Words in English public website
Ling 216
Rice University
Prof. S. Kemmer
Types of Word Formation Processes
Compounding
Compounding forms a word out of two or more root morphemes. The words
are called compounds or compound words.
In Linguistics, compounds can be either native or borrowed.
Native English roots are
typically free morphemes, so that means native compounds are made out of
independent words that can occur by themselves. Examples:
mailman (composed of free root mail and free root man)
mail carrier
dog house
fireplace
fireplug (a regional word for ‘fire hydrant’)
fire hydrant
dry run
cupcake
cup holder
email
e-ticket
pick-up truck
talking-to
Some compounds have a preposition as one of the component words as in the
last 2 examples.
In Greek and Latin, in contrast to English, roots do not typically stand
alone. So compounds are composed of bound roots. Compounds formed in
English from borrowed Latin and Greek morphemes preserve this
characteristic. Examples include photograph,
iatrogenic, and many thousands of other classical words.
Note that compounds are written in various ways in English:
with a space between the elements; with a hyphen between the
elements; or simply with the two roots run together with no separation.
The way the word is written does not affect its status as a
compound. Over time, the convention for writing compounds can change,
usually in the direction from separate words (e.g. email used to be written with a hyphen.
In the 19th century, today and tomorrow were sometimes still written to-day and to-morrow. The to originally was the preposition to with an older meaning ‘at [a particular period of time]’.
Clock work changed
to clock-work and finally to one word with no break
(clockwork). If you read older literature you might see some
compound words that are now written as one word appearing
with unfamiliar spaces or hyphens between the components.
Another thing to note about compounds is that they can combine words
of different parts of speech. The list above shows mostly noun-noun
compounds, which is probably the most common part of speech
combination, but there are others, such as adjective-noun (dry
run, blackbird, hard drive), verb-noun (pick-pocket,
cut-purse, lick-spittle) and even verb-particle (where
‘particle’ means a word basically designating spatial expression that
functions to complete a literal or metaphorical path), as in
run-through, hold-over. Sometimes these compounds are
different in the part of speech of the whole compound vs. the part of
speech of its components. Note that the last two are actually nouns,
despite their components.
Some compounds have more than two component words. These are formed
by successively combining words into compounds, e.g. pick-up truck,
formed from pick-up and truck , where the first component,
pick-up is itself a compound formed from
pick and up. Other examples are ice-cream
cone, no-fault insurance and even more complex compounds like
top-rack dishwasher safe.
There are a number of subtypes of compounds that do not have to do
with part of speech, but rather the sound characteristics of the
words. These subtypes are not mutually exclusive.
Rhyming compounds (subtype of compounds)
These words are compounded from two rhyming words. Examples:
lovey-dovey
chiller-killer
There are words that are formally very similar to rhyming compounds,
but are not quite compounds in English because the second element is
not really a word—it is just a nonsense item added to a root word to
form a rhyme. Examples:
higgledy-piggledy
tootsie-wootsie
This formation
process is associated in English with child talk (and talk addressed
to children), technically called hypocoristic language. Examples:
bunnie-wunnie
Henny Penny
snuggly-wuggly
Georgie Porgie
Piggie-Wiggie
Another word type that looks a bit like rhyming compounds
comprises words that are formed of
two elements that almost match, but differ in their vowels.
Again, the second element is typically a nonsense form:
pitter-patter
zigzag
tick-tock
riffraff
flipflop
Derivation
Derivation is the creation of words by modification of a root without
the addition of other roots. Often the effect is a change in part of
speech.
Affixation (Subtype of Derivation)
The most common type of derivation is the addition of one or more affixes to a
root, as in the word derivation itself. This process is called
affixation, a term which covers both prefixation and suffixation.
Blending
Blending is one of the most beloved of word formation processes in
English. It is especially creative in that speakers take two words
and merge them based not on morpheme structure but on sound structure.
The resulting words are called blends.
Usually in word formation we combine roots or affixes along their
edges: one morpheme comes to an end before the next one starts. For example, we
form derivation out of the sequence of morphemes
de+riv+at(e)+ion. One morpheme follows the next and each one has
identifiable
boundaries. The morphemes do not overlap.
But in
blending, part of one word is stitched onto another word, without any
regard for where one morpheme ends and another begins. For example,
the word swooshtika ‘Nike swoosh as a logo symbolizing
corporate power and hegemony’
was formed from swoosh and swastika. The swoosh
part remains whole and recognizable in the blend, but the tika part is
not a morpheme, either in the word swastika or
in the blend. The blend is a perfect merger of form, and also of
content. The meaning contains an implicit analogy between the
swastika and the swoosh, and thus conceptually blends them into one
new kind of thing having properties of both, but also combined
properties of neither source. Other examples include glitterati (blending
glitter and literati) ‘Hollywood social set’, mockumentary (mock and
documentary) ‘spoof documentary’.
The earliest blends in English only go back to the 19th century, with
wordplay coinages by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky. For example, he
introduced to the language slithy, formed from lithe and
slimy, and galumph, (from gallop and
triumph. Interestingly galumph has survived as a word in
English, but it now seems to mean ‘walk in a stomping, ungainly way’.
Some blends that have been around for quite a while include brunch
(breakfast and lunch), motel (motor hotel), electrocute (electric and
execute), smog (smoke and
fog) and cheeseburger (cheese and hamburger).
These go back to the first half of the twentieth
century. Others, such as stagflation (stagnation and inflation),
spork (spoon and fork), and carjacking (car and hijacking) arose
since the 1970s.
Here are some more recent blends I have run across:
mocktail (mock and cocktail) ‘cocktail with no alcohol’
splog (spam and blog) ‘fake blog designed to attract hits and
raise Google-ranking’
Britpoperati (Britpop and literati) ‘those knowledgable about current British pop music’
Clipping
Clipping is a type of abbreviation of a word in which one part is
‘clipped’ off the rest, and the remaining word now means essentially the same
thing as what the whole word means or meant. For example, the word
rifle is a fairly modern clipping of an earlier compound
rifle gun, meaning a gun with a rifled barrel. (Rifled means
having a spiral groove causing the bullet to spin, and thus making it
more accurate.) Another clipping is burger, formed by clipping
off the beginning of the word hamburger. (This clipping could
only come about once hamburg+er was reanalyzed as ham+burger.)
Acronyms
Acronyms are formed by taking the initial letters of a phrase
and making a word out of it. Acronyms provide a way of turning a phrase into a word. The classical acronym is also
pronounced as a word. Scuba was formed
from self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. The
word snafu was originally WW2 army slang for Situation
Normal All Fucked Up. Acronyms were being used more and more by
military bureaucrats, and soldiers coined snafu in an
apparent parody of this overused device. Sometimes an acronym uses not just the first letter, but the first syllable of a component word, for example radar, RAdio Detection And Ranging and sonar, SOund Navigation and Ranging. Radar forms an analogical model for both sonar and lidar, a technology that measures distance to a target and and maps its surface by
bouncing a laser off it. There is some evidence that lidar was not coined as an acronym, but instead as a blend of light and radar. Based on the word itself, either etymology appears to work, so many speakers assume that lidar is an acronym rather than a blend.
A German example that strings together the initial syllables of the
words in the phrase, is Gestapo , from GEheime STAats POlizei
‘Sectret State Police’. Another is Stasi, from STAats
SIcherheit ‘State Security’.
Acronyms are a subtype of initialism. Initialisms also include words made from the initial letters of a Phrase but NOT pronounced as a normal word — it is instead pronounced as a string of letters. Organzation names aroften initialisms of his type. Examples:
NOW (National Organization of Women)
US or U.S., USA or U.S.A. (United States)
UN or U.N. (United Nations)
IMF (International Monetary Fund)
Some organizations ARE pronounced as a word:
UNICEF
MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
The last example incorporates a meaning into the word that fits the nature of the organization. Sometimes this type is called a Reverse Acronym or a Backronym.
These can be thought of as a special case of acronyms.
Memos, email, and text messaging (text-speak) are modes of communication
that give rise to both clippings and acronyms, since these
word formation methods are designed to abbreviate.
Some acronyms:
NB — Nota bene, literally ‘note well’. Used by scholars making notes
on texts. (A large number of other scholarly acronyms from Latin are
used, probably most invented in the medieval period or Renaissance,
not originally in Latin)
BRB — be right back (from 1980s, 90s)
FYI — for your information (from mid 20th century)
LOL — laughing
out loud (early 21st century) — now pronounced either /lol/ or /el o
el/; has spawned compounds like Lolcats).
ROFL — rolling on the floor laughing
ROFLMAO — rolling on the floor laughing my ass off
Reanalysis
Sometimes speakers unconsciously change the morphological boundaries of a word, creating a new morph or making an old one unrecognizable. This happened in hamburger, which was originally Hamburger steak ‘chopped and formed steak in the Hamburg style, then hamburger (hamburg + er), then ham + burger
Folk etymology
A popular idea of a word’s origin that is not in accordance with its real origin.
Many folk etymologies are cases of reanalysis in which the word is not only reanalysis but it changes under the influence of the new understanding of its morphemes. The result is that speakers think it has a different origin than it does.
Analogy
Sometimes speakers take an existing word as a model and form other words using some of its morphemes as a fixed part, and changing one of them to something new, with an analogically similar meaning. Cheeseburger was formed on the analogy of hamburger, replacing a perceived morpheme ham with cheese.
carjack and skyjack were also formed by analogy.
Novel creation
In novel creation, a speaker or writer forms a word without starting
from other morphemes. It is as if the word if formed out of ‘whole
cloth’, without reusing any parts.
Some examples of now-conventionalized words that were novel creations
include blimp, googol (the mathematical term),
bling, and possibly slang, which emerged in the last 200
years with no obvious etymology. Some novel creations seem to display
‘sound symbolism’, in which a word’s phonological form suggests its
meaning in some way. For example, the sound of the word bling
seems to evoke heavy jewelry making noise. Another novel creation whose sound seems
to relate to its meaning is badonkadonk, ‘female rear end’, a
reduplicated word which can remind English speakers of the repetitive
movement of the rear end while walking.
Creative respelling
Sometimes words are formed by simply changing the spelling of a word
that the speaker wants to relate to the new word. Product names
often involve creative respelling, such as Mr. Kleen.
© Suzanne Kemmer
Word formation is a very important aspect of most languages, and English is no exception. The term «word formation» refers to the processes through which new words are created. Given its significance in the English language and in Cambridge English exams, this short article will outline the basic word formation processes. Let’s go!
- Compounding
- Derivation: prefixes and suffixes
- Conversion
- Blending
- Abbreviation
- Clipping
- Acronyms
- Novel creation
- Creative re-spelling
- Loan words
- Download this post as a PDF
Compounding
It means creating a word by adding up two or more different words. Compound words have a new meaning, which is obviously related to the meanings of the other words. For example:
- book + case = bookcase
- sign + post = signpost
- watch + man = watchman
Not all compound words are written together. Sometimes they can by hyphenated (con guión) or separate, such as «traffic lights» or «ice-cream». Some, such as «ice-cream» can be written with our without a hyphen.
Derivation: prefixes and suffixes
This process is normally done through suffixation or prefixation, that is to say, adding a suffix or a prefix. For instance:
- urgent (adjective) + -cy = urgency (noun)
- ir- + responsible (adjective) + -y = irresponsibly (adverb)
- national (adjective) + -ise = nationalise
Conversion
Conversion happens when a word changes from one word class to another. For instance, the verb to google is formed from the noun Google; or the noun read (as in a good read) is formed from the verb to read. For example:
- I emailed this document to John. (emailed is a verb formed from the noun email)
- He was bullied at school as a child. (bullied is a verb formed from the noun bully)
Blending
This involves taking a part of two different words to make a new word, like merging two words based on the sounds of these words. This is extremely popular in the English language, and it produces hundreds of new words every year whose meanings is a mixture of the meanings of the original words. In some cases, these are informal, but there are many that have become a natural part of standard English. Let’s see some examples:
- channel + tunnel = chunnel
- motor + hotel = motel
- work + alcoholic = workaholic
Abbreviation
When we abbreviate a word, we form another word by shortening it or simply by using only part of the word:
- Perambulator –> pram
- Veterinary –> vet
In general, we can talk about two types of abbreviation: clipping and acronyms.
Clipping
This means literally clipping the word, which means «cutting» the word to make it shorter. This normally makes the word more informal and/or appealing. Some examples are:
- advertisement = ad
- hamburger = burger
- demonstration = demo
Acronyms
Acronyms, which are a form of abbreviation, are words formed by using only the first letter(s) of the words. By creating an acronym, we are reducing the meaning of a whole phrase o sentence to a single word. Let’s see some popular examples:
- laughing out loud = LOL
- United Nations = UN
- radio detection and ranging = radar
Novel creation
This basically means coming up with a completely new word without any of the processes above. These words are typically referred to as «neologisms». Some examples are:
- puzzle
- bash
- gimmick
- gadget
Creative re-spelling
This involves spelling a word differently in order to make it more practical, attractive, or to fulfil some particular aim, usually commercial. For example:
- because –> bcoz
- light –> lite
- forever –> 4eva
- Combat –> Kombat
Loan words
In linguistics, a loan happens when we take a word directly from a foreign language. Some examples of loan words in English are:
- solo
- pizza
- tapas
- negro
- carpe diem
- cul de sac
In general, when we loan a word, the spelling doesn’t usually change. However, some other changes may occur, like creating a plural form which doesn’t exist in the original language. As for pronunciation, we usually pronounce them with an «English accent», so it varies slightly from the original pronunciation.
As far as Cambridge English exams go, it’s derivation (prefixes & suffixes) that concerns us most, as it is present in two of the parts of the section of Use of English B2 and Use of English C1.
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Содержание
Словообразование (word formation [wəːrd fɔ:r’meɪʃ(ə)n]) — образование нового слова от другого слова.
Словообразование и словоизменение (Word Formation and Inflection)
Словообразование противопоставляется словоизменению: Словоизменение — это процесс изменения слова, выражающий грамматическое значение (например, спряжение глагола или образование множественного числа существительного), но при словоизменении слово не приобретает нового лексического значения т.е. это то же самое слово (лексема) в отличных грамматических формах:
-
He is an actor. – Он (есть) актёр.
-
They are actors. – Они (есть) актёры.
В приведённых примерах «is», «are» и «actor», «actors» — это разные грамматические формы тех же слов, эти формы не образуют нового лексического значения.
Способы словообразования (Types of Word Formation)
Деривация (Derivation)
Деривация (derivation [ˌdeɹɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n]) — процесс образования нового слова от другого слова за счет различных аффиксов (приставок и суффиксов).
Различают два вида деривации:
-
Новое образованное слово (дериватив) переходит в другой класс слов:
-
write → writer (писать → писатель)
-
-
Новое слово не переходит в другой класс слов, а только изменяет лексическое значение исходного слова:
-
friend → friendship (друг → дружба)
-
like → dislike (нравиться, любить → испытывать неприязнь)
-
В английском языке, деривация, а именно переход слова в другой класс также происходит без изменения исходной формы слова. Данный процесс называется нулевая деривация (zero derivation) или конверсия (см. ниже):
-
I love you and I can’t live without your love. – Я люблю тебя и не могу жить без твоей любви.
Словосложение (Compounding)
Словосложение (compounding [kəm’paundɪŋ] / composition [ˌkɔmpə’zɪʃ(ə)n]) — это один из способов образования сложных слов (compound words) , состоящий в морфологическом соединении двух или более слов.
Проблемой в лингвистике английского языка является разграничение некоторых сложных слов и словосочетаний, образуя общий термин композиты (Термин «композит» получил распространение только в русскоязычных грамматиках, в том числе и грамматиках по английскому языку):
-
stay-at-home (домосед)
-
dos and don’ts (правила, нормы)
-
I’m reading the how-to-get-anything-you-want guide. – Я читаю книгу о том, как получить всё, что захочешь.
Раздельное или слитное написание композитов не является основанием, используемым при различении сложных слов и словосочетаний. Основным критерием различия между сложным словом и словосочетанием является обособление лексического значения производного сложного слова от исходного словосочетания.
Вторичное словообразование (Back-formation)
Вторичное словообразование / обратное словообразование[1] / редеривация[2] (back-formation) —
Конверсия (Conversion)
Конверсия (conversion [kənˈvə:rʒ(ə)n]) разновидность словообразования, при котором от одной части речи образуется другая без каких-либо изменений в самой форме слова (безаффиксальное образование слова). Наиболее распространенной моделью конверсии является: [существительное ↔ глагол], например: an e-mail (электронная почта) → to e-mail (написать или отправить электронное письмо); to drink (пить) → a drink (глоток; стакан (вина, воды)):
-
I heard her name his name. – Я слышал, как она назвала его имя. (в первом случае «name» — глагол «назвала», а во втором — существительное со значением «имя»),
-
I love you and I can’t live without your love. – Я люблю тебя и не могу жить без твоей любви.
-
Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk. – «Не говори того, чего не можешь сделать.»
-
He is my best friend. – Он мой лучший друг.
-
I can best them. – Я могу их превзойти (провести / одержать верх).
-
Love betters what is best.[3] – Любовь улучшает лучшее.
-
She lives one floor up. – Она живёт этажом выше.
-
They up the minimum requirements! – Они подняли минимальные требования!
Конверсия прилагательных в существительные может происходить в результате эллипсиса:
-
He’s a good worker but he’s not a very intellectual (person). – Он хороший работник, но не очень умный (человек).
-
The native residents are very hospitable. → The natives are very hospitable. – Местные (жители) очень гостеприимны.
В некоторых случаях происходит временная конверсия прилагательных в существительные. В таких случаях существительное не полностью получает самостоятельное лексическое значение и его полное значение явствует из контекста:
-
Fuel is carried in four tanks, two main tanks and two auxiliariy tanks. → Fuel is carried in four tanks, two main and two auxiliaries. – Топливо перевозится в четырех резервуарах, двух основных и двух вспомогательных.
Употребление прилагательных вместо существительных возможно и без конверсии. Например, некоторые прилагательные могут употребляться вместо существительных, означающих людей и согласуются с глаголом во множественном числе, при этом, прилагательные не принимают формы множественного числа и употребляются с определенным артиклем, например: the rich (богатые), the unemployed (безработные) (см. Субстантивация).
Усечение (Clipping)
Усечение / сокращение (clipping [‘klɪpɪŋ] / truncation [tɹʌŋ’keɪʃ(ə)n] / shortening [‘ʃɔ:ɹtnɪŋ])
-
Инициальное усечение (initial clipping / fore-clipping / apheresis) — усечение начальной части слова:
-
helicopter → copter
-
telephone → phone
-
airplane → plane
-
website → site
-
-
Финальное усечение (final clipping / back clipping / apocope):
-
demonstration → demo
-
doctor → doc
-
examination → exam
-
gasoline → gas
-
-
Срединное усечение (medial clipping / syncope):
-
madam → ma’am
-
mathematics → maths
-
-
Двустороннее усечение (усечение крайних частей слова):
-
influenza → flu
-
refrigerator → fridge
-
-
???:
-
tobacco → baccy
-
reconnaissance → reccy
-
-
Слияние усечений (complex clipping / clipped compound):
-
sci-fi (science fiction)
-
motel (motor hotel)
-
modem (modulator demodulator)
-
Blending
Abbreviations
Acronyms
Eponyms
Coinages
Nonce words
Borrowing
Calquing
1]
Краткий понятийно-терминологический справочник по этимологии и исторической лексикологии. — Российская академия наук, Институт русского языка им. В. В. Виноградова РАН, Этимология и история слов русского языка . Ж. Ж. Варбот, А. Ф. Журавлев . 1998.
2]
Словарь-справочник лингвистических терминов. Изд. 2-е. — М.: Просвещение Розенталь Д. Э., Теленкова М. А. 1976
3]
William Wordsworth. From The Same.
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Word
formation is a branch of science of the language which studies the
patterns on which a language forms new lexical items (new unities,
new words). Word formation is a process of forming words by
combining root & affixal morphemes. 2 major groups of word
formation: 1) words, formed as grammatical syntagmas, combinations
of full linguistic signs (types: compounding (словосложение),
prefixation, suffixation, conversion, back derivation). 2) words,
which are not grammatical syntagmas, which are not made up of full
linguistic signs. For ex.: expressive symbolism, blending, clipping,
rhyme & some others.
Different
types of word formation:
—
COMPOUNDING
is joining together 2 or more stems.
Types: 1) without a
connecting element (headache, heartbreak); 2) with a vowel or
consonant as a linking element (speedometer, craftsman); 3) with a
preposition or conjunction as a linking element down-and-out
(опустошенный)
son-in-law.
—
PREFIXATION
Prefixes are such particles that can be prefixed to full words. But
are themselves not with independent existence.
—
SUFFIXATION
A suffix is a derivative final element which is or was productive in
forming new words. It has semantic value, but doesn’t occur as an
independent speech use.
—
CONVERSION
(zero derivation) A certain stem is used for the formation of a
categorically different word without a derivative element being
added.(Bag — to bag)
—
BACK DERIVATION
is deraving a new word, which is morphologically simpler from a more
complex word. ( A babysitter — to babysit
Television — to televise)
—
PHONETIC SYMBOLISM
is using characteristic speech sounds for name giving. Very often we
imitate by the speech sounds what we hear: (tinkle, splash, t).
—
CLIPPING
Consists in the reduction of a word to one of its parts.
( Mathematics — maths)
—
BLENDING
is blending part of two words to form one word ( Smoke + fog =
smog)
Словообразование
является
отраслью
науки
о
языке,
который
изучает
модели,
на которой язык
формирует
новые
лексические
единицы
(новые
единицы,
новые слова). Словообразование
является
процесс
формирования
слов,
объединяя корень
и
аффиксальной
морфем.
2
основные
группы
словообразования:
1) слова,
образованные в грамматических
синтагм,
комбинации полной
языковые
знаки
(типа:
рецептуры
(словосложение),
префиксация,
суффиксация,
преобразования, обратно
вывод).
2)
слова,
которые
не являются
грамматическими
синтагм,
которые не составляют
полной
языковых
знаков.
Ex:.
Выразительной
символикой,
смешивания,
обрезание, рифмы и
некоторые
другие.
Различные
типы
словообразования:
—
Рецептура
объединяются
два
или
несколько
стеблей.
Типы:
1)
без
соединительного
элемента
(головная
боль,
горе),
2) с
гласной
или
согласной,
как связующий
элемент
(спидометр,
ремесленник), 3) с
предлога
или союза,
как связующий
элемент
вниз
и
выход
(опустошенный)
сын-в-законе.
—
Префиксация
Префиксы
таких
частиц,
которые могут быть приставкой
к
полной
слова.
Но
сами
по себе
не
с
независимым
существованием.
—
Суффиксация
суффикс
является
производным
Последний
элемент,
который является или был
продуктивным
в
формировании
новых
слов.
Он
имеет
смысловое
значение,
но не встречаются
в виде
самостоятельного
использования
речи.
—
Преобразование
(ноль
вывода)
определенных
стволовых
используется
для
формирования
категорически
другое
слово,
не производный
элемент
добавляется
(сумка
—
к
сумке).
—
НАЗАД
вывод
deraving
новое
слово,
которое морфологически
проще
с
более
сложным
словом.
(Няня
—
в
качестве
няни
Телевидение
—
к
телевидению)
—
ФОНЕТИЧЕСКИЙ
СИМВОЛИЗМ
использует
характерные
звуки
речи
для
названия
давать.
Очень
часто мы
подражать
от
звуков
речи,
что мы слышим:
(звон,
заставка, т).
—
Отсечение
Заключается
в
сокращении
слова
одной
из
его
частей.
(Математика
—
математика)
—
Смешивание
смешивание
часть
из
двух слов
в
одно
слово
(Дым
+
Туман
=
смог)
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How are words formed? Are there any rules by which words are formed? Let’s find out. This article will walk you through what word formation is, the various types of word formation and the rules to be adhered to when forming words. The number of examples given will make your learning process more effective and easier. Check it out.
Table of Contents
- What Is Word Formation?
- Types of Word Formation with Examples
- Rules to be Followed When Forming Words
- Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
- Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English
The English language is known for its wonderful quality of the way in which words and sentences are formed and used. Formation of new words from an existing root word by adding a syllable or another word is the general process; however, there are multiple ways in which it can be done.
Types of Word Formation with Examples
The formation of words is classified into four types based on how the process of formation is carried out. They are:
- By adding prefixes
- By adding suffixes
- Converting from one word class to another
- Forming compound words
Let us look at each type of word formation in detail.
Adding Prefixes
The term ‘prefix’ refers to one or more alphabets added to the stem of a word, mostly to make it negative. The most commonly used prefixes include ‘in-’, ‘un-’, ‘dis-’, ‘im-’, ‘ir-’, etc. Look at the examples given below for a clearer understanding of how prefixes are used to form new words.
Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Prefixes
- Discipline – indiscipline
- Just – unjust
- Tidy – untidy
- Respect – disrespect
- Understand – misunderstand
- Comfortable – uncomfortable
- Comfort – discomfort
- Responsible – irresponsible
- Honest – dishonest
- Happy – unhappy
- Polite – impolite
- Experience – inexperience
- Practical – impractical
- Important – unimportant
- Legal – illegal
- Ethical – unethical
- Potent – impotent
Adding Suffixes
A suffix is a short syllable added at the end of a base word. The addition of suffixes usually changes the word class of the particular word. The most common suffixes include ‘-ment’, ‘-ness’, ‘-ity’, ‘-ous’, ‘-tion’, ‘-sion’, ‘-al’, ‘-able’, ‘-ible’, ‘-ive’, ‘-ly’, ‘-ate’, ‘-er’, ‘-or’, etc. Check out the following examples to see how suffixes are added.
Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Suffixes
- Comprehend (verb) – comprehension (noun) – comprehensible (adjective)
- Inform (verb) – information (noun) – informative (adjective)
- Invest (verb) – Investment (noun) – Investor (noun)
- Write (verb) – writer (noun)
- Authorise (verb) – authorisation (noun)
- Move (verb) – movement (noun)
- Add (verb) – addition (noun)
- Happy (adjective) – happiness (noun)
- Conserve (verb) – conservation (noun)
- Wide (Adjective) – widen (verb)
- Manage (verb) – manageable (adjective) – manager (noun)
- Courage (noun) – courageous (adjective)
- Brave (adjective) – bravery (noun)
- Profit (noun) – profitable (adjective)
- Quick (adjective) – quickly (adverb)
- Happy (adjective) – happily (adverb)
- Sad (adjective) – sadness (noun)
Conversion
The process of conversion focuses solely on changing the word class of the particular word. If you have noticed, you would have seen how some nouns are used to perform the role of a verb or an adjective acting like a noun just by the addition of another word or slightly altering the spelling of the actual word.
Examples of Word Formation by Conversion
- The rich should help the poor.
Adjectives such as ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ are used as nouns by using them with the article ‘the’.
- Everyone is talented.
‘Talented’ – a past participle is used as an adjective in the above sentence. The word is formed by adding the suffix ‘ed’ to the end of the noun ‘talent’.
- There will definitely be a lot of ups and downs in life.
Prepositions ‘up’ and ‘down’ are used as nouns by adding ‘s’ to the end of it.
- He texted me about the meeting only at the last minute.
The noun ‘text’ used to refer to a text message sent on a phone is used as a verb in the sentence by adding an ‘ed’ to the end of the word.
- The financial aid had to be approved before we could make a decision.
The noun ‘finance’ is used as an adjective by adding ‘ial’ to the end of it and the verb ‘decide’ is used as a noun by removing ‘de’ and adding ‘sion’ to the word.
Forming Compound Words
Compound words are formed by combining one part of speech with another to form a specific word class. There are many ways in which compound words are formed. Verbs are combined with adjectives to form compound verbs, a present participle is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, two nouns are combined to form a compound noun, an adjective and a noun are combined to form a compound noun, an adverb is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, an adjective is combined with a past participle to form a compound adjective and so on. Take a look at the following examples and go through the articles on compound nouns, compound words and compound adjectives to understand how they work.
Examples of Word Formation by Compounding
- Over (adverb) + load (noun) – Overload
- White (adjective) + wash (verb) – Whitewash
- Black (adjective) + board (noun ) – Blackboard
- Cup (noun) + board (noun) – Cupboard
- Short (adjective) + hand (noun) – Shorthand
- Swimming (present participle) + pool (noun) – Swimming pool
- Three (adjective) + legged (past participle) – Three-legged
- Break (verb) + Down (preposition) – Breakdown
- Up (preposition) + town (noun) – Uptown
- Copy (verb) + writer (noun) – Copywriter
- Sun (noun) + rise (verb) – Sunrise
- Count (verb) + down (preposition) – Countdown
- Flash (verb) + mob (noun) – Flash mob
- Master (noun) + piece (noun) – Masterpiece
- Round (adjective) + table (noun) – Round-table
Rules to be Followed When Forming Words
Formation of words can be a very interesting exercise, but you have to be really careful when you are adding inflections or affixes. There are a few things you will need to bear in mind when you are forming words. Take a look at the following points to learn what they are.
- Before making any change to the stem of the word, try to analyse what is the kind of meaning you want the word to convey and what role the word will have to play in the sentence.
- In most cases, the beginning of the base word remains the same. Only when prefixes are added the word has a syllable added to the beginning of it. Notice that even in this case, the word is retained as such.
- When suffixes are added, there are many instances where you will have to remove the last one or more alphabets of the word and add the suffix. However, there are words like ‘movement’ where the suffix is just added without any change in the spelling of the base word.
- Here is one way to easily know which suffix has to be added to form a particular word class – most often, nouns end in ‘er’, ‘or’, ‘ist’, ‘ian’, ‘ion’, ‘ment’, ‘ness’, and ‘ity’; verbs end in ‘ise’, ‘ate’ and ‘en’; adjectives end in ‘able’, ‘ible’, ‘ive’, ‘ic’, ‘ed’, ‘ing’ and ‘al’; and adverbs normally end in ‘ly’.
- When words are formed by conversion, be very careful. Make sure you know that you are converting them accurately and using them in the sentence properly.
- When forming compound words, see to it that you hyphenate them if necessary, use the right combination of words and do not just mix and match any word.
- Changing from one tense to another also can also be considered a type of word formation, as the word is inflected to indicate the twelve different tenses in the English language.
- Forming degrees of comparison can also be put under word formation. In this case, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding ‘er’ and ‘est’ to the end of the adjective. The comparative and superlative degrees of polysyllabic words are formed by using ‘more’ and ‘most’, respectively, along with the adjective.
Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
Exercise 1 – Add Prefixes and Suffixes
Add prefixes and suffixes to the following words.
1. Passion____
2. Remember____
3. ____conscious
4. Sense____
5. ____acceptable
6. Entertain____
7. ____representation
8. Neat____
9. Invent____
10. ____interpret
Answers for Exercise 1
1. Passionate
2. Remembrance
3. Unconscious/Subconscious
4. Sensible/Senseless
5. Unacceptable
6. Entertainment
7. Misrepresentation
8. Neatly/Neatness
9. Invention
10. Misinterpret
Exercise 2 – Conversion of Words
Go through the following words and convert them as directed.
1. Money (convert into adjective)
2. Brave (convert into noun)
3. Clean (convert into noun)
4. Prayer (convert into adjective)
5. Resemblance (convert into verb)
6. Slow (convert into adverb)
7. Treat (convert into noun)
8. Confession (convert into verb)
9. Vary (convert into adjective)
10. Beauty (convert into verb)
Answers for Exercise 2
1. Monetary
2. Bravery
3. Cleanliness
4. Prayerful
5. Resemble
6. Slowly
7. Treatment
8. Confess
9. Various/variable
10. Beautify
Exercise 3 – Form Compound Words
Go through the words in the box given below and use them to form ten compound words.
up, table, spend, load, green, machine, case, make, estimate, over, self
1. _______ confident
2. Washing _______
3. Time _______
4. Under _______
5. _______sufficient
6. Up_______
7. _______set
8. Suit_______
9. _______over
10. _______thrift
Answers for Exercise 3
1. Overconfident
2. Washing machine
3. Timetable
4. Underestimate
5. Self-sufficient
6. Upload
7. Upset
8. Suitcase
9. Makeover
10. Spendthrift
Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English
Q1
What is word formation?
Word formation is the process by which new words are formed by adding an affix, another word or converting from one word class to another by removing and adding alphabets.
Q2
What are the four types of word formation?
The four types of word formation include:
- Addition of prefix
- Addition of suffix
- Conversion from one word class to another
- Forming compound words
Q3
Give some examples of word formation.
Here are some examples of the various types of word formation for your reference:
- Practical – impractical (prefix)
- Purpose – purposeful (suffix)
- Silent – silence (conversion)
- Dining + room – Dining room (compound word)
- Small – smaller – smallest (degrees of comparison)