning. In contrast to the free morpheme, a bound morpheme doesn’t have any independent meaning, and it needs the help of a free morpheme to form a new word.

Let us see some examples of derivation in the below table:

Base Forms New Words
Appear Disappear
Justice Injustice
Lighten Enlighten
Friend Friendship
Happy Happiness

Back Formation

‘Back-Formation’ is a word-formation process that eliminates the actual derivational affix from the main form to create a new word. However, Back-Formation is contrary to derivation in terms of forming new words. Let us see some examples of Back-Formation in the below table:

Base Forms Back Formation
Insertion Insert
Donation Donate
Precession Process
Obsessive Obsess
Resurrection Resurrect

Conversion

In conversion, a word of one grammatical form converts into another without changing spelling or pronunciation. For example, the term ‘Google’ originated as a noun before the verb.

A few years ago, we only used the term as a noun (search it on Google), but now we say ‘Google it. Let us see some examples of conversion in the below table:

Noun To Verb
Access – to access
Google – to google
Email – to email
Name – to name
Host – to host
Verb To Noun
To hope Hope
To cover Cover
To increase Increase
To attack Attack

Compounding

‘Compounding’ is a word-formation process that allows words to combine to make a new word. Compounding words can be formed as two words joined with a hyphen. Let us see some examples in the below table:

Words Compounding Words
Class+room Classroom
Note+book Notebook
Break+up Breakup
Brother+in+law Brother in law
High+light Highlight

Clipping

‘Clipping’ is another essential word-formation process that reduces or shortens a word without changing the exact meaning. In contrast to the back-formation process, it reserves the original meaning.

Clipping is divided into four types. They are:

  1. Back Clipping
  2. Fore Clipping
  3. Middle Clipping
  4. Complex Clipping

Every Clipping has different roles in words when they are assigned. Back Clipping removes the end part of a word; Fore Clipping removes the beginning part of a word; Middle Clipping reserves the middle position. Finally, Complex Clipping removes multiple pieces from multiple words.

Let us see some examples in the below table:

Words Clippings
Advertisement Ad
Photograph Photo
Telephone Phone
Influenza Flue
Cabletelegram Cablegram

Blending

In the ‘Blending’ word-formation method, the parts of two or more words combine to form a new word. Let us see some examples in the below table:

Words Blendings
Breakfast+lunch Brunch
Biographical+picture Biopic
Motor+hotel Motel
Spanish+English Spanglish
Telephone+marathon Telethon

Abbreviation

‘Abbreviation’ is another famous and widely used word-formation method used to shorten a word or phrase. In the modern era, ‘Abbreviation is becoming more popular. Nowadays, people used to use it everywhere. Let us see some examples in the below table:

Words/Phrases Abbreviation
Junior Jr.
Mister Mr.
Mistress Miss.
Doctor Dr.
Department Dept.
Bachelor of Arts B.A.
Master of Arts M.A.
Master of Business Administration MBA

Acronyms

An Acronym is a popular word-formation process in which an initialism is pronounced as a word. It forms from the first letter of each word in a phrase, and the newly formed letters create a new word that helps us speedy communication. For example, ‘PIN’ is an initialism for Personal Identification Number used as the word ‘pin.’

However, let us see some other famous examples of acronyms in the below table for a better understanding:

Acronyms Words/Phrases
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ASAP As Soon As Possible
AWOL Absent Without Leave

Borrowing

‘Borrowing’ is another word-formation process in which a word from one language is borrowed directly into another language. Let us see some English words which are borrowed from another language:

Algebra Arabic
Cherub Hebrew
Murder French
Pizza Italian
Tamale Spanish

Conclusion

Now we know that Word-Formation Processes are the methods by which words are formed by deploying different types of rules. We can create new words by following the above word-formation methods.

We need to do one thing: we have to follow the fundamental rules or processes of word formation.

Azizul Hakim is the founder & CEO of englishfinders.com. He is a passionate writer, English instructor, and content creator. He has completed his graduation and post-graduation in English language and literature.

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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Word formation

Nowadays, the terms ‘word formation’ does not have a clear cut, universally accepted usage. It is sometimes referred to all processes connected with changing the form of the word by, for example, affixation, which is a matter of morphology. In linguistics, morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words, such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. In its wider sense word formation denotes the processes of creation of new vocabulary units. There are numerous word formation processes.

Clipping

Clipping is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts (Marchand: 1969). Clippings are, also, known as “shortenings.”Clipping mainly consists of the following types:

  1. Back clipping b. Fore-clipping c. Middle clipping d. Complex clipping

Back clipping

Back clipping or apocopation is the most common type, in which the beginning is retained. The unclipped original may be either a simple or a composite. For example: ad (advertisement), cable (cablegram), doc(doctor), exam (examination), gas (gasoline), math (mathematics), memo(memorandum), gym (gymnastics, gymnasium) mutt (muttonhead), pub(public house), pop (popular concert), trad (traditional jazz), fax(facsimile).

Fore-clipping

Fore-clipping or aphaeresis retains the final part. For Example: phone(telephone), varsity (university), chute (parachute), coon (raccoon), gator(alligator), pike (turnpike).

Middle clipping

In middle clipping or syncope, the middle of the word is retained. For Example: flu (influenza), tec (detective), polly (apollinaris), jams (pyjamas), shrink (head-shrinker).

Complex clipping

Clipped forms are also used in compounds. One part of the original compound most often remains intact. For examples are: cablegram (cabletelegram), op art (optical art), org-man (organization man)

Sometimes both halves of a compound are clipped as in navicert (navigation certificate). In these cases it is difficult to know whether the resultant formation should be treated as a clipping or as a blend, for the border between the two types is not always clear.

Clipping is the word formation process in which a word is reduced or shortened without changing the meaning of the word. Clipping differs from back-formation in that the new word retains the meaning of the original word. For example:

  • advertisement – ad
  • alligator – gator
  • examination – exam
  • gasoline – gas
  • gymnasium – gym
  • influenza – flu
  • laboratory – lab
  • mathematics – math
  • memorandum – memo
  • photograph – photo
  • public house – pub
  • raccoon – coon
  • reputation – rep
  • situation comedy – sitcom
  • telephone – phone

Types of clipping

There are four types of clipping:

Back clipping

In this type the beginning is retained:

Examples:

ad = advertisement

cable = cablegram

doc = doctor

exam = examination

fax = facsimile

gas = gasoline

gym = gymnastics, gymnasium

memo = memorandum

pub = public house

pop = popular music

Fore-clipping

The final part is retained:

Examples:

chute = parachute

coon = raccoon

gator = alligator

phone = telephone

Middle clipping

The middle part is retained.

Example:

flu = influenza

fridge = refrigerator

Complex clipping

Clipping may also occur in compounds. In complex clipping, one part of the original compound most often remains intact. But sometimes both halves of a compound are clipped:

Examples:

cablegram= cable telegram

op art = optical art

org-man= organization man

linocut = linoleum cut

navicert = navigation certificate

sitcom = situation comedy

When both halves are clipped, as in navicert, it becomes confusing whether to consider the resultant formation as clipping or as blending.

Clipped forms, shortened abbreviations of words, have a checkered history. Some are acceptable in formal writing, and others aren’t. When writing in academic contexts, in business writing, or another formal environment, take note of the status of these common clipped forms:

  1. Burger: If ever a reference to this fast food staple makes its way into formal writing, the short form of hamburgeris just as likely to appear as the long form.
  2. BusOmnibus(Latin for “all”), a word for a horse-drawn public-transportation conveyance, gave the right of way to its short form around the time such vehicles became motorized.
  3. Copter: The full form, helicopter, is best for formal writing.
  4. Deli: Though this word has been in use for at least a half century, delicatessen, from the German word for “delicacies,” is best for formal usage.
  5. ExamExaminationwas clipped back in the late 1800s and has long since been used even in formal writing.
  6. Flu: The short form of influenza(Italian for “influence,” from the medieval supposition that illness was the result of celestial perturbations) is several hundred years old and has long been acceptable even in formal medical texts.
  7. Fridge: This term, unusual not only in that the full form, refrigerator, has been clipped at both ends but also in that the spelling has been altered to reflect the pronunciation, is suitable for informal writing only.
  8. GasGasolineis much more likely to appear in formal writing than its clipped form.
  9. Gator: This clipped form of alligator, in spite of its nearly 200-year-old tenure in the English language, is considered slang.
  10. Gym: Most formal references to a school building for athletic activities will use the full form, gymnasium,
  11. Memo: So pervasive is this clipped form of memorandumthat many people may not even know its origins. (The full word ultimately derives from the Latin for “memory.”)
  12. Movie: Even more taken for granted than memo is this diminutive form of “moving picture,” which, if you step back from it, may appear silly looking and juvenile. Formal writing often refers to the medium as film or cinema, but movieis also acceptable.
  13. Phone: The original term, telephone, is still often used in formal writing, but the clipped form is just as likely to be used.
  14. Plane: Plane has become as acceptable as airplanein formal writing.
  15. ProProfessional, the full form, is the preferred usage in formal contexts.
  16. Quake: This clipped form of earthquakeis, despite long usage, still considered informal.
  17. Tie: The full form, necktie, is all but obsolete. (Perhaps the clothing accessory will be, too, before long.)
  18. Typo: This slang for “typographical error” is over a century old but is still considered substandard usage.

Some more examples:

auto – automobile mike – microphone
bike – bicycle mum – chrysanthemum
burger – hamburger pen – penitentiary
co-op – cooperative champ – champion
con – convict pike – turnpike
cuke – cucumber rev – revolution
dorm – dormitory rhino – rhinoceros
ref – referee specs – spectacles; specifications
stats – statistics stereo – stereophonics
lunch – luncheon sub – submarine
grad – graduate taxi – taxicab
tux – tuxedo teen – teenager
hippo – hippopotamus van – caravan
limo – limousine vet – veteran; veterinarian
alum – alumni bro – brother
mart market

Clipped Words Used in Sentences

advertisement ad
All company’s spend a lot of money on ads
hamburger burger
Burger does not suit old people
omnibus bus
The tourist bus broke down near Paris
helicopter copter
The copter forces landed in the disturbed areas to stem the communal violence
demonstration demo
BPL company conducted a demo at Paris corner of easy washing
ampere amp
It is an 40 amp bulb
motor bike bike
Ajith had just brought a very expensive bike.
suitcase case
There are bundles of currency notes inside the case.
pressure cooker cooker
Cookers are now available for even $20/-
discotheque disco
Disco is not a part of Italian culture
diskette disc
I saved all the word documents in a Compact disc
gasoline gas
Gas has become an expensive fuel for low income group families.
bridegroom groom
Groom is wanted for a 22 year old Cristian community girl drawing $8000/-PM in an MNC.
gymnasium gym
My uncle goes to the gym early morning.
killogram kilo
Get me a kilo of mangoes.
memorandum memo
The managing director issued a memo to the head clerk.
micro phone mic
This mic doesn’t work properly.
non-vegetarian non-veg
He is a non-veg.
spectacles specs
She cannot read without specs.
storehouse store
Jems works in a store.
fountain pen pen
Pen is mightier than sward
perambulator param
The mother took the child out in a param.
university varsity
London varsity has renovated its auditorium
vegetarian veg
She regularly eats her dinner in a veg mess.
veterinary surgeon vet
I took my cat to the vet.
fascimile Fax
I got a fax copy of the conference notice yesterday.
handkerchief karchief
I have lost my karchief yesterday.
aeroplane plane
Sarah was excited as she was to travel by plane for the first time.
laboratory lab
This college has five labs.
refrigerator fridge
Having firdge is not a luxury but a necessity.
pantaloons pants
The clown at the circus wore a very loose pants.
tubelight tube
The tube of our hall didn’t work from yesterday.
mathematics maths
She is our maths teacher.
centum cent
We have been living in the 21st cent.
bicycle cycle
David presented a cycle to John on his birthday.
alchemist chemist
We have a chemist on the corner of our street.
influenza flu
I was suffering from flu.
examination exam
She is preparing for her exam.
luncheon lunch
I invited my close friends for lunch.
photograph photo
My friend got my photo to keep it with herself.
signature sign
Akbar’s sign is totally illegible.
newscast news
Every day I watch news in the TV.
telephone phone
I contacted him over phone.
mummy mum
Where is your mum?
daddy dad
Where does your dad work?
identity ID
Please, show me your ID.
curiosity curio
We visited a curio shop.
demarcate mark
They marked the boundaries.
tram car tram
We travelled in a tram in London.
public house pub
The couple were found in a local pub.
fanatic fan
He is a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
telephone phone
Our Principal contacted the chief guest over the phone.
taxicab taxi
I hired a taxi to go home.
topbrass brass
The meeting was attended by diplomats and the top military brass.
newsflash flash
We interrupt this programme to bring you a flash.
okay ok
Did the head office ok the proposal?
rehabilitate rehab
Lora saved all her money in order to send her husband for a rehab programme.
popmusic pop
Michael Jackson is the king of pop.
pathway path
The tourist chose the wrong path when they went for sight-seeing.
hitchhike hitch
Can you give me a hitch till Mount Road?
zoological park zoo
The little children love to visit a zoo.
Clip
Word
Original
Word
Clip
Word
Original
Word
wig periwig margarine oleomargarine
lube lubricate mend amend
miss mistress pants pantaloons
mod modern bust burst
caf cafeteria pen penitentiary
calc calculus pep pepper
canter Canterbury gallop perk percolate
cent centum perk perquisite
chem chemistry photo photograph
chemist alchemist pike turnpike
clerk cleric pop popular
coed coeducational student prof professor
curio curiosity prom promenade
deb debutante cab cabriolet
deli delicatessen doc doctor
drape drapery rev revolution
exam examination scram scramble
fan fanatic sport disport
gab gabble still distill
tails coattails sub submarine
hack hackney trig trigonometry
iron flatiron trump triumph
jet jet aircraft varsity university
pianoforte piano public house pub

Acronyms

Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, LASER, and IBM that are formed using the initial letters of words or word parts in a phrase or name. Acronyms and initialisms are usually pronounced in a way that is distinct from that of the full forms for which they stand: as the names of the individual letters (as in IBM), as a word (as in NATO), or as a combination (as in IUPAC). Another term, alphabetism, is sometimes used to describe abbreviations pronounced as the names of letters.

Categories of acronyms

  • Pronounced as a word, containing only initial letters: FNMA: (Fannie Mae) Federal National Mortgage Association, NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
  • Pronounced as a word, containing non-initial letters: Amphetamine: Alpha-methyl-phenethylamine ,Gestapo: GeheimeStaatspolizei (“secret state police”)
  • pronounced only as the names of letters: BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation, DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid
  • shortcut incorporated into name: W3C: (double-u three cee)- World Wide Web Consortium, W3M: (three em) originally Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
  • Recursive acronyms, in which the abbreviation itself is the expansion of one initial (particularly enjoyed by the open-source community): VISA: VISA International Service Association, GNU: GNU’s Not Unix!
  • pseudo-acronyms are used because, when pronounced as intended, they resemble the sounds of other words: ICQ: “I seek you” , IOU: “I owe you“
  • multi-layered acronyms: GAIM: GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger, i.e. GIMP Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger, i.e. GNU Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger, i.e. GNU’s Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit America OnLine Instant Messenger, VHDL: VHSIC Hardware Description Language, i.e. Very High Speed Integrated Circuits Hardware Description Language

What Is the Difference Between an Abbreviation and an Acronym?

Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened forms of words or phrases. An abbreviation is typically a shortened form of words used to represent the whole (such as Dr. or Prof.) while an acronym contains a set of initial letters from a phrase that usually form another word (such as radar or scuba).

Abbreviations and acronyms are often interchanged, yet the two are quite distinct. The main point of reference is that abbreviations are merely a series of letters while acronyms form new words.

Each one allows writers to make large blocks of text easier to read. Beware that both abbreviations and acronyms are typically considered informal and should be carefully considered before including them in more formal writings.

Abbreviations or Acronyms

There’s a great deal of overlap between abbreviations and acronyms. It’s worth pointing out that an acronym is a type of abbreviation because acronyms are shortened forms of words and phrases.

Abbreviations

Let’s take a closer look at abbreviations. As we know, an abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, such as Mr. for Mister, or hr. for hour that is still said as the full word or words.

There are millions of common abbreviations used every day. Let’s take a look at some of the popular ones we see and/or use almost daily.

  • When you write your address, you likely write “St.” or “Ave.” instead of “Street” or “Avenue”.
  • When you record the date, you likely abbreviate both the days of the week (Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun.) and the months of the year (Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.).
  • Often, we use the abbreviation “Ex.” for the word “example”.
  • Measurements are commonly reduced to abbreviations such as “cm” for “centimeters” or “in.” for “inch”.
  • How about “vs.”? That’s another popular abbreviation, shortened from the word “versus”.

Tightening “December” to “Dec.” is an abbreviation because “Dec.”is simply a written shorthand for the full word. It’s not an acronym since “Dec.” isn’t said as a word.

You may have wondered why some abbreviations, like those for ounce (oz) and pound (lb) use letters that aren’t part of the original word. In these cases the abbreviations are based on older forms of the word.

Acronyms

An acronym, technically, must spell out another word. This is a good point of reference to help you distinguish between abbreviations and acronyms. Another good way to differentiate them is that acronyms don’t just shorten words, they often simplify a long organization name, scientific term or idea.

Some acronyms create new words that are so commonly used, we forget they’re actually a series of letters from a longer word or phrase. For example, when we go scuba diving, we rarely consider the fact that scuba is an acronym of self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Then there are initialisms which cause some confusion. Would you consider “VIP” to be an acronym? Technically, it’s an initialism. Initialisms are a series of initial letters of words or a phrase that form an abbreviation but aren’t pronounced as a word. We enunciate each letter.

NBA is another initialism. How about when you text “rofl”? That’s another initialism, as is “BLT”. Many consider initialisms to be a subset of acronyms-therefore whether you pronounce ASAP as a word or enunciate each letter, it’s still an acronym-but be aware that others say it is another form of abbreviation.

Like abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms are used daily and most people can interpret the meaning of common acronyms without much thought.

Let’s test our knowledge with a few more examples:

Acronyms (form new words) Initialisms (pronounce each letter)
radar (radio detection and ranging) ATM (automated teller machine)
scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) NFL (National Football League)
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) FAQ (frequently asked questions)
laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) brb (be right back)
POTUS (President of the United States) idk (I don’t know)
gif (graphics interchange format) a/c (air conditioning)
SIM card (subscriber identification module) aka (also known as)
ZIP code (zone improvement plan) fyi (for your information)
AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) lcd (liquid crystal display)
taser (Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle) ufo (unidentified flying object)

Keep it Short

Abbreviations and acronyms are shortened versions of words and phrases that help speed up our communication. Initialisms act in the same way. Before you use any type of abbreviation consider your audience; are you writing something formal or informal? Will everyone understand the meaning of your abbreviated word or letters? If you need to explain the abbreviation, write out the word or phrase in full first followed by the abbreviation in parentheses.

Blending:

A blend is a word formed from parts of two other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes. A blend is different from a portmanteau word in that a portmanteau refers strictly to a blending of two function words, similar to a contraction.

Formation of Blendings: Most blends are formed by one of the following methods:

  1. The beginning of one word is added to the end of the other. For Example: brunch (breakfast and lunch).
  2. The beginnings of two words are combined. For Example: cyborg (cybernetic and organism)
  3. One complete word is combined with part of another word. For Example: guesstimate (guess and estimate)
  4. Two words are blended around a common sequence of sounds. For Example: Californication (from a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is a blend of California and fornication)
  5. Multiple sounds from two component words are blended, while mostly preserving the sounds’ order. Poet Lewis Carroll was well known for these kinds of blends. This method is difficult to achieve and is considered a sign of Carroll’s verbal wit. For Example: slithy (lithe and slimy).

Blending is the word formation process in which parts of two or more words combine to create a new word whose meaning is often a combination of the original words. For example:

  • advertisement + entertainment → advertainment
  • biographical + picture → biopic
  • breakfast + lunch → brunch
  • chuckle + snort → chortle
  • cybernetic + organism → cyborg
  • guess + estimate → guesstimate
  • hazardous + material → hazmat
  • motor + hotel → motel
  • prim + sissy → prissy
  • simultaneous + broadcast → simulcast
  • smoke + fog → smog
  • Spanish + English → Spanglish
  • spoon + fork → spork
  • telephone + marathon → telethon
  • web + seminar → webinar
  • afterthoughtful (afterthought + thoughtful)
  • agitprop (agitation + propaganda)
  • alcopop (alcohol + pop)
  • bash (bat + mash)
  • Breathalyzer (breath + analyzer)
  • camcorder (camera + recorder)
  • clash (clap + crash)
  • docudrama (documentary + drama)
  • electrocute (electricity + execute)
  • emoticon (emote + icon)
  • faction (fact + fiction)
  • fanzine {fan + magazine)
  • flare (flame + glare)
  • flirtationship (flirting + relationship)
  • glimmer (gleam + shimmer)
  • guitarthritis (guitar + arthritis)
  • infotainment (information + entertainment)
  • Jazzercize (jazz + exercise)
  • moped (motor + pedal)
  • motorcade (motor + cavalcade)
  • palimony (pal + alimony)
  • pulsar (pulse + quasar)
  • slanguage (slang + language)
  • smash (smack + mash)
  • splatter (splash + spatter)
  • sportscast (sports + broadcast)
  • squiggle (squirm + wriggle)
  • stagflation (stagnation + inflation)
  • staycation (stay home + vacation)
  • telegenic (television + photogenic)
  • textpectation (text message + expectation)
  • transistor (transfer + resistor)
  • twirl (twist + whirl)
  • workaholic (work + alcoholic)
  • simulcast (simultaneous + broadcast)
  • smog (smoke + fog)
  • ginormous (giant + enormous)
  • internet (international + network)
  • because (by + cause)
  • emoticon (emotion + icon)
  • spanglish (spanish + english)
  • smassy (smart + sassy)
  • malware (malicious + software)
  • pixel (picture + element)
  • bash (bang + smash)
  • oxbridge (oxford + cambridge)
  • cellophane (cellulose + diaphane)
  • televangelist (television + evangelist)
  • slithy (lithe + slimy)
  • email (electronic + mail)
  • bionic (biology + electronic)

Borrowing

Borrowing is just taking a word from another language. The borrowed words are called loan words. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept whereby it is the meaning or idiom that is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort. Loanwords can also be called “borrowings”.

Great number of English words have been borrowed from other languages. These are sometimes referred to as loanwords.

Examples: algebra – Arabic, bagel – Yiddish,  cherub – Hebrew, chow mein – Chinese, fjord – Norwegian, galore – Irish, haiku – Japanese, kielbasa – Polish, murder – French, near – Sanskrit, paprika – Hungarian, pizza – Italian, smorgasbord – Swedish, tamale – Spanish, yo-yo – Tagalog

Loanwords

English has many loanwords. In 1973, a computerized survey of about 80,000 words in the old Shorter Oxford Dictionary (3rd edition) was published in Ordered Profusion by Thomas Finkenstaedt and Dieter Wolff. Their estimates for the origin of English words were as follows:

  • French, including Old French and early Anglo-French: 28.3%
  • Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
  • Germanic languages, including Old and Middle English: 25%
  • Greek: 5.32% •No etymology given or unknown: 4.03%
  • Derived from proper names: 3.28%
  • All other languages contributed less than 1%

However, if the frequency of use of words is considered, words from Old and Middle English occupy the vast majority. Examples: Biology, boxer, ozone from German Jacket, yoghurt, kiosh from Turkish Pistol, robot from Czech

Coinage

Coinage is the invention of totally new words. The typical process of coinage usually involves the extension of a product name from a specific reference to a more general one. For example: Kleenex, Xerox, and Kodak. These started as names of specific products, but now they are used as the generic names for different brands of these types of products.

Coinages are words invented by accident or intentionally mainly from no evident source. It should be pointed out that many coinages have come into existence by using brand names instead of the object being referred to. It is common that coinages are regularly called neologisms.
Example: aspirin, escalator, heroin, band-aid, factoid, Frisbee, Google, kerosene, Kleenex, Laundromat, linoleum, muggle, nylon, psychedelic, quark, Xerox, zipper, coalgate

Derivation

In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word. Example: happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine.  Derivation is the process of forming a new words by means of Affixation (Prefix, Infix and Suffix)

A derivational suffix usually applies to words of one syntactic category and changes them into words of another syntactic category. For example: the English derivational suffix -ly changes adjectives into adverbs (slow → slowly). Examples of English derivational patterns and their suffixes: adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → slowness) adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern → modernise) in British English or – ize (archaic → archaicize) in American English and Oxford spelling adjective-to-adjective: -ish (red → reddish) adjective-to-adverb: -ly (personal → personally) noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → recreational) noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify) verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → drinkable) verb-to-noun (abstract): -ance (deliver → deliverance) verb-to-noun (concrete): -er (write → writer)

Compounding

A compound is a lexeme (a word) that consists of more than one other lexeme. It can be categorized in to two i.e. endocentric and exocentric.

An endocentric compound consists of a head, i.e. the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which restrict this meaning. For example: The English compound doghouse, where house is the head and dog is the modifier, is understood as a house intended for a dog. Endocentric compounds tend to be of the same part of speech (word class) as their head, as in the case of doghouse.

Exocentric compounds do not have a head, and their meaning often cannot be transparently guessed from its constituent parts. For example: The English compound white-collar is neither a kind of collar nor a white thing. In an exocentric compound, the word class is determined lexically, disregarding the class of the constituents. For example: a must-have is not a verb but a noun.

English language allows several types of combinations of different word classes: N + N — lipstick , teapot, A + N — fast food, soft drink ,V + N — breakfast, sky-dive,  N + V — sunshine, babysit,  N + A –capital-intensive, waterproof,  A + A —deaf-mute, bitter-sweet.

Creative respelling:

Creative Respelling is a word formation that employs the strategy of altering letter(s) of a word. The word formed so is an example of Creative respelling. It is a deliberate attempt creating misspelled word.  Examples are nite (night), thanx (thanks), lite (light) etc.

Change of spelling is often used in commercials and slogans. For example Kleenex tissues, Mortal Kombat (game), Qwikster (movie-by-mail service). Misspelling quite often gives rise to brand names.

Sometimes words are formed by simply changing the spelling of a word that the speaker wants to relate to the new word. Brand or Product names often involve creative respelling, such as Mr. Kleen or Krunch.

Exercise: PROCESSES OF WORD FORMATION

1.Compounding

 Compounding is simply the joining of two or more words into a single word, as in hang glider, airstrip, cornflakes, busybody, downpour, cutoff, skywarn, alongside, breakfast, long-haired, devil-may-care, high school.

2. Derivation

 Derivation is the forming of new words by combining derivational affixes or bound bases with existing words, as in disadvise, emplane, deplane, teleplay, ecosystem, coachdom, counsellorship, re-ask.

 I. Indicate by the first letter the process of formation represented by each of the words below.

Compounding                   derivation

  1. roughneck                   _                                  6. pop              _
  2. codgerhood                 _                                  7. cream puff   _
  3. clink (of glasses)         _                                  8. wheeze        _
  4. doodad                                    _                                  9. weirdoism   _
  5. dacron                         _                                  10. exflux        _

3. Clipping

 Clipping means cutting off the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole: lab, dorm, prof, exam, gym, prom, math, psych, mike…

 II         Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed.

  1. curio    __________
  2. disco    __________                            10. memo        __________
  3. taxi      __________                            11. Fred           __________
  4. cab       __________                            12. Al              __________
  5. deli      __________                            13. Tom           __________
  6. vibes    __________                            14. Joe             __________
  7. gin       __________                            15. Phil            __________
  8. hype    __________

III        Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed.

  1. sport (game)    __________                6. wig              __________
  2. pike (road)       __________                7. cute             __________
  3. bus                   __________                8. Gene            __________
  4. van                  __________                9. Beth            __________
  5. chute               __________                10. Tony          __________

Clipped words are formed not only from individual words but from grammatical units, such as modifier plus noun. Paratrooper, for example, is a clipped form of parachutist trooper.

 IV        Give the originals of these clipped words.

  1. Amerindian     ____________________
  2. maître d’          ____________________
  3. contrail            ____________________
  4. taxicab             ____________________
  5. moped             ____________________
  6. comsat             ____________________
  7. agribusiness     ____________________

 4. Acronym

 Acronym is the process whereby a word is formed from the initials or beginning segments of a succession of words. In some cases the initials are pronounced, as in MP (military police, or Member of Parliament). In others the initials and/or beginning segments are pronounced as the spelled word would be. For example, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and radar (radio detecting and ranging).

V         Pronounce these acronyms and give their originals.

  1. RV                  ____________________
  2. NOW              ____________________
  3. UNESCO        ____________________
  4. OK                  ____________________
  5. scuba               ____________________
  6. OPEC              ____________________
  7. WASP             ____________________
  8. ICBM              ____________________
  9. jeep                  ____________________
  10. laser                 ____________________

5. Blending

 Blending is the fusion of two words into one, usually the first part of one word with the last part of another, as in gasohol, from gasoline and alcohol.

 VI        Give the originals of these blends:

  1. flunk                _________________
  2. happenstance   _________________
  3. stagflation       _________________
  4. simulcast         _________________
  5. gelignite          _________________
  6. smog                _________________
  7. dumbfound     _________________
  8. telecast                        _________________
  9. dandle             _________________
  10. splatter            _________________

VII      Give the blends that result from fusing these words.

  1. transfer            + resistor         = _________________
  2. automobile      + omnibus       = _________________
  3. escalade           + elevator        = _________________
  4. blare or blow   + spurt             = _________________
  5. squall               + squeak          = _________________

Exercise -1: Identify the process of word formation responsible for each of the following words. Try to determine the process before you consult a dictionary, though it may be necessary for you to do so.

a. curio h. margarine o. (the) hereafter v. boojum
b. (to) laze i. dystopia p. amphetamine w. gaffe-slack
c. (to) network j. serendipity q. (a) construct x. psycho
d. (to) cohere k. diesel r. (the) chunnel y. walkie-talkie
e. (a) sitcom l. (a) ha-ha s. guestimate z. bonfire
f. (the) muppets m. (to) make up t. canary v. boojum
g. (a) what-not n. (to) total u. brain-gain w. gaffe-slack

 Exercise -2: The words in column A have been created from the corresponding words in column B. Indicate the word formation process responsible for the creation of each word in column A.

Column A Column B
a. stagflation stagnation + inflation
b. nostril nosu + thyrl ‘hole’ (in Old English)
c. bookie bookmaker
d. van caravan
e. Amerindian American Indian
f. CD compact disc
g. RAM random access memory
h. televise television
i. xerox xeroxography
j. telathon television + marathon
k. sci-fi science fiction
l. elect election
m. deli delicatessen
n. scuba self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
o. scavenge scavenger
p. hazmat hazardous material

Exercise- 3: Identify the syntactic pattern in each of the following compounds and express it in a lexical rule. Example: gravedigger N + V + -er > N

a. hovercraft g. setback m. dugout s. badmouth y. lukewarm
b. dairyman h. meltdown n. hardhearted t. redhead z. law-abiding
c. bath-towel i. blackout o. homesick u. birth control aa. far-reaching
d. goldfish j. stand-in p. proofread v. breakfast bb. homemade
e. inroads k. turnout q. overqualified w. thoroughgoing cc. clean-cut
f. bystander l. money-hungry r. overachieve x. quick-change dd. fighter-bomber
ee. earthenware ff. snowplow gg. baking powder hh. drip-coffee ii. wisecrack

Exercise- 4: The following words are compounds which also include derivational affixes. Analyze the words, identifying the roots and their parts of speech, as well all the affixes and their function as nominalizer, verbalizer, adjectivalizer, or adverbializer.Example: housekeeper

house (root – noun) + keep (root – verb) + -er (nominalizer)

a. flightworthiness e. handicraft i. antiaircraft
b. chatterbox f. broken-hearted j. machine-readable
c. owner-occupied g. safety-tested k. chartered accountant
d. freedom-loving h. worldly-wise i. antiaircraft

Exercise- 5: Analyze the following words into morphs using the model given below:

Word Prefix(es) Root Suffix(es)
inequality in- equal -ity
a. hospitalization e. transcontinental i. unforgettable m. postcolonial q. hypersensitivity
b. invisibly f. ungrammatical j. impropriety n. unlikelihood r. unfriendliness
c. uninteresting g. reinforcement k. disfunctional o. relationship s. interdependence
d. undercooked h. prototypical l. inconsiderate p. asymmetrical t. monotheism

Exercise- 6: Underline examples of COMPOUNDING and AFFIXATION:

  1. Headhunters are invading university campuses in search of fresh talents among undergraduates.
  2. The price of oil reached its all-time-high yesterday.
  3. Joblessness rallies as the economy slows down.
  4. Governments have responded to tax-flight in many different ways.
  5. New mega-mergers are expected in the media-world.
  6. Consumers everywhere have been merrily spending with their credit cards.

Exercise- 7: CLIPPING: give the entire word of the following clipped forms and translate them:

lab ……………………………………………………………………

Dems ……………………………………………………………………..

flu ……………………………………………………………………

ads ………………………………………………………………………

Inc. ……………………………………………………………………

rev ………………………………………………………………………

The Fed …………………………………………………………………..

Feds ………………………………………………………………………

Exercise- 8: BLENDING: give the two words forming the following blends and translate them:

Sci-fi ……………………………

e-tailing ………………………

hi-fi ……………………………

stagflation …………………

brunch ………………………

AMEX ………………………

medicare ……………………

econometric ………………

Exercise- 9: ACRONYMS: give the extended phrase and the Italian/English equivalents of the following abbreviations:

OECD ………………………………………………………………………………………………

POW …………………………………………………………………………………………………

GDP ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

MEPs ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

IVA ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

OMC ………………………………………………………………………………………….

Exercise- 10: Write the original words against the clipped words.

Clipped Word Original Word Clipped Word Original Word Clipped Word Original Word
ad (marketing) groom pub (bar)
bro hippo ref (library)
butt lab (dog) sci-fi
cig lunch script (medicine)
con (prison) math spec (detail)
copter pants still (alcohol)
dorm perk (benefit) van (vehicle)
gas (fuel) piano vet (military)
abs doc (movies) phone
amp (music) fan (sports) quad (campus)
app (technology) gator rehab
cab (taxi) hack (taxi) rep (status)
chemist lab (science) scram
clerk limo sub (nautical)
coke (drug) narc trump (cards)
demo (construction) perk (coffee) uni (school)
ammo congrats mag
blog deb meth
bop (music) deke (sports) mum (flower)
bot exam photo
fab (awesomeness) sax
cab (wine) Fed trig
bye bye razz (sound)
calc (math) calc (math) repo
canter canter rev (engine)
champ champ rhino
comp (theatre) comp (theatre) sitcom
dis dis super (apartment)
gab gab ump
grad (student) grad (student) ute (truck)
bronc intercom reb (US Civil War)
cab (train) lav (bathroom) reverb
chute lude sub (teaching)
cop (police) mod (trendy) tec (police)
fax Net (technology) varsity
fess pop (music) vet (medicine)
hood (location) quack (medicine) wig
improv quake za

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  • Word forming class 1
  • Word formed with given letters
  • Word formed from the same root
  • Word formed from other words
  • Word formed from first letters