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Word Formation
Processes Click to edit Master subtitle style

4/5/12 Compoundi ngis a process in which two different words are

joined together to denote one thing. For example: flower-pot is a compound made of two words: flower and pot, but it does not denote two things, it refers to one object. Some English compounds include: windmill, waterfall, fingerprint, scarecrow. Compounds are pronounced as one unit, but sometimes difficulties in writing arise: some compounds are

Blendin g
is

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very similar to compounding, but it is characterized by taking only parts of words and joining them.

Famous English examples include: - smog which combines smoke and fog, - motel made of motor and hotel, - Spanglish which is combination of Spanish and English - guesstimate, from guess and estimate.

Clippin g
is

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shortening or reducing long words. It is very common in English which can be seen on the following examples: information is clipped to info to advert or ad to flu to phone.

advertisement influenza

telephone

Coinage
is

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creation of a totally new word. This word formation process is not frequent, however large corporations attempt to outdo one another to invent short eye-catching names for their products. Some examples of these could include: aspirin or xerox. Sometimes the products that the companies want to sell simply take over the name of the creator or inventor. In such case the new word is called aneponym.Some well known eponyms include: sandwich, or hoover. They are very frequently used in science where units of measurement are named after people, like: hertz, volt, (degree) Celsius.

Borrowi ng
is

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taking a word from one language and incorporating it into another. The English language has been very absorbent and took over words from all over the world, some of them include: boxer, ozone from German kiosk, yogurt from Turkish robot from Czech.

biology, jackal, pistol,

Acronym
is

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a word formed from initial letters of a few words in a phrase or a name. Some acronyms are pronounced by saying each letter separately, as in CD, DVD, VCR, IBM, FBI. Some are pronounced as words, like NATO, laser, AIDS, scuba.

Backformatio n

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is a process in which a word changes its form and function. Word of one type, which is usually a noun, is reduced and used as a verb. To show it on an example: English wordarmsmeaning weapon was backformed toarmto mean provide weapons, similarly edit was backformed from editor, or typewrite from typewriter.

the

4/5/12 Conversio n is a change in function of a verb without

changing its form. Nouns start to be used as verbs like:

bottle

to bottle, bottling: Im bottling the compote to butter, buttered: Ive buttered the bread.

butter Also

verbs can become nouns: a must: Watching this film is a must a guess: It was a lucky guess.

must

guess

4/5/12 Derivatio n is probably the most common word formation

process in the English language. It is achieved by adding affixes:

prefixes suffixes or

are added at the beginning of a word added to the end of a word

infixes which are inserted inside a word, but infixes are unusual in English. prefixes include for example re-, un-, mis-, pre-, disinclude for instance -ful, -less, -able, -or.

English

suffixes It

seems that infixes in English are confined to curse words such as: absofuckinglutely,

Este cuadro sinptico lo hizo JLo

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Compounding: two different words are joined together to denote one thing. Using with or without hyphens, separately or together. Blending: it is characterized by taking only parts of words and joining them Clipping: is shortening or reducing long words Coinage: is creation of a totally new word. (When take over the name of the creator or inventor is a eponym) Borrowing: is taking a word from one language and incorporating it into another Acronym: is a word formed from initial letters of a few words in a phrase or a name Backformation: The writting and function change. Conversion: The function changes but the writing no. Suffixes Derivation: We ad affixes Prefixes Infixes

Word Formation