UNIT10

LEXIS.WORDFORMATIONFEATURESIN
ENGLISH.PREFIXATION,SUFFIXATION,AND
COMPOUNDING.
OUTLINE
1.

INTRODUCTION.1.1.Aimsoftheunit.1.2.Notesonbibliography.

2.

AHISTORICALOVERVIEWOFVOCABULARY.2.1.Thestatusof
vocabularyinancienttimes.2.2.Thedevelopmentoflexicography:
dictionariesuptodate.2.3.Vocabularyandlanguageteaching
methodologies.2.4.Wordformationwithinalinguistictheory.

3.

ENGLISHLEXIS:GENERALCONSIDERATIONS.3.1.Ondefining
thetermlexis.3.2.Lexicography:ontheorganizationoflexis.3.3.
Lexicology:thestudyoflexisandkeyterminology.
3.3.1.Ondefiningword,lexeme,andwordform.3.3.1.1.Whatisaword?
3.3.1.2.Whatisalexeme?3.3.1.3.Whatisawordform?
3.3.2.Thegrammaticalword:morpheme,morph,andallomorph.3.3.2.1.
Whatisamorpheme?3.3.2.2.Whatisamorph?3.3.2.3.Whatisanallomorph?

3.3.3.Freevsboundmorphemes.

3.3.4.Typesofmorphemestructure:root,stem,andbase.

3.3.5.Inflectionalvsderivationalmorphology.

3.3.6.Thenotionofwordformation.
4.WORDFORMATIONPROCESSES.MAINFEATURES.
4.1.AFFIXATION.4.1.1.Prefixes.
4.1.1.1.Negativeprefixes.4.1.1.2.Reversativeorprivativeprefixes.

4.1.1.3.Pejorativeprefixes.4.1.1.4.Prefixesofdegreeorsize.4.1.1.5.
Prefixesofattitude.4.1.1.6.Locativeprefixes.4.1.1.7.Prefixesoftime
andorder.4.1.1.8.Numberprefixes.4.1.1.9.Conversionprefixes.
4.1.1.10.Otherprefixes.

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4.1.2.Suffixes.4.1.2.1.Suffixesformingnouns.4.1.2.2.Suffixesforming
adjectives.4.1.2.3.Suffixesformingverbs.4.1.2.4.Suffixesforming
adverbs.4.1.2.5.Otherformclassesasbases.4.1.2.6.Suffixesonforeign
bases.
4.2.COMPOUNDING.
.

4.2.1.Compoundnouns.

4.2.2.Compoundadjectives.

4.2.3.Compoundverbs.

4.2.4.Compoundadverbs.

4.2.5.Othercompoundtypes.
4.3.CONVERSION.4.4.ACRONYMS.4.5.BLENDS.4.6.CLIPPINGS.
4.7.BACKFORMATION.4.8.FOLKETYMOLOGY.4.9.EPONYMS.
4.10.ONOMATOPOEICCOINAGES.4.11.WORD
MANUFACTURE.

5.

VOCABULARYINLANGUAGETEACHING.

6.

FUTUREDIRECTIONSONTHETREATMENTOFLEXIS.

7.

CONCLUSION.

8.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

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1.INTRODUCTION.
1.1.Aimsoftheunit.
ThisstudyonEnglishlexisisaimedtoknowmoreabouttheway
vocabularyworks.Itattemptstoprovidethebackgroundknowledge
necessaryforthereaderstomakeinformedchoiceabout
vocabularyandwordformation.Bythetimethisstudyisfinished,you
shouldbeawareofthemajorissuesinthefieldoflexisandword
formation,andequippedtoreadmoreadvancedwritingsonthemifyou
sowishbythebibliographyprovidedattheendofthispresentationfor
furtherexploration.
Thestructureofthisstudycanbedividedintofourmainsections.
Chapter2providesahistoricalbackgroundonlexisinanattemptto
review(1)thestatusofvocabularyinancienttimes,(2)thedevelopment
ofEnglishlexicographyuptopresentdaytrends,and(3)howdifferent
languagemethodologieshavedealtwithvocabularyovertheages.
Chapter3providesanintroductoryandelementaryaccountoftheterm
lexisregarding(1)itsdefinition,(2)theorganizationoflexisbymeans
oflexicography,and(3)thestudyoflexisregardingkeyterminologyso
astopreparethereaderforthelinguisticbackgroundwhichisanalysed
innextchapter.
Keyterminologyincludesseveralbasicconceptsrequiredinthestudyof
wordformationatamorphologicallevelinordertoprovidethe
necessarybackgroundtodescribewordformationprocesseswith
precision.Sothissectionreviews(a)thedefinitionofword,lexeme,and
wordform,(b)thedefinitionofmorpheme,morph,andallomorph,(c)
thedualityfreeversusboundmorphemes,(d)typesofmorphemes:root,
stem,andbase,and(e)finally,wordformationprocesses:inflectionand
derivation,includingthenotionsofaffixes(suffixesandprefixes).
Chapter4provides,then,atheoreticalapproachtothewordformation
processinwhichthemaintenetsonthisissueareexaminedandanalysed
withrespecttoitsmainfeaturesandorganisation.Thus,(1)inflectional

whichincludes(a)prefixation,and(b)suffixation;and(2)derivational
processeswhichinclude(a)compounding.Otherminordevicesinword
formationarealsoincluded.
Chapter5accountsforlexicalimplicationsonthefieldoflanguage
teaching,andChapter6examinesfuturedirectionsonthisissue.From
allthesechaptersweshalldrawsomeconclusionsinChapter7,and
finally,bibliographywillbelistedinChapter8.
1.2.Notesonbibliography.
Inordertoofferaninsightfulanalysisandsurveyonlexisandword
formationinEnglish,wehavedealtwiththeworksofrelevantfiguresin
thefield.Forinstance,anapproachtothenatureofvocabularyand
lexicalknowledgeinsecondlanguageteachingisprovidedbyNorbert
SchmittinhisworkVocabularyinLanguageTeaching(2000),sincehe
representsoneofanactivegroupofscholarswhoseresearchhasput
vocabularyattheforefrontofcontemporaryappliedlinguistics.

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Anotherreferencebook,stillindispensable,isthatofValerieAdams,An
IntroductiontoModernEnglishwordformation(1973)inwhichweare
presentedcarefulconsiderationstothemanycomplexkindsofregular
patternsinwordformation,includingitshistoryandtraditions.
AnotheressentialreadingonthisfieldisBauer,EnglishWordFormation
(1983),andotherclassicreferencesofinterestarethoseofAitchinson,
Wordsinthemind:Anintroductiontothemental
lexicon(1994);McCarthy,Vocabulary(1990);Nelson,TheEnglish
language(1974);Payne,LexemeMorphemeBaseMorphology(1995);
Quirk&Greenbaum,AUniversityGrammarofEnglish(1973);and
againSchmitt&McCarthy,Vocabulary:Description,acquisition,and
pedagogy(1997).Besides,otherinfluentialworksontheoriginsand
developmentofvocabularyareAlgeo&Pyles,Theoriginsand
developmentoftheEnglishlanguage(1982);Baugh&Cable,AHistory
oftheEnglishLanguage(1993),andCrystal,Linguistics(1985).Finally,

formoreinformationoneducationalimplications,seeB.O.E.(2002),and
forfuturedirectionsinvocabularyassessment,seeAssessingVocabulary
(2000)byJohnRead.Heisascholarwhohasdevotedmanyyearstothe
studyofvocabularyinthecontextofsecondandforeignlanguage
learning,teaching,andassessment.Infact,JohnReadisattheforefront
ofrecentworkinthearea,andasalanguageteacher,heoffersafamiliar
approachtothechallengesfacedbystudentsacquiringvocabularyand
usingitinasecondlanguage.
ThreegoodplacesforvocabularyresearchontheInternetare:(1)
http://www.swan.ac.uk/cals/calsres.html;(2)http://www1.harenet.nejp/
waring/vocabindex.html;and(3)http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course.
2.AHISTORICALOVERVIEWOFVOCABULARY.
Inordertobetterunderstandthecurrentstateofvocabularyandword
formationprocesses,asdiscussedinsubsequentchapters,wewillfirst
brieflyreviewthestatusofvocabularyinancienttimes,andthen,we
shallofferanaccountofsomeofthehistoricalinfluencesthathave
shapedthefieldasweknowittoday.Therefore,weshallreviewthe
numerousdifferentapproachestolanguagelearning,eachwitha
differentperspectiveonvocabulary,whichattimeshavegiven
vocabularyprideofplaceinteachingmethodologies,andatothertimes
neglected.Finally,ahistoricalbackgroundtowordformationprocesses
willleadustoatheoreticalgroundingonlexisandkeyterminologyin
Chapter3.
2.1.Thestatusofvocabularyinancienttimes.
Thestatusofvocabularyinancienttimesinundoubtelyrelatedto
languageteachingsincepeoplehaveconstantlyattemptedtolearnsecond
languagesformorethantwothousandyears.Infact,theearliestevidence
wehaveofinterestinvocabularytracesbacktothefourthcenturyB.C.
inaworkcarriedoutbyPaniniinSanskritintheformofasetofaround
4,000aphoristicstatementsaboutthe

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languagesstructure,knownassutras.Inoneofthosechapters,Panini
providedadetaileddescriptionofwordformationprocesses.
Lateron,recordsoftheimportanceofvocabularyextendbackatleastto
thetimeoftheRomansinthesecondcenturyB.C.,whenstudentswere
taughttheartofrethoric.Infact,atthispointintime,thisGreekartwas
highlyprized,andwouldhavebeenimpossibleforRomanchildrento
studyGreekwithoutahighlydevelopedvocabulary.Inearlyschools,
studentslearnedtoreadbyfirstmasteringthealphabet,thenprogressing
throughsyllables,words,andconnecteddiscourse.Forthispurpose,
beforereadingatext,lexicalhelpwasprovidedeitheralphabetizedor
groupedundervarioustopicareas(Schmitt,2000).
AsimilarworktothatofPanini,tookplacelater,aroundtheseventh
centuryA.D.,inconnectionwiththeKoranandArabicstudies.Itwas
lessinfluentialduetothefactthattheKoranwasnottobetranslated,but
tobeliterallyinterpreted,promotingconsiderablythestudyofArabic,
bothasanativeandasaforeignlanguage.Therefore,insubsequent
centurie,thisreligiousstimuluspromoteddevelopmentsinlexicography,
thatis,dictionarymaking,thestudyofpronunciation,andlanguage
history(Crystal,1985).
Later,inthemedievalperiod,undertheaegisoftheChurch,Latin
becamethemediumofeducateddiscourseandlargelybecauseofthis,
thestudyofgrammarbecamepredominant.Throughoutthisperiod,there
wasahighstandardofcorrectnessinlearning,andmistakeswereheavily
punishedinLatinclasses.LanguageinstructionduringtheRenaissance
continuedtohaveagrammaticalfocus,althoughsomereforming
educatorsrebelledagainsttheoveremphasisonsyntax.
Intheseventeenthcentury,twoscholars,WilliamofBathandJohn
AmosComenius,attemptedtoraisethestatusofvocabularyby
promotingtheideaofcontextualizedvocabulary.Theysuggestedthe
directuseofthetargetlanguageintranslation,gettingawayfromrote
memorization,andavoidingthegrammarfocus.Thus,in1611William

wroteatextthatconcentratedonvocabularyacquisitionthrough
contextualizedpresentation.Inhiswork,hepresented1,200proverbs
thatexemplifiedcommonLatinvocabulary.Ontheotherhand,
Comeniuscreatedatextbookwithalimitedvocabularyofeightthousand
commonLatinwords,whichweregroupedaccordingtotopicsand
illustratedwithlabelledpictures.
Thenotionofalimitedvocabularywasimportantandwastobefurther
developedintheearlytwentiethcenturyaspartofacurrentlanguage
teachingmethodologycalledVocabularyControlMovement,whichis
aimedtosystematizetheselectionofvocabulary.Unfortunately,the
emphasisoflanguageinstructionremainedfirmlyandmanygrammars
werewrittenbasedonLatinmodels,whichreceivedgeneralacceptance,
andhelpedprolongthedominationofgrammarovervocabulary.This
preoccupationfilteredovertoEnglishaswell,anditwasreflectedinthe
standardizationofvocabularyintheeighteenthcenturybymeansof
grammarbooksanddictionaries.

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2.2.Thedevelopmentoflexicography:dictionariesuptodate.
Regardingdictionaries,thissectionreviewsthedevelopmentofEnglish
lexicographyfromtheearliestevidencesofdictionariestothephaseof
standardizationintheeighteenthcenturyuptopresentdays.Moreover,
weshallreviewthecontributionsofwellknownlexicographerswhich
helpedtheEnglishlanguagebestandardized,thatis,beascertain,
refined,andfixedasweknowittoday.
Historicallyspeaking(Howatt,1984),theearliestattemptinthe
developmentoflexicographywasabilinguallexicologythatdatesfrom
around2500B.C.,andlateron,inmedievaltimes,severalcompilations
ofLatinmanuscriptswerefound.Intheseventeenthcentury,theearliest
Englishdictionariesfollowedthetraditionoflistsofhardwordsof
difficultcomprehension.Mainly,twoworksaretobementioned:first,
RobertCawdreysTableAlphabeticall(1604)whichwascompiledwith
thepurposeofprovidingtheinterpretation[...]byplaineEnglishwords

[...]wherebytheymaythemoreeasilyandbetterunderstandmanyhard
words.Second,HenryCockeransTheEnglishDictionarie:or,An
InterpreterofHardEnglishWords(1623).Itwasdividedintothreebasic
parts:(1)simplelanguagedefinitions,(2)elegantequivalents,and(3)
mythologicalnamesinLatinterms.
Thereisevidenceofotherattemptswithinthistradition,butquiteoften
thesamedefinitionswerecopiedfromonecompilertoanotherandno
newinformationwasadded.Herearesomeofthem:JohnBullokars
EnglishExpositor(1616);ThomasBlountsGlossographia:ora
Dictionary,InterpretingallsuchHardWords(1656);ElishaColesAn
EnglishDictionary,explainingtheDifficulttermsthatareusedin
Divinity,Husbandry,Physick,Philosophy,Law,Navigation,
Mathematicks,andotherArtsandSciences(1676);andtheanonymous
GazophylaciumAnglicanum(1689).
However,theeighteenthcenturyEnglishlinguistsattemptedtoascertain,
refineandfixthelanguage,accordingtotherationalisticspiritofthe
period.Withthispurposeinmind,thecreationofanEnglishAcademy
wasproposedin1617bythelinguistEdmundBolton,althoughfinally
theprojectdidnotsucceed.Nevertheless,importantdictionariesand
grammarbookswerecomposedinordertoprovideanewstandardwith
theminimalvariationinform,reducingittoruleandfixingit
permanentlysothatchangeandcorruptiondidnotaffectthelanguage.
Thesecondhalfoftheseventeenthcenturyandtheearlyyearsofthe
eighteenthcenturysawtheprogressiveinclusionofgeneralvocabulary
anddefinitionsofcommonusesindictionaries.Theygradually
incorporatedfurtherinformationontheetymology,grammarandhistory
ofeachword.Amongthedictionarieswhichreactedagainstthe
Latinizedtraditionofprecedingyearswemaymentionthefollowing.(1)
First,JohnKerseysANewEnglishDictionary(1702)whichwasthe
firstEnglishdictionarytoincludegrammaticalinformationwhose
purposewastoprovideacollectionofallthemostproperand
significantEnglishwords.(2)Second,NathanBaileysDictionarium
BritanicumOr,amoreCompleatUniversalEtymologicalEnglish

DictionaryThan

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anyExtant(1730).Itwasthefirstdictionarytoincludeetymologiesor
cognatewordsandentensiveencyclopedicinformation.
However,althoughmanyothersfollowed,wemusttracebacktothe
eighteenthcenturytomeetthemanwhochangedEnglishlexicography.
HewasSamuelJohnson,andhisworkDictionaryoftheEnglish
Languagesoonbecameastandardreferencein1755.Hereactedagainst
thehardwordtraditionwhichwasveryeasytocopyingandplagiarism.
Hisworkisdirectlyrelatedtothetypicalaimsoftheperiod:
ascertaining,refiningandfixingthelanguage.
Johnsonsmostimportantcontributionwastheestablishmentofthe
inductiveprinciple,thatis,definitionsbasedonparticularinstancesof
usagefromwhichmeaningsweredrawninductively.Moreover,he
introducedanewstandardtoEnglishlexicographybybringingtogether
thefeatureswerecognizeindictionariestoday:definitionsincontextby
meansofquotationstakenatthattimefromliteraryworksofthe
Elizabethanperiod;etymologiesinsquarebrackets;andnumbered
meanings.
However,oneoftheproblemswiththisdictionarywastheabsenceof
informationonpronunciation,exceptforstressassignmentincompound
words.Sohissuccesslaynotonlyinhisutilizationofcontemporary
pronunciationandusagetoguidehisspellingsanddefinitions,butalsoin
elegantlycombiningwittyand,sometimescutting,definitionswith
backedupwrittenevidence.Onlyinambiguouscasesdidheresortto
arbitrarydecisionsbasedonlogic,analogy,orpersonaltaste.
FollowingSchmitt(2000),theeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies
broughttheAgeofReasonwherepeoplebelievedthattherewerenatural
lawsforalthingsandthattheselawscouldbederivedfromlogic.
Languagewasnodifferent.Latinwasheldupasthelanguageleast
corruptedbyhumanuse,somanygrammarswerewrittenwiththeintent

ofpurifyingEnglishbasedonLatinmodels.Thesegrammarsreceived
generalacceptance,whichhelpedprolongthedominationofgrammar
overvocabulary.
Withtheexceptionofprintingingeneral,Johnsonsdictionarydidmore
tofixstandardspellingandlexicalusagethananyothersinglethingin
thehistoryofEnglish.Anyway,theinductivepathopenedbyJohnsons
Dictionarywascontinuedthroughoutthesecondhalfoftheeighteenth
century.Theresultwasadictionarythatwouldremainunchallengedin
influenceuntilNoahWebsterpublishedanAmericanversioninthe
followingcentury.Untilthen,theonlyinnovationworthcommentingis
theinclusionofphonologicaltranscriptions,asinJohnWalkersA
CriticalPronouncingDictionaryandExpositoroftheEnglishLanguage
(1791)orThomasSheridansGeneralDictionaryoftheEnglish
Language(1780).
NoahWebsterwasAmericasanswertoSamuelJohnson.Hewantedto
produceadictionarywhichwouldreformAmericanspelling
phonetically,andinfact,thespellingchangesheproposed,suchas
catalog,color,humor,andprogrambecametheAmericanstandard.
Websterwasseventywhenhis

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greatestdictionarywaseventuallypublishedin1828,andthesober
clarityofhisdefinitionsrapidlymadehisworkbewellknown
throughouttheUnitedStates,andsubsequentlytheworld.
IncontinentalEurope,theincreasinginterestintheworldofnature
forcedchangesinlexicographysincetechnicalwords,originallyknown
onlytospecialists,neededtobefamiliarandacceptedingeneraluse.
Biologists,chemists,geographers,andothersgraduallydemandedthe
generaladoptionofscientificterminology.Therefore,scholarsbegunto
applysimilartechniquestotheirstudyoflanguage,andin1879,aBritish
schoolmastercalledJamesMurraytookupthechallengeofpreparinga
dictionarysoastoofferthehistoryandmeaningofthevocabularyof
Englishthroughouttheworldwithscientificexactness.Murrayswork,

previouslycalledANewEnglishDictionary,andlater,OxfordEnglish
Dictionarywaspublishedinregularinstalmentsbetween1884and1928.
Inthetwentiethcentury,twocelebratedlexicographersareworth
mention:EricPartridgeandRobertBurchfield,bothNewZealander.
Firstofall,theNewZealanderEricPartridgedevotedhislifetowriting
aboutthevagariesandcuriositiesoflanguage,andcompilingdictionaries
onit.In1937,hepublishedhisDictionaryofSlangandUnconventional
EnglishandlaterhepublishedthelesserknownDictionaryofthe
Underworldwhichreadsaboutaanalyticallistingofthecantandslang
ofconvicts,mobsters,andotherspecificmarginalgroups.Secondly,
RobertBruchfield,consideredtobeoneoftheleadinglexicographers
nowadays,broughttheOxfordEnglishDictionaryintothetwentieth
century,andpavedthewayforthecomprehensiveongoingrevision
whichthedictionaryiscurrentlyundergoing.
Finally,regardingcontributionsinthetwentyfirstcentury,itisworth
mentioningthattheareaofcomputersand,therefore,theuseofcorpora
invocabularystudieshasbeenoneofthemostsignificantdevelopments
inlexicographyordictionarywriting.Lexicographyhasbeen
fundamentallyaffectedsincethefourmajorlearnerdictionarypublishers
allrelyingoncorpusinputtosettheirworddefinitionsandexamples.In
recentyears,databasesoflanguagehaverevolutionizedthewayweview
language,particularlybecausetheyallowresearchers,teachers,and
learnerstousegreatamountsofrealdataintheirstudyoflanguage
insteadofhavingtorelyonintuitionsandmadeupexamples.
Furthercommentsonthisareashallbeofferedinchapter6,inwhich
futuredirectionsonlexisandwordformationwillbeprovided.
Moreover,adefinitionoflexicographyanditsmainfeaturesisincluded
inchapter3.
2.3.Vocabularyandlanguageteachingmethodologies.
Whendealingwithvocabularyinthefieldoflanguageteaching,we
acknowledgethatamongthenumerousmethodologiesinthemorethan
twothousandyearsofsecondlanguageinstruction,justafewhavebeen

interestedinvocabularyaspartofthelearningprocess.Therefore,before
placingwordformationinalinguisticframework,itisrelevanttooffer
anbriefreviewofthestatusof

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vocabularyovertheagesinordertounderstandwhywordformation
seemstobeemergingfromafallowperiod,andwhyitissuddenlyof
centralinteresttotheoreticallinguistsinthetwentiethcentury.For
historicalbackgroundinthissection,weshallmainlyfollowHowatt
(1984)andSchmitt(2000).
Followingthespiritofpreviouscenturies,thebeginningofthe
nineteenthcenturysawGrammarTranslationasthemainlanguage
teachingmethodology.Thisapproach,originallyreformistinnature,was
anattempttoteachthroughexplicitgrammarrulesandtranslationfrom
L1(firstlanguage)intoL2(secondlanguage),orviceversa,aslanguage
practice.Thismethodgrewintoaverycontrolledsystem,withaheavy
emphasisonaccuracyandexplicitgrammarrules.
Sincethecontentfocusedonreadingandwritingliterarymaterials,the
obsoletevocabularyoftheclassicswashighlighted.Infact,themain
criterionforvocabularyselectionwasoftenitsabilitytoillustratea
grammarrule,andbesides,studentswerelargelyexpectedtolearnthe
necessaryvocabularythemselvesthroughbilingualwordlists,which
turnedintoalistofitemsfortranslationpurposes.Asaresult,the
bilingualdictionarybecameanimportantreferencetool.
However,themethodprovedincresinglypedantic,anditsweaknessess
cameuptothesurface.First,itfocusedontheabilitytoanalyze
language,andnottheabilitytouseit,andsecond,itdidlittletopromote
anabilitytocommunicateorallyinthetargetlanguage.Therefore,anew
pedagogicaldirectionwasneeded,andbytheendofthenineteenth
century,newusebasedideashadcoalescedintowhatbecameknownas
theDirectMethod.
TheDirectMethodemphasizedoralskills,withlisteningastheprimary

skill.Therewasnoneedtotranslatesincemeaningwasdirectlyrelated
tothetargetlanguage,andexplicitgrammarteachingwasdownplayed,
tryingnottouseL1inordertomaketheprocessmorenatural.This
methodattemptedtoimitatethenaturallearningprocessofanative
speakerwithlisteningfirst,thenspeaking,andonlylaterreadingand
writing.
Vocabularywasthoughttobeacquirednaturallythroughtheinteraction
duringlessons,andconnectedwithrealityasmuchaspossible.
Therefore,initialvocabularywassimpleandfamiliar(e.g.,bedroom
objectsorfood)andconcretevocabularywasexplainedwithpicturesor
throughphysicaldemonstration.Onlyabstractwordswerepresentedin
thetraditionalwayofbeinggroupedaccordingtotopicorassociationof
ideas.
Yet,likeallotherapproaches,thismethodhaditsweaknesses.Sincethe
focuswassquarelyonuseofthesecondlanguage,teacherswererequired
tobeproficientinthetargetlanguage,whichwasnotalwaysthecase.It
mimickedL1learning,butitwasnottakenintoaccountthatL1learners
hadabundantexposuretothelanguage,whereaslearnersofasecond
languagetypicallyhavelittle,usuallyonlyafewhoursperweekfora
yearortwo.

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Duringthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,intheUnitedStates
relativelyfewpeopletravelledinternationally,andthissituationwas
actuallytransferredtotheeducationalfield.Sinceoralskillswerenot
needednorconsideredanultimategoalinschooling,writingskillswere
givenaplaceofpride.Then,the1929ColemanReporttookthislimited
instructionintoaccount,andconcludedthatitwasnotsufficientto
developoveralllanguageproficiency,butalsototeachhowtoreadina
foreignlanguage.Therefore,readingandwritingwereconsideredthe
mostusefulskillsthatsecondarystudentscouldtake,andconsequently,
vocabularywasneededasamaintool.
Atthesametime,inBritain,theMichaelWestwasalsostressingthe

needtofacilitatereadingskillsbyimprovingvocabularylearning.The
resultwasanapproachcalledtheReadingMethod,anditheldswayuntil
WorldWarII,alongwithGrammarTranslationandtheDirectMethod.
However,duringthewar,theAmericanmilitaryneededpeoplewho
wereconversationallyfluentinforeignlanguages,andoncemore,the
weaknessesofalloftheaboveapproachesbecameobvious,andthere
wasneededameanstoquiclytrainitssoldiersinoral/auralskills.
BacktoAmerica,aprogramwasbeingdevelopedbyAmericanstructural
linguistswhichconsistedofamixturefromprinciplesborrowedfromthe
DirectMethod,andbehaviourism,formostlymatureandhighly
motivatedstudentstobuildgoodlanguagehabitsthroughdrills.Fromthe
DirectMethod,thisprogramdrewespeciallyitsemphasisonoralskills
(i.e.,listeningandspeaking).Frombehaviorism,itborrowedthe
rationalethatlanguagelearningwasaresultofhabitformation.
ThisArmyMethodcametobeknownasAudiolingualismandithad
suchadramaticsuccessthatitnaturallycontinuedafterthewar.Because
theemphasisinAudiolingualismwasonteachingstructuralpatterns,the
vocabularyneededtoberelativelyeasy,andsowasselectedaccordingto
itssimplicityandfamiliarity.Newvocabularywasrationed,andonly
addedwhennecessarytokeepthedrillsviable.Thismethodtriedtolead
toanincreasedvocabularybymeansofgoodlanguagehabitsand
exposuretothelanguageitself,sonoclearmethodofextending
vocabularylateronwasspelledout.
AsimilarapproachwascurrentinBritainfromthe1940stothe1960s.It
wascalledtheSituationalApproach,becauseofitsgroupingoflexical
andgrammaticalitemsaccordingtowhatwouldberequiredinvarious
situations(e.g.,atthetrainstation,attheshop,atarestaurant).
Consequently,vocabularystartedtobetreatedbytheSituational
ApproachinamoreprincipledwaythanAudiolingualism.
Inthelate1950s,thebehavioristunderpinningsofAudiolingualismwere
attackedbyNoamChomskyscognitiveapproachestolanguage
learning.Thisattackproveddecisive,andAudiolingualismbegantofall
outoffavor.Language,then,wasseenasgovernedbycognitivefactors,

particularlyasetofabstractrulesthatwereassumedtobeinnate.
Yet,vocabularygainedimportancein1972whenHymescoinedthe
conceptofcommunicativecompetence,whichhighlighted
sociolinguisticandpragmaticfactors.Thismeantthatfieldspecific
vocabularywasimportanttomaintaincommunicationsuccessfully.This
alsohelpedtoswingthe

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focusfromlanguagecorrectness(accuracy)tohowsuitablelanguagewas
foraparticularcontext(appropriateness).
Theapproachthatdevelopedfromthesenotionsemphasizedusing
languageformeaningfulcommunication,andanewmethodology
emergedinthisfield,thesocalledCommunicativeLanguageTeaching
(CLT).Thefocuswasonthemessageandfluencyratherthan
grammaticalaccuracy,andbesides,onthenegotiationofmeaningby
meansofdifferentstrategies(i.e.grammatical,strategic,discourse,
sociolinguistic).
Onceagain,onewouldexpectvocabularytobegivenaprominentplace
sincethisisameaningbasedapproach.However,vocabularywasgiven
asecondarystatus,thistimetoissuesofmasteringfunctionallanguage
(e.g.,howtomakeacomplaint,howtomakeanapology)andhow
languageconnectstogetherintolargerdiscourse.TheCommunicative
LanguageApprochgiveslittleguidanceabouthowtohandlevocabulary,
otherthanassupportvocabularyforthefunctionallanguageuse
mentionedabove.Asinpreviousapproaches,itwasassumedthatL2
vocabulary,likeL1vocabulary,wouldtakecareofitself.
Fortunately,inthetwentyfirstcentury,thecurrentstatusofvocabulary
inlanguageteachinghasrecentlychangedinoureducationalframework
duetothedevelopmentofnewtechnologiesandeducationaland
personalneedsinsociety(i.e.business,internationalrelationships,
educationalpurposes,computers).Ithasbeenrealizedthatmere
exposuretolanguageandpracticewithfunctionalcommunicationwill

notensuretheacquisitionofanadequatevocabularyoranadequate
grammar,socurrentbestpracticeincludesbothaprincipledselectionof
vocabulary,oftenaccordingtofrequencylists,andaninstruction
methodologythatencouragesmeaningfulengagementwithwordsovera
numberofrecyclings.
2.4.Wordformationwithinalinguistictheory.
Asstatedbefore,theearliestevidenceofinterestinvocabulary,andin
particular,wordformationtracesbacktothefourthcenturywhena
detaileddescriptionofwordformationwasprovidedbyPaniniin
Sanskrit.However,sincethen,manyquestionsonthisissueinthe
seventeenth,eighteenthandnineteenthcenturieshavehadnoanswer,and
inmanywaysthesubjectofwordformationhasnotuntilrecently
receivedmuchattentionfromdescriptivegrammariansofEnglish.
AsAdams(1973)pointsout,thisismainlybecauseoftworeasons,first,
itsconnectionswiththenonlinguisticwordofthingsandideas,and
second,duetoitsinequivocalpositionasbetweendescriptiveand
historicalstudies.Actually,thenineteenthcenturywasaperiodof
excitingdiscoveryandadvancesinhistoricalandcomparativelanguage
studies,comparableinitsmethodswiththoseofnaturalsciencesatthat
time.Therefore,wordformationprocesseswerethoughttobesubjectto
random,andsoundchangelawstobeirregular.Then,wordformslost
theirvaliditysincelinguisticrelationscouldonlybeestablished
historicallybyextralinguisticevidence(Adams1973).

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However,itwasnotuntilthebeginningofthetwentiethcenturythat
FerdinanddeSaussurechangeddirectionsinlinguisticstudiesby
establishingthedichotomybetweensynchronyanddiachronyinhis
workCourseinGeneralLinguistics(orCoursdeLinguistiqueGnrale)
publishedin1916,threeyearsafterhisdeath.Sincethen,hisinfluence
hasbeenunparalleledinEuropeanlinguisticsandhasshapedlanguage
studiesevenafterhispublication.

Hisworkwasaclearreactiontothetotallyhistoricalviewofthe
previoushundredyearswhereheemphasizedtheimportanceofseeing
languageasalivingphenomenonfromtwodistinctviews.First,the
diachronicview,alsocalledexternallinguistics,whichdealswiththe
evolutionoflanguagethroughhistory,andsecond,thesynchronicview,
alsocalledinternallinguistics,whichdealswiththestudyoflanguage
systemandrulesataparticularpointoftime.
However,itwasinternallinguistics,stimulatedbydeSaussureswork
thatwastobethemainconcernoftwentiethcenturyscholarsandwithin
ittherecouldbenoplaceforthestudyoftheformationofwords,dueto
itscloseconnectionswiththeexternalworldanditsimplicationsof
constantchange.Atthatmoment,anydiscussionofwordformation
processesmeanttheabandonmentofthestrictSaussereandistinction
betweenhistoryandthepresentmoment.
Yet,althoughsomescholarslikeJespersensucceededinmerging
synchronicanddiachronicapproachesintheirstudyofwordformation
inhisworkAModernEnglishGrammaronhistoricalprinciples(1942),
mostlinguistssupportedtheneglectingSaussureanviewtowardsword
formation.Theydiditfromatotallysynchronicpointofview,suchas
HarrisandLeonardBloomfieldwho,intheirrespectiveworksStructural
Linguistics(1951)andLanguage(1933),consideredlanguageasafixed
stateofaffairsataparticularpointoftime,orfromatotallydiachronic
viewsuchastheGermanscholarKoziolwho,inhisworkHandbuchder
englischenWortbildungslehre(1937),reaffirmedtheproductivityof
languagethroughhistoryandculture.
Untilthenineteenfifties,phonologyandmorphologywerethemain
concernsofAmericanstructuralism,andtherefore,inthe1940sand
1950sinterestwasnotcentredontheword,butinunitssmallerthanthe
word.Thus,theisolatingofminimalsegmentsofspeech,thedescription
oftheirdistributionrelativetooneanother,andtheirorganizationinto
largerunitweregivenprominenceinstructuralisttheory.
So,onceagain,attentiontowordformationwasprecludedfromthe
linguisticfieldsincethefundamentalunitofgrammarwasnottheword

butasmallerunit,themorpheme.However,in1957thelinguistic
situationofwordformationresearchwouldradicallychangebythe
publicationofNoamChomskysSyntacticStructures.Chomskystated
thattheideaofproductivity,orcreativity,previouslyexcludedfrom
linguistics,wasseentobeofcentralimportance.Butstillword
formationremainedatopicneglectedbylinguistssinceTranformational
GenerativeGrammarwasinterestedinunitslargerthantheword,thatis,
syntaxandthestructureofphrasesandsentences.Wordsassuchplayed
norealrole.

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AlthoughChomskymadethedistinctionbetweenlinguisticcompetence
(knowledgeoflanguage;grammar)andperformance(theuseoflanguage
inconcretesituations),Pennanen,inhisworkCurrentViewsofWord
Formation(1972),statesthatitisanobviousgapintransformational
grammarsnottohavemadeprovisionfortreatingwordformation,since
theabilitytomakeandunderstandnewwordsisobviouslyasmucha
partofourlinguisticcompetenceastheabilitytomakeandunderstand
newsentences.
Thisapproachwasstandardinthemajorityoftransformationalstudies
and,asBauer(1983)pointsout,thisdisputebroughtthedataofword
formationintothecentreoflinguisticinterest.Forinstance,justafew
linguistsapproachedtheprobleminwordformation,suchas
MarchandssmonumentalworkTheCategoriesandTypesofPresent
DayEnglishWordFormation(1969).Thestudyofwordformation
withintheTransformationalGenerativetraditionseemstohavebecome
morewidespreadsinceitwaspartiallyinspiredbyChomsky(1970).
Furtherworksdealtwiththebasicassumptionthatthewordsformed
werespecialkindsofsentenceswhoseinternalshapewasdeterminedby
thephonology.BasedonanAmericantraditionofmorphophonemics,
GenerativePhonologyismainlyconcernedwithspecifyingruleswhich
generateallthesurfaceshapesofamorpheme.Thisistheclosest
TransformationalGenerativeGrammarreallycametodealingwithword
formation.

Thestudyofwordformationseemstobethepointatwhichvarious
theoreticalfacetsoflinguisticscometogether,suchasdiachronyand
synchrony,morphologyandphonology,syntaxandsemantics.Despite
thelackofaccepteddoctrinesontheissue,thestudyofwordformation
isexpandingdaybydaythankstomoretheoreticallylinguistswhichare
consideredtobemoreeclecticthanthoseofTransformationalGenerative
Schools.
FollowingBauer(1983),inmorerecentyears,wordformationhas
thrownlightonotheraspectsoflanguage,suchassyntax,phonology,
morphology,semanticsandpragmatics.Moreover,fromthesedifferent
approachesitisdrawnthatagrowingnumberoflinguistsareinterested
firstandforemostinhowwordformationreflectslanguageingeneralin
presentsociety.
3.ENGLISHLEXIS:GENERALCONSIDERATIONS.
Inthischapter,weshallapproachfirst(1)theconceptoflexisintermsof
itsdefinition,andthenweshallexaminetworelatedissues,suchas(2)
lexicographyontheorganizationoflexis,and(3)lexicology,onthe
studyoflexis,whereweshallofferadescriptionofkeyterminologyin
ordertoclarifyandmakethereadingoffollowingchaptersaccessible
andcoherentstraightforwardforthereader.Thisintroductionisintended
toprovide,togetherwiththehistoricalbackground,abasiclinguistic
backgroundfornextchapter,inwhichatheoreticalapproachtoword
formationfeaturesisoffered.

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3.1.Ondefiningthetermlexis.
Fromalinguistictheory,thetermlexisistobefoundintheframework
oflanguageasasystemtogetherwithotherlanguagelevels,suchas
phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,andmorerecently,society,
culture,andpragmatics.Itisworthnotingthat,sincethemajorpurpose
oflanguageistocommunicate,alltheselevelsareinterrelatedtoconvey
meaningtospeech,andtherefore,whenfocusingonthestudyoflexis,

wordchangesaredirectlyrelatedtoallthoseinterrelatedfieldsagain.
Thetermlexisreferstothestockofwordsalanguageconsistsof,and
itmaybeusedinterchangeablywiththetermvocabulary.Thesetwonon
countnouns,whenaddressingindividualitems,arereferredtoaslexical
itemsorvocabularyitems.Anothertermrelatedtolexisisthatoflexicon
whichcanbeusedintwomainways.Firstly,asamoretechnicalversion
ofthetermlexis,andsecondly,asasynonymtorefertoadictionary.
Thesciencewhichstudieslexisorvocabularyistobecalledlexicology,
andmeansthestudyofwords,fromGreeklexiks(words)andlogia
(study).Ingeneral,itmaybedefinedasanareaoflanguagestudy
concernedwiththenature,form,meaning,historyanduseofwordsand
wordelements,andoftenalsowiththecriticaldescriptionof
lexicography.Bothlexicographyandlexicologywillbeexaminedfor
ourpurposesinthepresentstudy.
3.2.Lexicography:ontheorganizationoflexis.
Accordingly,lexicographyaccountsforthewayinwhichlexicalitems
canbeorganisedanditisdefinedastheprocedureofarranging,
describing,andcompilinglexicalitemsinsuchworksasdictionaries,
encyclopaedias,glossaries,thesaurus,synonymguides,pictorial
dictionaries,andusageguides,inlibrariesandmorerecently,
computers.Thismeticulousworkiscarriedoutbythewritersof
dictionariesorlexicographers,whoareinchargeoffindingoutthe
correctmeaningofawordandlistingitintheirdictionariesas
accuratelyandobjectivelyastheycan.
Themostcommonwaystoorganisevocabularyare(1)alphabetical
listing,bywhichitemsindictionariesandencyclopaediasarelistedin
alphabeticalorderunderheadwordswithanentry;(2)wordclass,by
whichlexicalitemsareclassifiedaccordingtopartsofspeech,thatis,
nouns,pronouns,verbs,adjectives,adverbs,prepositions,andsoon;(3)
frequency,bywhichlotsoftextsarecollectedincorpora(orcorpus)and
itispossibletogroupwordsintofrequencybandsinordertomake
distinctionsbetweencommonwordsandobscurewords;(4)groupingby

acquisitionlevelforgradedreading,bywhichvocabularyisselected
andcategorisedintermsoffrequency,prominence,universality,and
utilityforteachingpurposes.Hence,theLongmanStructuralReader.
Moreover,wefind(5)lexicalfields,bywhichvocabularyisgroupedina
thesaurusaccordingtoitssemanticfield,forinstance,feelings,colour
terms,socialclass,houses,ormeansoftransport;(6)associativefields,
bywhichtheSwisslinguistFerdinanddeSaussuremadeadistinction
betweenparadigmaticandsyntagmaticrelationsin1916.Paradigmatic
relationsinvolvelexicalchoiceat

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differentpointsinthesentenceataverticallevel(i.e.Thelittlegirl
playedwithherdoll,rejectingthechoiceforanothernounlikeperson,
woman,orlady)whereassyntagmaticrelationsinvolvethecooccurring
ofthelexicalitemwithintheotherunitsinthesentence(i.e.definite
articlethe,adjectivelittle,verbplayed,etc).
Finally,(7)otherwaysoforganisingvocabularyareonthelevelsof
formality(i.e.veryformal,formal,neutral,informal,colloquial),
specialisation(i.e.medical,scientific,business,etc),geography(i.e.
BritishversusAmericanEnglish,Spanglish,etc),andeventually,onthe
sourceofthelexicalitems(i.e.Roman,Germanic,Scandinavian,etc).
3.3.Lexicology:thestudyoflexisandkeyterminology.
Sincelexicologyisthestudyoflexisintermsofitsnature,form,
meaning,historyanduseofwordsandwordelements,thissectionis
mainlyanintroductiontosomeoftheterminologyrequiredinthestudy
ofvocabulary,andtherefore,itcoversmorphologyasawhole.Then,
muchoftheterminologyusedis,infact,commontoallmorphological
study,andwillofferanelementarybackgroundtohelpplaceword
formationinitsbroaderframework.Indoingso,weshallmainlyfollow
Adams(1973),Bauer(1983),Crystal(1985),McCarthy(1990),and
Schmitt(2000).
Duringthewritingofthisstudy,weshallretainthetermsvocabularyand

wordasmuchaspossibleinfavouroftermslikelexiconorlexisand
lexicalitemorlexicalunit,respectively,inorderto
adoptamuchbroaderconceptionofthetermsthanthetraditionalideas
aboutvocabulary.However,itisnecessarytokeepthebroaderviewin
mind,especiallyinthelightofcurrentandlikelyfuturecommentsinthis
study.
3.3.1.Ondefiningword,lexeme,andwordform.
Whenwespeakofthevocabularyofalanguage,wemainlyrefertothe
wordsofthatlanguage.Thetermwordisusuallytakenforgranted,and
neveroffersanydifficultyuntilwetrytostatepreciselywhatwemean
byit.Infact,amajorproblemforlinguistictheoryhasbeen,foralong
time,toprovideadefinitionforthetermwordsinceithasprovedtobe
conditionedbythewayspeakersofalanguageorganizetheirlinguistic
reality.
Actually,studiescarriedoutingenerallinguisticswithintheframework
ofdifferentfields,forinstance,grammar,semantics,phonetics,orsocio
culturalamongothers(Saussure1916,Sapir1921,Hymes1972,vanEk
2001)haveshown,first,thatthewordacrosslanguagescanonlybe
definedwithrespecttoaparticularlanguage,andsecondly,thatrulesof
wordformationdependonthegenealogicalmethodofclassificationa
givenlanguage(chapter4).
Forinstance,SapirstatedinhisworkLanguage(1921)thatawordlike
unitisequallycentralandunmistakableforspeakersofverydiverse
languages.Itmeans,then,thateveryspeakercaneasily

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determinewordbywordinasentencewhereasdifficultiesmaybe
foundwhenlearningtobreakupawordintoitsconstituentsounds.
Thus,inLatin,Eskimo,andMaorilanguageswefindsentences
structuredbywordmeaning(i.e.inMaori,imeanspasttense);other
languagesareagglutinative,thatis,ruledbystresspatterns,suchas

Icelandic,Polish,andTurkish,wherewordsaredelimitedbystress;note
alsothecaseofJapaneselanguage,wherethesamewordhasdifferent
meaningsdependingonwherethestressisplaced.WithrespecttoIndo
Europeanlanguages,andtoalargedegreeEnglish,wordformation
processesinvolvemainlyaffixation,derivation,andcompounding,which
areeasilypredictableunderuniversalrules.
3.3.1.1.Whatisaword?
Aswecansee,thetermwordistoogeneraltoencapsulatethevarious
formsvocabularytakes.Anyway,forourpresentpurposes,weshall
thinkofwordsasfreestandingitemsoflanguagethathavemeaningby
themselves(McCarthy1990).Thismeansthatawordisthesmallestunit
ofsyntaxthathasdistinctivemeaningandcanoccurbyitselfatthe
phraselevelandabove(i.e.verb,noun,adjective,adverb,preposition,
conjunctions,andsoon).Sometimes,inahierarchyofgrammatical
units,awordissometimesplaced,abovethemorphemelevelandbelow
thephraselevel.
Thetermwordisconsideredtobeidentifiableaccordingtosuchcriteria
as(1)beingtheminimalpossibleunitinareply;(2)havingcertain
featuressuchas,firstly,aregularstresspattern,andsecondly,
phonologicalchangesconditionedbyorblockedatwordboundaries;(3)
beingthelargestunitresistanttoinsertionofnewconstituentswithinits
boundaries;and(4)beingthesmallestunitthatcanbemovedwithina
sentencewithoutmakingthesentenceungrammatical.
Onexaminingthesubtletyandmagicoflexis,werefertoSchmitt
(2000),whoconsidersthecaseofsixitemswhicharesynonymous,and
aremadeupoffromonetofourwords(i.e.die,expire,passaway,bite
thedust,kickthebucket,giveuptheghost).Theseexamplesshowthat
thereisnotnecessarilyaonetoonecorrespondencebetweenameaning
andasingleword(i.e.asindieandexpire),andthat,veryoften,
meaningsmayberepresentedbymultiplewords(i.e.phrasalverbsor
idioms:passaway,bitethedust).
3.3.1.2.Whatisalexeme?

Inordertohandlethesemultiwordunits,weshallusethetermlexeme
(alsocalledlexicalunitorlexicalitem)torefertosixdifferentlexemes
withthesamemeaning.Thetermlexeme,then,isdefinedasanitemthat
functionsasasinglemeaningfulunit,regardlessofthenumberofwords
itcontains(Schmitt2000).Theyrefernottotheparticularshapethata
wordhas,buttoallthepossibleshapesthatthewordcanhaveinagiven
paradigm.

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Forinstance,thewordsfly,flew,flown,flying,flies,flightareall
subsumedunderthelexemefly,comprisingeachnotonlythelexeme
flybutalsotherepresentationsofthevariousinflectionalcategories
attachedtothatlexeme.Moreover,whentheyappearinanutteranceona
particularoccasion,anditisnotthelexemethatisunderstudy,butthe
particularshapethatawordhas,werefertothetermwordform.
3.3.1.3.Whatisawordform?
Awordformisdefinedasanitemwhichrepresentsorrealizesthe
inflectionalparadigmoflexemesbymeansofphonologicaland
orthographicalshape.Thismeansthatawordformisthesmallestunitof
speechorwritingwhichhasdistinctivemeaningandcanoccurbyitself
(inmostorthographiesitisseparatedfromotherwordformsbyaspace).
Itisworthnotingthatawordformhasaprecisephonicandorthographic
formwhereasalexemeisconsideredtobeamuchmoreabstractunit.
Forinstance,intheexamplegivenabove,thewordformflightis
referredtoastheformofthelexemefly.
Ataphonologicallevel,itisrelevanttoestablishhereadifference
betweenawordformandasyllablesinceasyllableisconsideredtobe
thesmallestunitofpronunciationbuthasnoinherentdistinctive
meaning.Therefore,itcannotoccurbyitselfunlessitissometimes
representedbyawordformintermsofamonosyllabicword(i.e.yes,
no,andhi).
3.3.2.Thegrammaticalword:morpheme,morph,andallomorph.

Thetermwordhasbeendefinedaboveinlexicalterms,thatis,inwritten
form,butweneedtoconsiderotherfacetsofknowingawordregarding
somegrammaticalaspectsofvocabulary,namely,inmorphological
terms.Therefore,weshalldealwiththegrammaticalwordatthelevelof
inflectionalmorphology,whichdealswiththevariousformsoflexemes.
Forinstance,ifwetaketheexamplefromtheprevioussection,theform
fliesrepresentsboththeverbformfliesinthirdpersonsingularandthe
countablenounflies,inpluralform.Thusitcanbesaidthattheword
formfliesrepresentstwogrammaticalwords,bothofwhichareinthe
paradigmofthelexemefly.Itisworthrememberingthatotherformsof
thelexemecanbereconstructedfromthis(i.e.flying,flown,flight).
Sincemorphologydealswiththeinternalstructureofwordforms,we
shallexaminethebasicunitsofanalysiswhicharerecognizedinthis
subbranchoflinguistics:morphemes,morphs,andallomorphs,which
aredirectlyrelated,inphonologicalterms,totheircounterpartsphoneme,
phone,andallophone,examinedinsection2.3.3.

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3.3.2.1.Whatisamorpheme?
Firstofall,amorphemeisdefinedasthesmallestmeaningfulunitof
grammaticalanalysisinwhichalexemeissegmented.Thismeansthatit
isthesmallestunitofsyntaxthathasadistinctivemeaning,butcannot
occurbyitselfunlessitisamonomorphemicword(i.e.be,was).Inthis
case,theseconstituentscouldonlybedescribedascombinationsof
phonemesorphoneticfeatures,andanalysingthestructureof
morphemeswillleadyoustraightintotheconceptofmorphand
allomorphinthefieldofphonology,sincethenotionsofmorpheme
phoneme,morphphone,andallomorphallophonehaveaparallel
relationshipinalinguistictheory.
Crystal(1985)definesthetermmorphemeasthesmallestbitoflanguage
whichhasameaning.Hedistinguishedtwomainfeaturesofit.(1)
Firstly,hesaid,ifyouaddamorphemetoanutterance,ortakeoneaway,

bydefinitionyoualterthemeaningofthatutterance.Thuswordssuchas
nation,national,andnationalizemeandifferentthings.(2)Secondly,he
statedthatwhenamorphemeisanalysedintoitsconstituents,itlosesits
identity,andthentheyareseenasasequenceofmeaninglessnoises,as
statedabove.Infact,ifyoutrytoanalyseapieceofspeechintoits
constituentgrammaticalelements,therewouldcomeatimewhenyou
couldanalysenofurther.
Currentapproachestomorphologyconceiveofmorphemesasrules
involvingthelinguisticcontext,ratherthanasisolatedpiecesof
linguisticmatter.Theyacknowledgethat(1)meaningmaybedirectly
linkedtosuprasegmentalphonologicalunits,suchastoneorstress,and
(2)thatthemeaningofamorphemewithagivenformmayvary,
dependingonitsimmediateenvironment(Payne1995).
Itisworthrememberingthateachofthesesegmentsorminimalunitshas
itsownformorsetofforms,itsownmeaning,anditsowndistribution.
Yet,amorphemecanbeviewedfromanumberofdifferentanglesin
termsofclassification,identificationanddistribution,respectively.
Firstly,itisaformal,orphysicalunitwithaphoneticshape.Secondly,it
hasameaning.Andthirdly,ithasasyntacticroletoplayinthe
constructionoflargergrammaticalunits.
Forinstance,takeasentencelikeThetwolittlegirlsplayedwithacute
puppyinordertoidentifydifferentmorphemes.The,two,little,with,a,
cute,andpuppyareallminimal,meaningful,syntacticallyrelevantunits.
Girlsandplayedhavetwoeach:takethesawayfromgirlsandwegeta
distinctmeaningfulunitgirl(i.e.thescarriesthesingular/plural
difference),andsimilarly,theedcanberemovedfromplayedtoturnthe
pasttenseintopresent.
Yet,althoughitisstated(Bauer1983)thatmorphemes,likelexemes,are
actuallyabstractelementsofanalysiswiththeirownform,meaning,and
distribution,wemusttakeintoaccountthatwhatactuallyhappensisa
phoneticororthographicrealizationofthemorpheme.Thisrealization,
then,ismanifestedintosmallerunitsthatarecalledmorphs,whichmay
appearasoneormoreindifferentenvironments.

18/52
3.3.2.2.Whatisamorph?
Asmentioned,whenamorphemeisanalysedintoitsconstituents,you
endupwithasequenceofmeaninglessnoiseswhicharecombinationsof
phonemesorphoneticfeatures.Whenthesemeaninglessphonetic
constituentsareanalysedinphonologicalterms,theyarecalledmorphs.
Amorphisdefinedasthephoneticrealizationofamorpheme,andthree
maintypesarefeatured:portmanteaumorphs,zeromorphs,andwhenit
appearsincomplementarydistribution,allomorphs(tobeexaminedin
nextsection).
Regardingthethreemaintypesofmorphs,weshalldiscuss:(1)
portamanteaumorphs,(2)zeromorphs,and(3)allomorphs.Firstly,(1)a
portmanteaumorphisdefinedasasinglemorphwhichrepresentstwo
underlyingmorphemeswhenanalyzed.Forinstance,thecombinationof
twospecificprepositionsandthedefinitemasculinearticlebothin
SpanishandFrenchgiveswaytoanewmorphemephonologically
conditioned.Forinstance,theSpanishsequencesa+elorde+el
turnintoalordel.Similarly,theFrenchsequence+leorde+
leturnintoauanddu.
(2)Secondly,azeromorphisdefinedasakindofmorphwithno
phoneticform,anditisoftenrelatedtoirregularpluralformswhich
have,therefore,nopluralitymarker(i.e.s,es)suchassheep,deer,fish,
andfootfeetamongothers.Insomeanalyses,itisproposedasan
allomorphofamorphemewhichisordinaryrealizedbyamorphhaving
somephoneticform,thatis,vowelchangesinverbsornouns(i.e.come
cameortoothteeth),orthemasculineandfemininemarker(i.e.aand
o)inSpanishandItalian.Anotherrealizationofzeromorphisgivenby
thecontext.
Forinstance,thewordformsgirlsandkissesareeasilyhandedinterms
ofmorphsegmentation(i.e.girlsandkisses),butwhathappensto
countablenounslikemousemiceormanmen?Theseformsdonot
reallyaddanythingatallbutundergoavowelchangeinwhichthevowel

inthesingularisreplacedbythevoweloftheplural.
Inordertomakeirregularpluralsbefitwiththemorphemeprinciple,
manysolutionswereproposedinthe1940s,andtwopossibilitieswere
opentothiskindofprobleminsentenceslikeThesheepiscomingand
Thesheeparecoming.(1)Firstly,theverbformistheonlyindicatorofa
differencebetweenthetwosentences(i.e.isandare),wherethefirst
sheepissingularandthesecondplural.(2)Secondly,sincetheverbs
influenceiseliminatedwhenwefindidenticalverbforms(i.e.Thesheep
came),thepluralityissaidtobepresentinprinciplebymeansofcontext
(i.e.Thesheepcameingroupsoftwenty).
(3)Finally,thethirdtypemakesreferencetoallomorphs,whichreferto
thosemorphswhichundergoaphoneticchangebecauseoftheinfluence
ofenvironmentalconditions(voiced,voicelessprecedingsounds),and
therefore,theytakeondifferentforms.Thesevariantsofthesamebasic
morph,then,arecalledallomorphswheneverthephoneticshapeofa
morphemeisalteredbecauseofthedirectphoneticinfluenceofthe
soundsaroundit.

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3.3.2.3.Whatisanallomorph?
Asstatedbefore,anallomorphisdefinedasoneoftwoormore
complementarymorphswhichamorphememanifestsinitsdifferent
phonologicalormorphologicalenvironments.Thismeansthatan
allomorphisaphonetically,lexicallyorgrammaticallyconditioned
memberofasetofmorphsrepresentingaparticularmorphemesince
theyarederivedfromphonologicalrulesandanymorphophonemicrules
thatmayapplytothatmorpheme.
Firstofall,letusconsideranexampleofaphoneticallyconditioned
allomorphinEnglish.Thepluralmorpheme,usuallywrittenassinits
regularforms,hasthreedifferentphonologicalrealizations.(1)Firstly,it
isrealizedases/iz/aftersibilantconsonants(i.e.alveolarfricatives/s,z/
asinhorsesandhouses,palatoalveolarfricatives(i.e.washes,garages),

andpalatoalveolaraffricates(i.e.churches,bridges).(2)Secondly,itis
realizedass(thealveolarvoicelessfricative/s/)afteranyother
voicelessconsonant,asincats,books,andmaps.(3)Finally,itis
realizedass(thealveolarvoicedfricative/z/)afteranyothervoiced
consonants,asinboys,dogs,andbones.Notethatthegrammatical
functionofthesisconstantwhereasthephoneticshapeisnot.
Secondly,anexampleofalexicallyconditionedallomorphinEnglishis
thatoftheOEparadigmforpluralnounsendinginen(i.e.oxoxen,
childchildren).Thesevariantsofthepluralmorpheme(oxen,children)
areconditionedbytheirlexemes(i.e.ox,child,brother)which,
historicallyspeaking,underwentcertainmorphophonemicprocesses
(phonologicalandmorphological)whichshapedthemorphologogyof
MEnouns.
Finally,regardinggrammaticallyconditionedallomorphs,weshalldeal
withthedefinitearticle(i.e.the)inEnglishandtheformofthegenitive
singulardefinitearticle(i.e.des,der)inGerman.Again,historical
reasonsshapedcontemporarygrammarandsyntaxsinceinMiddle
Englishtherewasachangefromasyntheticsystemintoananalyticone,
thatis,fromrelyingoncaseendingstomarkthefunctionsofwordsin
thesentencetorelyonarelativelyfixedwordorderestablishedby
grammaticalcategories.
Thegenerallossofdeclensionalpatterns(case,number,andgender)had
aninfluenceonthemorphologyofthisgrammaticalcategory.For
instance,theEnglishdefinitearticlethefollowedaregularphonological
developmentfromOldEnglishtoMiddleEnglish(i.e.theweakingof
vowelsandthelossofinflectionalendings)althoughitwasfinally
restrictedbyamorphologicalreorganization.Providingthatspecific
formswerenolongernecessaryformasculine,feminine,andneuter,it
adoptedthefunctionofarticle,forallcases,gendersandnumbers.It
was,then,phonologicallydeterminedbyusageanddistribution,and
grammaticallydeterminedbywordorderandcontext.
Considernowthegenitivesingularofthecontemporarygenitivesingular
formofthedefinitearticleinGerman(i.e.des,der)wheretheseforms

arestilldeterminedbydeclensionalpatternswhichcanbetracedbackto
theirOldEnglishancestorsofcase,number,andgender.Forinstance,
theformdesisusedwithamasculinenounlikemannmanoraneuter
formlikekindchildmeaningof

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themanandofthechild(saxongenitivepatternwiths)whereasthe
formderisusedwithafemininenounlikefrauwoman.Weobserve
herethatthedefinitearticleisconditioned,notbythephoneticshapeof
thenounorofanyotherwordinthesentence,norbyspecificlexemes,
butbyagrammaticalfeatureofthenounwithgender.
3.3.3.Freevsboundmorphemes.
Oncewehavedealtwiththeinternalstructureofmorphemes,morphs,
andallomorphsatthelevelofinflectionalmorphology,weshallgo
deeperbyestablishinganotherrelevantdifferenceinwordanalysis,such
asthedifferencebetweenfreeandboundmorphemes.Innextsection
(2.3.4)weshalldealwithfurtherbasicelements,suchasroot,stem,and
base.
Inprevioussections,thetermmorphemehasbeendefinedasthesmallest
meaningfulunitoflanguageinwhichalexemeissegmented,unlessitis
amonomorphemicwordwhichcannotbesegmented(i.e.hatsandhat
respectively).Itisworthrememberingthatincombinationswhichare
madeupoftwomorphemes,onemorphemecarriesthemainpartofthe
meaningofthewhole,andtheotherisboundtoappearinconjunction
withothermorphemes.
Therefore,regardingtypesofmorphemes,onthebasisofwordformation
characteristics,wedistinguishbetweenfreeandboundmorphemes.A
freemorphemecanoccurinisolationandcannotbedividedintosmaller
units(i.e.dog,luck,strong),carryingthemainpartofthemeaningwhen
itismadeupoftwomorphemes(i.e.teacher)Thesespecificmorphemes
arecapableofstandingbythemselvesandofenteringratherfreelyinto
grammaticalcombinations.Thesecondtypeofmorphemeiscalled

boundmorpheme,anditreferstoamorphemewhichcanonlyoccurina
wordforminconjunctionwithatleastoneothermorpheme(i.e.philo,
retro,ly,able,er,s,ed,ing).
Yet,insomelanguagessuchasLatin,Spanish,orItalian,themorphs
whichrealizelexemesareregularlyboundmorphs.ThusinamoIlove,
themorphwhichrealizesthelexemeamoisam,andcanonlyoccur
whenboundtoanotherelement,whichinthiscaseistheportmanteau
morpho,realizingthemorphemesoffirstperson,singular,active,
present,andindicative.Here,theampartisnotfurtheranalyzable,and
therefore,itisconsideredtobeaboundmorph.Morphologically
speaking,whenboundmorphsdonotrealizeunanalysablelexemesare
affixes.
Inturn,followingBauer(1983)affixescanbedividedinto(1)prefixes,
whichareattachedbeforeabase(asindislike,wheredisisaprefix),(2)
suffixes,whichareattachedafterabase(asinfreedom,wheredomisa
suffix),and(3)infixes,whichareattachedinsideabase.Infixation(the
useofinfixes)isvirtuallyknowninEnglish,andcomparativelyrar
throughoutIndoEuropean.InEnglish,prefixationisalwaysderivational
whilesuffixationmaybeeitherderivationalorinflectional.

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Thusinalexemelikepredetermined,wefindthreemorphemes:pre,
determined.Thefirstmorphemereferstoaprefix(derivational),the
secondmorphemeisoffreetypesinceitcanoccurinisolationandhas
meaningbyitselfwhereasthethirdmorphemereferstoaboundtype
sincetheendingedcanonlyoccurifitisattachedtoothermorphs.
Notethatthisanalysisischaracteristicoflanguagesthatdependheavily
ontheuseofinflections,eitherinternalorsuffixed(alsocalled
synthetic).
3.3.4.Typesofmorphemestructure:root,stem,andbase.
Onthebasisofwordformation,wemustdealnotonlywiththe
distinctionbetweenfreeandboundmorphemes,butalsowiththetypes

ofmorphemestructurebywhichmorphemesmaybeclassifiedintothe
followingtypes:root,stem,andbase,inordertoaccuratelyexaminethe
mannerinwhichaffixesareattachedtothebaseformsofwords.The
termsroot,stem,andbaseareusedintheliteraturetodesignatethatpart
ofawordthatremainswhenallaffixeshavebeenremoved(Bauer1983).
(1)First,arootisthatpartofawordthatremainsafterremovingall
inflectionalandderivationalaffixes.Itmay,ornot,bebothfreeand
bound,freebecauseithasasimplestructure,andismadeupofasingle
morpheme,andboundbecauseitisconsideredtobeabasisfor
compoundingandaffixation.Intheformunforgettable,forinstance,the
rootisforget,towhichhavebeenadded,first,aprefix(un),andthen,a
suffix(able).Itisalsopossibletofindtworootsinthesameword(i.e.
asinarmchair:armandchair).
(2)Second,astemisthatpartofthewordwhichremainsafterremoving
allinflectionalaffixes.Itdiffersfromarootinthatithasacomplex
structure,andismadeupofoneormoremorphemes.Itmayalsobeboth
freeandbound,forinstance,freebecauseitmaycontainderivational
affixes(i.enational)andboundbecauseitmaycontainmorethanone
root(i.e.redskin).Moreover,itisonlyabasisforaffixationandnot
compounding,andonlydealswithinflectionalmorphology.Forinstance,
inawordlikeunforgettables,thestemisunforgettable,andintheform
armchairs,thestemisarmchairalthoughitcontainstworoots.
(3)Third,abaseisdefinedasaformtowhichaffixesareadded,thatis,
whenrulesofwordformationareapplied.Thismeansthatithasa
simplestructuretowhichprefixes,suffixes,andcliticformsareadded(a
cliticisakindofmorphemethatisphonologicallyboundbut
syntacticallyfree).Boththetermsrootandstemcanbecalledabase,but
asetofbasesdoesnotimplytheunionofrootsandstems.Forinstance,a
basefunctionsasaderivationallyanalysableformtowhichderivational
affixesareadded,thatis,fortunatelycanactasabaseforprefixationto
giveunfortunately,butinthisprocessfortunatelycannotbereferredtoas
arootbecauseitisanalysableintermsofderivationalmorphology,nor
asastemsinceitisnottheaddingofinflectionalaffixeswhichisin

question(Bauer1983).

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3.3.5.Inflectionalvsderivationalmorphology.
Intheprevioussection,wehavemadereferencetoinflectionaland
derivationalprocesseswhich,inatheoryoflanguage,aretobedefined
asthetwomainprocessesbywhichmorphologyinternallystructures
words.Theyareimportantforanunderstandingofthedistinction
betweenwordformationandsyntax.Bothprocessesaccountforthe
internalstructureofawordform,whichisinternallyrealizedbymeans
oflexemes,morphemes,morphs,orallomorphsalthoughtheydealwith
thetypesofmorphemesindifferentways.
Inflectionalparadigmsareonlyaddedtostemswhilederivational
paradigmsdealwithbasesandroots.Why?Inflectionalmorphologyand
derivationalmorphology(alsocalledlexicalmorphologyorword
formation).Inflectionalmorphologydealswiththevariousformsof
individuallexemesfromgivenstems,whereasderivationalmorphology
orwordformationdealswiththeformationofnewlexemesfromgiven
basesorroots.
Itisworthrememberingatthispointtheclassificationofaffixeswhen
addedtobasesorroots.So,againfollowingBauer(1983),affixescanbe
dividedinto(1)prefixes,whichareattachedbeforeabase(asindislike,
wheredisisaprefix),(2)suffixes,whichareattachedafterabase(asin
freedom,wheredomisasuffix),and(3)infixes,whichareattached
insideabase.Infixation(theuseofinfixes)isvirtuallyknowninEnglish,
andcomparativelyrarethroughoutIndoEuropean.InEnglish,
prefixationisalwaysderivationalwhilesuffixationmaybeeither
derivationalorinflectional.
Derivationalandinflectionalprocessesalikeinvolvearelationbetween
themembersofapair,consistingoftheunmarkedbaseformandthe
markedaffixedform.Thefunctionofinflectionsistoindicate
relationshipbetweenwords:theadditionofaninflectiontoawordina

sentenceisnotamatterrelevanttothatwordalone.However,
derivationalaffixesarenotdependentinthiswayontheformofother
wordsinthesentence:theirfunctionistosignaltheformationofnew
words.
3.3.6.Thenotionofwordformation.
Asstatedbefore,wordformationisdefinedasthemorphologicalprocess
whichdealswiththeformationofneworcomplexlexemesfromgiven
basesorroots(butnotstems).Theformationofnewlexemesinvolves
differentprocesses,amongwhichthemostrelevantaretheadditionof
affixes,mainlyprefixesinderivationalprocessesandsuffixesineither
derivationalorinflectionalprocesses,andthenotionsofcomplexand
compoundinordertoclassifynewlexemeswhenthereisacombination
oftwoormorelexemes(tobediscussedinsubsequentsections).
However,therearemorefactorsthanthemorphologicalonetobetaken
intoaccountwhendealingwiththecreationofnewwords,factorsfrom
thepastuptothepresentday.Thecoinageofnewwordsinalanguageis
furtherjustifiedbyaculturalhistoryoflanguageatsocial,scientific,

23/52
political,andtechnologicallevels,amongothers.English,asanyother
language,hasreflectedoverthecenturiestherevolutionarychangesthat
haveaffectedthegeneraldevelopmentofhumankind.
Newwordsareconstantlycreatedparalleltoexternalinfluencesonthe
languageandsocietyneeds,forinstance,theevolutionofEnglishinthe
nineteenthandtwentiethcenturies,whichreflectedthewidespread
contactsofEnglishwithotherworldlanguages.Asaresultfromthe
expansionofthelanguagewiththeBritishEmpire,manyborrowings
weretakenthenfromFrench,Italian,Spanish,German,andmanyother
languages.
Besides,otherhistoricaleventsmaybementionedintheenlargementof
Englishvocabulary,suchasthegrowthofscienceinthefieldsof
medicine,physics,electronics,chemistryandbiology,andastronautics

andastronomy.Morerecently,theimportanceofmassmediaandthe
developmentofnewmeansofcommunication(i.e.broadcasting,
transport,internet)hasalsofavourednotonlythecoiningofnewwords,
buthavealsocontributedtoacceleratingthediffusionofdifferentterms
comingfromallfieldsofknowledge.
4.WORDFORMATIONPROCESSES.MAINFEATURES.
Oncethenotionofwordformationhasbeengivenahistoricaland
linguisticframework,weshallbereadytoprovideatheoreticalapproach
towordformationprocesses.Therefore,inordertoshowhowthe
Englishlanguagehasenricheditselfbyusingitsownnativeinternal
resources,weshallprovideanaccountofthedifferentprocesses
involvedinthecreationofnewwords,togetherwiththeircharacteristics,
andrecentcontributionstothisfield.
ThechiefprocessesofEnglishwordformation,bywhichthebasemay
bemodifiedaremainly(1)affixation,(2)compounding,and(3)
conversion.Apartfromthesemajorwordformationprocesses,English
callsuponanumberofminordevices,suchascoinageswhicharethe
creationofnewwordsonthebasisofold,suchas(4)acronyms,(5)
blends,(6)clippings,(7)backformation,(8)folketymology,(9)
eponyms,(10)onomatopoeicexpressions,andfinally,(11)word
manufacturecoinages.
Weshalldiscussthedifferentprocessesonthebasisofwordformation
maincharacteristics.Thus,(1)definition,(2)morphologicalforms,(3)
historicaloriginoftheprocess,ifnecessary,(4)phonological
implications,ifnecessary,and(5)theirgroupingbymeansofmeaning.
Inordertodoso,weshallfollowthemainauthors:ondefiningterms,
QuirkandGreenbaum(1973);onmorphology,Adams(1973)andBauer
(1983);onhistoricalorigins,AlgeoandPyles(1982)andHowatt(1984);
onphonology,CelceMurcia(2001);andfinally,ongroupingaccording
tomeaning,againBauer,Adams,andQuirk.

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4.1.AFFIXATION.
Traditionallycalledderivation,thisprocessdealswiththeformationof
newlexemesbymeansofaffixes,thatis,byaddingprefixesandsuffixes
toagivenbase.Usually,suffixesundergomoreinterestingdevelopments
thanprefixedelementssincemostofEnglishprefixesareofLatinand
Greekorigin,andaremuchusedinformingscientificwords.However,
suffixesaremoreoftenofnativeorigin,orhavecomeintothelanguage
viaotherlanguages,suchasFrench,Italian,orSpanish,amongothers.
Manyaffixeswereatonetimeindependentwords,asforinstancethely
ofmanyadjectives,likemanly,orhomely,whichhasdevelopedfromthe
OldEnglishsuffixlic,whichoriginallymeantsomethinglikehaving
thebodyortheappearanceof,thustheliteralmeaningofmanlywas
havingthebodyorformofaman.Otheraffixeshavebeenparticularly
popularduringcertainperiods.
Forinstance,followingAlgeo&Pyles(1982)distinguishsomeofthem,
likewiseaffixedtonounsandadjectivestoformadverbsuntilthe
1940s,andwhichwaspracticallyarchaic,occurringonlyinafewwell
establishedwords,suchaslikewise,otherwise,andcrosswise.Theform
typehasenjoyedasimilarvogueanditisonitswaytobeingafreely
usedsuffix.Withit,adjectivesmaybeformedfromnouns,asin
Catholictype,andLasVegastype.Finally,justmentionthesocalled
suffixize,whichbecameveryproductiveinthe1950s,anddozensof
newcreationshavecomeintobeing:moisturize,glamorize,and
personalize;andothervoguishaffixes,suchastheLatinnonandde;
theGreekismosandisma,andtheRussianonenik.
Affixationiscloselyrelatedtowordaccentualpatternsinsimpleand
compoundwordssinceitisincludedwithinthemainfactorsthat
influencestressplacement,togetherwiththehistoricaloriginofaword.
OneimportantdifferencebetweenwordsofGermanicoriginandthoseof
nonGermanicoriginisthewayinwhichstressisassigned.Forwordsof
Germanicorigin,thefirstsyllableofthebaseformofawordistypically
stressed(i.e.father,yellow,twenty,hammer,water).Today,even
manytwosyllablewordsthathaveenteredEnglishthroughFrenchand

otherlanguageshavebeenassimilatedphonologicallyandfollowthe
Germanicwordstresspattern(i.e.music,doctor,flower,foreign,
manage).
AccordingtoGimson(1980),wemaydistinguishbetweensimpleand
compoundwordsbecausetheybothundergodifferentstresspatterns.
WordsthathavenotbeenassimilatedtotheGermanicpatternhaveless
predictablewordstressintheirbaseforms,butstressisoftenpredictable
ifcertainaffixesorspellingsareinvolved.Thereforeinthefollowing
sectionsweshallexaminehowaffixationmayaffectstressonsimple
words,dependingontheirhistoricalorigin.
4.1.1.Prefixes.Aprefixisdefinedasanelementplacedbeforeandjoined
toawordorbaseinordertoaddorto
qualifyitsmeaning(i.e.disability).FollowingQuirk&Greenbaum
(1973),whenaddingprefixesto25/52
thebase,theydonotgenerallyalteritswordclass(i.e.pilotandco
pilot),exceptforaspecialtypecalledconversionprefixes,bywhicha
wordclasschangeisforced(i.e.fromnountoverb:calm,becalm).
Prefixesmaybeclassifiedeitherintermsoftheformclassofthebaseto
whichtheyareadded,orintermsofgroupsofmeaning.Inthisstudy,
prefixesaretobeclassifiedintermsoftheirmeaning
(Quirk,1973).However,theirclassificationintermsofclassform
(Bauer,1983:217)wouldbeasfollows:prefixesusedexclusivelywith
(1)anounbase:arch,mini/maxi,step,mal,andpro(i.e.
archbishop,minidress,maxicar,stepmother,malnutrition,proconsul);(2)
averbbase:de,dis,andun(i.e.deboost,discard,undo);(3)an
adjectivebase:a,uncis,extra(i.e.atypical,unpolitical,cislunar,
extrasensory).
Wemayalsofindprefixesaddedto(4)nounsandverbs:fore,remis
(i.e.foreground,forewarn;rearrangemet,recycle;misfortune,mislead);
(5)nounsandadjectives:in(alsoim+p/b;imin+

f/v;i+m,n,l,r;in+k/g;andin+t,d,s,[ch],dj,j,vowels)asinthewords
insane,improbable,infraction,illogical,irrational,innate,immediate,
incapacity,injoke.Also,mid,ex,un(i.e.midNovember,ex
president,unfair);(6)verbsandadjectives:circum(i.e.circumnavigate,
circumjacent);(7)nouns,verbs,andadjectives:counter(i.e.
counterculture,counterdemonstrate,counterattractive),dis(i.e.
disinformation,disbound,disambiguate),andco(i.e.coauthor),inter
(i.e.interdigital),andsub(i.e.subwarden,subconscious).
Asmentionedbefore,mostprefixessurvivefromOldEnglishtimes,
suchasthoseofGermanicorigin(i.e.a,be,fore,mis,andun),but
accordingtoAlgeo&Pyles(1982),mostEnglishprefixesareofLatin,
Greek,andFrenchorigin,sinceEnglishhashadwiththemtheclosest
culturalcontactsinearliertimes.Besides,oneofthemostcommonly
usedprefixesofnonnativeoriginisGreekantiagainst(i.e.antipathy,
antislavery,antiabortion).Also,proforandsuperhuge,great.
Productiveprefixes,saysQuirk(1973),normallyhaveasecondarystress
ontheirfirst(oronly)syllablewhereastheprimarystressfallsonthe
base.Infact,regardingphonologicalrules,thosewords,suchasnouns,
adjectives,andverbs,containingprefixestendtobestronglystressedon
thefirstsyllableofthebaseorrootelement,withtheprefixeither
unstressedorlightlystressed(i.e.nouns:surprise,proposal,award;
adjectives:unhealthy,incredible;verbs:declare,forget)(Celce
Murcia,2001).
InEnglish,prefixestendtofallintooneoftwocategories:(1)firstly,
prefixesofGermanicoriginand(2)secondly,prefixesofLatinateorigin.
Among(1)theGermanicprefixeswemaymention:a,be,for,fore,
mis,out,over,un,under,up,andwith(i.e.awake,belief,forgive,
forewarn,mistake,outrun,overdo,untie,understand,uphold,and
withdrawn)and,aswemaynote,thesewordsfollowageneralpatternby
whichthereisnostressontheprefixandstrongstressonthebase.

26/52
Itisworthnotingthatsomeoftheseprefixes(a,be,for,andwith)are

alwaysunstressedinthewordsinwhichtheyoccurwhereasothers
receivelightstressinprefix+verbcombinations(i.e.un:,undo,
,unhook;out:,outrun,,outlast;over:,overlook,,overtake;under:
,understand,,underpay).However,anexceptiontothisgeneralrule
occurswhentheprefixfunctionsasanounandhasthesamepatternasa
compoundnoun.Asaresult,theprefixtendstobestronglystressed(i.e.
forecast,outlook,overcoat,underwear,upkeep).
Thesecondcategoryis(2)prefixesofLatinateoriginwhichusually
receivestrongstressonthewordbaseandnotontheprefix.These
includea(d),com,de,dis,ex,en,in,ob,per,pre,pro,re,sub,
andsur(i.e.complain,display,inhabit,persuade,subdivide,andso
on).Wemustnotethat,whenaddedtoverbs,unlikeGermanicprefixes,
mostofLatinateprefixesareunstressedwhenpartofaverb.Amongthe
mostfrequentwemaymentioncom(alsoco,col,con,cor)asin
command),dis(i.e.disturb),pro(i.e.protest),ex(i.e.extend).
Moreover,thesensegroupsintowhichprefixesfallshowadifferent
generalpatternfromthesensegroupsofsuffixes.AccordingtoQuirk&
Greenbaum(1973),thelargestgroupsofprefixesintermsofmeanings
aretheexpressionsof:(1)negation,(2)privation,(3)pejorativewords,
(4)degreeorsize,(5)attitude,(6)location,(7)timeandorder,and(8)
number.Otherspecialtypesofprefixesinclude(9)conversionprefixes,
and(10)others.
4.1.1.1.Negativeprefixes.
Amongthemostcommonnegativeprefixes,weshallmention:(1)un,
whichmeanstheoppositeofornot,andisaddedtoadjectivesand
participles(i.e.unfair,unexpected,unkind);(2)nonwhichmeansnot,
andcannormallyberegardedascorrespondingtoclausenegation(non
smoker=apersonwhodoesnotsmoke).Itisaddedtovariousclasses,for
instance,nouns:nonsmoker,adjectives:nondrip(paint)orverbs:non
stop.(3)inwhichhasthesamemeaningasun,andisaddedto
adjectives.Ithasdifferentrealizations:inbefore/n/(i.e.innate)il
before/l/(i.e.illogical),imbeforebilabials(i.e.impossible),andir
before/r/(i.e.irrelevant).(4)dishasthesamemeaningasun,andis

addedtoadjectives,verbs,andabstractnouns(i.e.disloyal,dislike,
disfavour).Andfinally,(5)a,whichmeanslackinginandisaddedto
adjectivesandnouns(i.e.aside,asymmetry).
4.1.1.2.Reversativeorprivativeprefixes.
Amongthemostcommonprivativeprefixes,weinclude:(1)unwhich
meanstoreverseactionandtodepriveofwhichisaddedtoverbs(i.e.
untie,undress);(2)dewhichmeanstoreverseactionagain,andis
addedtoverbsandabstractnouns(i.e.defrost,deforestation);andfinally
(3)diswhichhasthesamemeaningasthepreviousones,andisadded
toverbs,participles,andnouns(i.e.disconnect,disinterested,
discontent).

27/52
4.1.1.3.Pejorativeprefixes.
Themostcommonpejorativeprefixesarethefollowing:(1)miswhich
meanswronglyandastray,andisaddedtoverbs,abstractnouns,and
participles(i.e.misunderstand,misconduct,misleading);(2)malwhich
meansbadly,isaddedtoverbs,abstractnouns,participles,and
adjectives(i.e.malform,malfunction,malfromed,malodorous);(3)
pseudoorquasi,whichmeansfalse,imitationisaddedtonouns,
adjectives(i.e.pseudointellectual).Otherprefixeswithpejorative
overtonesarearch(i.e.archenemy),over(i.e.overloaded),under
(i.e.underminimalist),andhyper(i.e.hypercriticized).
4.1.1.4.Prefixesofdegreeorsize.
Amongthemostcommonprefixesofdegreeorsize,weinclude:(1)
archwhichmeanshighest,worst,andisaddedtonouns,mainly
humans(i.e.archduke,archenemy);(2)superwhichmeans
above,morethan,better,isaddedtonouns(i.e.superwoman,
supermarket)andadjectives(i.e.supernatural);(3)outmeanstodo
somethingfasterandlongerthan,andisaddedtoverbs,mainly
intransitive(i.e.outrun,outcast,outlive);(4)sur,whichmeansoverand

above,isaddedtonouns(i.e.surface)whereas(5)submeanslower
than,lessthan,andisaddedtoadjectives(i.e.substandard).
(6)Overmeanstoomuchandisaddedtoverbs(i.e.overheat),
participles(i.e.overdressed),andadjectives(i.e.overconfident);(7)
undermeanstoolittle,andisaddedtoverbs(i.e.
underestimate)andparticiples(i.e.underpriviledged);(8)hypermeans
extremelyand(9)ultraextremely,beyond,andbothareaddedto
adjectives(i.e.hypercritical,ultraviolet,ultramodern);finally(10)
mini,whichmeanslittle,isaddedtonouns,asthefamousminiskirt,
incontrasttoprefixeslikemaxi(=large,long)andmidi(=medium),
whicharelesscommon(i.e.maxiskirt).Itisoftenusedforhumorous
coinages.
4.1.1.5.Prefixesofattitude.
Amongthemostpopularprefixesofattitude,wemayfind:(1)co,which
meanswith,joint,andisaddedtoverbsandnouns(i.e.cooperate,co
pilot);(2)countermeansinoppositiontoandsuggestsactionin
responsetoapreviousaction.Itisaddedtoverbsandabstractnouns(i.e.
counteract,counterrevolution);(3)anti,whichmeansagainstdenotes
anattitudeofopposition,andisaddedtonouns(i.e.antimissile),
denominaladjectives(i.e.antisocial),andadverbs(i.e.anticlockwise);
(4)pro,denotingonthesideof,isaddedtonounsanddenominal
adjectives(i.e.proEurope,procommunist).
4.1.1.6.Locativeprefixes.Amongthemostcommonlocativeprefixeswe
maymention:(1)superwhichmeansoverandis
addedtonounsasinsuper,stratus;(2)subwiththemeaningof
beneath,lesserinrank,whichis28/52
addedtonouns,adjectives,andverbs(i.e.sub,marine,subconscious,
submerge);(3)interwiththemeaningofbetween,amongandisadded
todenominaladjectives,verbs,andnouns(i.e.intermediate,interact,
internet);andfinally,transwhichmeansacross,fromoneplaceto
another,andisaddedtodenominaladjectivesandverbs(i.e.

transatlantic,transplant).
4.1.1.7.Prefixesoftimeandorder.
Themostcommonprefixesoftimeandorderaresaidtobethe
following:(1)fore,whichmeansbeforeandisaddedtomainlyverbs
andabstractnouns(i.e.foretell,forehead);(2)prewiththemeaningof
before,andisaddedtoadjectivesandnouns(i.e.pretest,premature);
(3)postwiththemeaningofafterusedwithnounsandadjectives(i.e.
postwar,postromantic);(4)theprefixexmeaningformerisaddedto
humannouns(i.e.exwife,expresident);andfinally(5)re,withthe
meaningofagain,back,andisaddedtoverbsandabstractnouns(i.e.
redecorate,resettlement).
4.1.1.8.Numberprefixes.
ThemostcommonLatinandGreeknumberprefixescanbeaddedtoany
wordcategory.Amongthemostcommonones,thefollowingaretobe
mentioned:(1)uniandmono,whosemeaningisone(i.e.unicorn,
monotheism);(2)bianddi,whosemeaningistwo(i.e.bilingual,
dipole).Therearesomeambiguousexamples,suchasbimonthly,which
canmeaneithereverytwomonthsortwiceeverymonthaswellas
biweekly.Also,notebiennial,whichnormallyhasonlythemeaning
everytwoyears(incontrastwithbiannualtwiceayear);(3)tri
whosemeaningisthree(i.e.triennium);and(4)multiandpolywhose
meaningismany(i.e.multicultural,polysemic).
4.1.1.9.Conversionprefixes.
Asstatedbefore,whenaddingprefixestoabase,theydonotgenerally
alteritswordclass(i.e.pilotandcopilot),exceptforaspecialtype
calledconversionprefixes,bywhichawordclasschangeisforced(i.e.
fromnountoverb:calm,becalm).Inthesespecialcases,thefollowing
prefixeschangethewordcategoryofthewordtowhichtheyareadded
intoanother.Thus,(1)bewhenaddedtonouns,convertsthebaseinto
participialadjectives(i.e.bemused),andwhenaddedtoverbs,adjectives,
ornounsthewordchangesintotransitiveverbs(i.e.fromdazzleto

bedazzle,calmbecalm,andwitchbewitch).Notethatsometimesthe
categorywordchangeinvolvespejorativemeanings;(2)enturnsnouns
intoverbs(i.e.dangerendangered;courageencourage);and(3)aturns
verbsintopredicativeadjectiveswhichhaveacolloquialmeaningrather
thanliteral(i.e.afloat,awash,astride).
4.1.1.10.Otherprefixes.Thelasttypeofprefixesdealswiththoseones
whicharenotincludedinanymeaninggroup.Thus,
(1)autowhichmeansself(i.e.autobiography);(2)neowhichmeans
new,revived(i.e.29/52
neoclassic);(3)panwhichmeansall,worldwide(i.e.panAmerica);
(4)protowhichmeansfirst,original(i.e.prototype);(5)semiwhich
meanshalf(i.e.semicircle);and(6)vicewhichthemeaningof
deputy(i.e.vicepresident).
4.1.2.Suffixes.
Asuffixisdefinedasanelementplacedafterandjoinedtoawordor
baseinordertomodifyitsgrammaticalfunction,buttheydonotchange
thepartofspeechorbasicmeaningofthewordstowhichtheyare
attached(i.e.quitequiteness).FollowingQuirk&Greenbaum(1973),
whenaddingsuffixestothebase(oneormore),theyfrequentlydoalter
itswordclass(i.e.forget(verb)andforgetful(adjective).Unlike
prefixes,theyaremarkersofgrammaticalfunctions,andarealsocalled
inflectionalaffixes.
Asmentionedbefore,mostofthemsurvivefromOldEnglishtimes,such
asthefollowing(i.e.dom,ed,en,er,ful,hood,ing,ish,less,
ness,ship,some,ster,th,ward,andy).AccordingtoAlgeo&
Pyles(1982),theysuffixoccurringinloanwordsofGreek(i.e.
phlebotomy),Latin(i.e.century),andFrench(i.e.contrary)originmay
representGreekia(i.e.criteria),Latinius,ium,ia(i.e.radius,
medium,militia),orFrenchie(i.e.perjury),ee(i.e.army)whereyis
notalivingsuffixanymore.However,itstillcontinuetoform
diminutiveswhenadded(i.e.tubby,loony).

SinceEnglishhasalexiconculledfrommanysources,borrowedsuffixes
thathavebeenaddedtoEnglishwordswhatevertheirultimateoriginis,
includethefollowing:esefromOldFrench(i.e.journalese,
educationese);fromLatinian,iana,ician,or,andorium(i.e.
Nebraskan,Americana,politician,conductor,crematorium);andfrom
Greekizein,averypopularsuffixtomakeverbs(i.e.realize,criticize).
Withrespecttotheirphonologicalaspect,suffixesaffectwordstressin
oneofthreeways:(1)firstly,theymayhavenoeffectonthestress
patternoftherootword;(2)secondly,theymayreceivestrongstress
themselves;(3)andthirdly,theymaycausethestresspatterninthestem
toshiftfromonesyllabletoanother.
Withinthefirstgroup,wefind(1)neutralsuffixes,whichhavenoeffect
onthestresspatternoftherootwordandareGermanicinorigin.These
suffixesinclude,forinstance,hood(i.e.brotherhood),less(i.e.
careless),ship(i.e.kinship),andful(i.e.forgetful).Otherneutral
suffixeswhicharenotallofGermanicorigin,butwhichfunctioninthe
samewayinclude:able(i.e.unable),al(i.e.nounsuffix,chemical),
dom(i.e.stardom),ess(i.e.princess),ling(i.e.yearling),ness(i.e.
darkness),some(i.e.troublesome),wise(i.e.clockwise),andy(i.e.
silky).Infact,asageneralrule,wordswithGermanicorneutralsuffixes
(whetherthestemisofGermanicoriginornot)stilltendtomaintainthe
stresspatternofthebaseform(i.e.brother,unbrotherly;happy,
happiness,unhappiness;easy,uneasily).

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Withinthesecondgroup,wefind(2)suffixesthat,unliketheGermanic
ones,havecomeintotheEnglishlanguageviaFrench(i.e.eer(i.e.
volunteer,engineer),esque(i.e.grotesque,arabesque),eur/euse
(i.e.chaffeur,chanteuse),ette(i.e.cassette,basinette),ese(i.e.
Sudanese,Vietnamese),ique(i.e.technique,antique),oon(i.e.
balloon,saloon),et/ey/(i.e.ballet,bouquet).Asaresult,theyoften
causethefinalsyllableofawordtoreceivestrongstress,withother
syllablesreceivingsecondaryornostress.Asageneraltendency,the
longerawordremainsaspartoftheEnglishvocabularysystem,the

greateristhetendencyforstresstoshifttowardthebeginningofaword.
Hence,notethecoexistencetoday,forinstance,forthepronunciations
cigaretteandmillionaire(wherethestressisonthefinalelement)and
cigaretteandmillionaire(wherethestressisonthefirstelement).
Finally,withinthethirdgroup,weinclude(3)suffixesthatcanalso
causeashiftofstressintherootword,thatis,whenaddedtoaword,
theycancausethestresstoshifttothesyllableimmediatelypreceding
thesuffix.Notethestressshiftcausedbytheadditionofthefollowing
suffixestotherootword:eous(i.e.fromrootwordadvantagetoroot
withsuffixadvantageous);graphy(i.e.photo,photography);ial(i.e.
proverb,proverbial);ian(i.e.Paris,Parisian);ic(i.e.climate,
climatic);ical(i.e.ecology,ecological);ious(i.e.injure,injurious);
ity(i.e.tranquil,tranquility);andion(i.e.educate,education).
Besides,addingthesesuffixestoawordnotonlybringsaboutashiftin
stressbutalsoachangeinthesyllablestructureorsyllabification,
causingvowelreductionorneutralizationintheunstressedsyllablesto
schwa(i.e.academy,academic,andacademician;andphotograph,
photography,andphotographic,wherethesyllablesprecedingthe
stressarereducedtoschwa).
Finally,itisimportanttonotethatincaseswherethebaseandthesuffix
havedifferenthistoricalorigins,itisthesuffixthatdeterminesthe
Englishstresspattern.Forexample,Germanicsuffixessuchaslyand
nesscausenoshiftinstress(i.e.passive,passively,passiveness)
whereaswiththeadditionoftheLatinatesuffixitytothesameword,it
does(i.e.comparepassivetopassivity).Thisstressshiftwouldextend
eventoabasewordofGermanicoriginifitweretotakeaLatinatesuffix
(i.e.foldablevsfoldability).
Inordertoofferadetailedaccountonsuffixation,weshallfollowQuirk
andGreenbaum(1973:435)andBauer(1983:220).Thus,suffixationis
examinedunderthefollowingclassification:(1)suffixesformingnouns,
(2)suffixesformingadjectives,(3)suffixesformingverbs,(4)suffixes
formingadverbs,(5)otherformclassesasbases,and(6)suffixeson
foreignbases.

(1)Suffixesformingnounsrefertothosesuffixeswhichareaddedtoa
classformbaseinordertoformnouns.Wemayfindnounsuffixes
addedto(1.1)noun,(1.2)adjective,and(1.3)verbbases.Moreover,as
weshallsee,thesesuffixesfollowaclassificationintermsoftheir
meaning.Amongthemostpopular(1.1)nounsuffixesaddedtonoun
bases,wefindthefollowingclassification

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regardingtheirmeaning:(1.1.1)occupational,(1.1.2)communitytype
suffixes,(1.1.3)diminutiveorfeminine,(1.1.4)statusordomain,and
(1.1.5)others.
Regarding(1.1.1)occupationalsuffixes,wefind(a)erwhichmakes
personalnounsusuallywithavariedmeaning(i.e.teenager=young
personwhobelongstoacertainperiodoflife;Dubliner=inhabitantof
Dublin;lawyer=personofaprofessionrelatedtolaw);(b)eerand(c)
stermakepersonalnounsandrefertoapersonengagedinanoccupation
oractivity(i.e.engineer,volunteer;youngster,gangster).
(1.1.2)communitytypesuffixes,whichrefertothefactofbeing
memberofacommunity,nationality,country,orparty.Thus,(a)ite,to
formpersonalnounsfromchieflynames(i.e.IsraelIsraelite);(b)(i)an
and(c)ese,usuallyaddedtopropernounstoformpersonalnouns,also
callednongradableadjectives,meaningpertainingtoacountryor
nationality(i.e.ItalyItalian,JapanJapanese);(d)ist,oftenaddedto
nounstoformpersonalnouns(i.e.violinviolinist);and(e)ism,added
tonounstoformabstractnouns(i.e.raceracism).
Whendealingwith(1.1.3)diminutiveorfemininesuffixes,we
distinguishmainlyfour.Thus,(a)let,usuallyaddedtocountnounsto
makecountnouns,meanssmall,unimportant(i.e.leaflet,piglet);
(b)ettemayrefertothingsmeaningsmall,compact(i.e.cigarette)or
imitationofmaterials(i.e.kitchenette).Also,itmayrefertoafemale
feature(i.e.usherette);besides,(c)essisaddedtoanimatenounsto
makeanimatenounswithafemalefeature(i.e.lionlioness,prince
princess);andfinally,(d)yandietorefertopeople,animalsorobjects

inalovingway,andislargelyrestrictedtofamiliarcontextsmeaning
familiarity(i.e.daddy,auntie,puppy,movie).
Regarding(1.1.4)statusordomain,wedistinguishsixmainsuffixes:(a)
hood,tomakeabstractnounswiththemeaningofstatus(i.e.
brotherhood,neighbourhood).Notethatitmaybealsoaddedtoan
adjectivebase(i.e.likelihood,falsehood);(b)ship,usuallyrelatedto
humanfeatures(i.e.friendship,dictatorship,companionship);(c)dom,
meaningdomainandcondition(i.e.kingdom,stardom);(d)ocracy,
meaningsystemofgovernment(i.e.democracy);and(e)ery/ry,
meaningbelongingtoasystem(i.e.slavery,pageantry).
Concerning(1.1.5)othergroupings,wemainlydistinguishthreetypes:
(a)ful,tomakecountnouns,andmeaningquantity(i.e.spoonful,
mouthful);(b)ing/lingtoexpressthematerialanitemismadeofor
amildlycontemptuousflavour(i.e.panelling,underling,charming,
exciting);and(c)scape(i.e.seaseascape).
Regarding(1.2)nounsuffixesaddedtoadjectivebases,weshall
mention:again(a)ist,inordertoformpersonalnounswhichmean
memberofaparty(i.e.socialsocialist;idealidealist);(b)ism,soasto
formabstractnouns(i.e.idealidealism).Moreover,wefind(c)ness,(d)
domand(e)ity,soastoformabstractnounsmeaningstateor
quality(i.e.happyhappiness;freefreedom;possiblepossibility);(f)
cy,fromadjectivesendinginant/ent(i.e.militantmilitancy,elegant

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elegance;excellentexcellency,dependent,dependence);(g)er,toform
countablenouns(i.e.sixsixer);(h)hood(i.e.falsefalsehood);and
finally(i)th(i.e.warmwarmth;strongstrength).
Withrespectto(1.3)nounsuffixesaddedtoverbbases,weshall
mention:(a)erand(b)or,mainlyaddedtodynamicverbssoasto
formmainlypersonalnounsmeaningagentiveand
instrumental(i.e.teachteacher;directdirector);(c)antsoastoform
agentiveandinstrumentalnouns(i.e.inhabitinhabitant;disinfect

disinfectant);(d)ee,whichformshumanpatientnouns(i.e.employee,
vaccinee);(e)ation,toformeitherabstractorcollectivenouns.Abstract
nounsmeaningstate,action(i.e.exploreexploration)andcollective
nounsmeaninginstitution(i.e.organizeorganization).
Moreover,wedistinguish(f)ment,whichformsmainlyabstractnouns
meaningstateoraction(i.e.amazeamazement,managemanagement);
(g)al,whichmainlyformscountabstractnouns
meaningaction(i.e.refuserefusal,arrivearrival);(h)ing,which
formseitherabstractorconcretenouns.Abstractnounsmeaning
activity(i.e.cookcooking)andconcretenounsmeaningresultof
activity(i.e.buildbuilding);(i)age,toformnoncountabstractnouns
meaningactivityorresultofactivity(i.e.draindrainage);(j)ure(like
ation)formsabstractnominalizationsfromverbs(i.e.closeclosure);
and(k)ary,soastoformcountnouns(i.e.dispensedispensary).
(2)Suffixesformingadjectivesrefertothosesuffixeswhichareaddedto
aclassformbaseinordertoformadjectives.Wemayfindadjective
suffixesaddedto(2.1)noun,(2.2)adjective,and(2.3)verbbases.
Amongthemostpopular(2.1)adjectivesuffixesaddedtonounbases,
wefindthefollowingclassification:(a)ed,addedtonounsornoun
phrasesmeaninghavingthespecialfeatureof(i.e.patternpatterned,
saltsalted);(b)ful,usuallyaddedtoabstractnounstoformgradable
adjectivesmeaninghavingorgiving(i.e.doubtdoubtful,helphelpful);
(c)less,meaningwithout(i.e.careless,sleepless);(d)lyand(e)like
and(f)en,oftenaddedtoconcretenounstoformgradableadjectives
meaninghavingthequalitiesof(i.e.bravely,cowardly;childlike,
homelike;woodwooden).
Moreover,wedistinguish(g)y,usuallyaddedtoconcretenoncount
nouns,whichformsgradableadjectivesmeaninglikeorcoveredwith
(i.e.silky,creamy);(h)ish,addedtomainlypropercountnounssoasto
formeithernongradableorgradableadjectives.Regardingnongradable
adjectives,itmeansbelongingto(i.e.SpainSpanish;Turkey,Turkish)
andregardinggradableadjectives,itmeanshavingthecharacterof(i.e.
foolfoolish,childchildish);(i)ian,oftenaddedtomainlypropernouns

meaninginthetraditionof(i.e.DarwinDarwinian).
Otheradjectivesuffixesarecommoninborrowedandneoclassical
words,suchas(j)al(alsoial,ical)usedtoformprimarilynon
gradableadjectives(i.e.crimecriminal,musicmusical);(k)ic,usedto
formgradableornongradableadjectives(i.e.heroeheroic,mime
mimic);(l)ive(alsoative,itive)forgradableornongradable
adjectives(i.e.attractionattractive,authority

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authoritative,intuitionintuitive);(m)ous(alsoeous,ious)soasto
formprimarilygradableadjectives(i.e.virtuevirtuous,courtcourteous,
vicevicious).
Also,wemustmention:(n)esqueand(o)ese,usuallyaddedto
commonandpropernouns(i.e.picturepicturesque;ArabArabesque,
JapanJapanese);(p)ate,usuallyaddedtoabstractnouns(i.e.affection
affectionate,passionpassionate);(q)ary/ory,areparticularlynotable
whenformingnongradableadjectives(i.e.revolutionrevolutionary,
satisfactionsatisfactory).
(2.2)Adjectivesuffixesaddedtoadjectivebases,wefindthefollowing
classification:(a)ish,attachedtogradableadjectivessoastoform
gradableadjectives,meaningsomewhat(i.e.redreddish,green
greenish);(b)ly,whichmeanshavingthequalityof(i.e.good
goodly);and(c)some(i.e.queerqueersome).
(2.3)Adjectivesuffixesaddedtoverbbasesareclassifiedasfollows:(a)
ableand(b)ible(ofteninconjunctionwithun,andaddedtotransitive
verbs)meaningableorworthytobe(i.e.believeunbelievable,read
readable);(c)less,meaningwithout(i.e.countless);(d)ant/ent,
meaningthequalityof(i.e.absorbabsorbent);(e)atory(i.eaffirm
affirmatory);(f)ful,withthemeaningofthequalityof(i.e.forget
forgetful);and(g)ive(i.e.generategenerative).
Besides,(3)suffixesformingverbsrefertothosesuffixeswhichare
addedtoaclassformbaseinordertoformverbs.Wemayfindverb

suffixesaddedto(3.1)nounand(3.2)adjectivebases.Amongthemost
popular(3.1)verbsuffixesaddedtonounbases,wefindthefollowing
classification:(a)ify,usedinordertoformmainlytransitiveverbswith
acausativemeaning(i.e.terrorterrify;satisfactionsatisfy);(b)ize
(alsoise),usedinordertoformmainlytransitiveverbsaswell,hasa
causativemeaning(i.e.standardstandardize).
Regarding(3.2)verbsuffixesaddedtoadjectivebases,wemaymention
again:(a)ify,(i.e.simplesimplify);(b)ize(alsoise)witha
causativemeaning(i.e.popularpopularize);and(c)en,usedtoform
eithertransitiveorintransitiveverbs.Transitiveverbshaveacausative
meaning(i.e.shortshorten)whereasintransitiveverbshavethemeaning
ofbecomeX(i.e.sadsadden).
Moreover,(4)suffixesformingadverbsrefertothosesuffixeswhichare
addedtoaclassformbaseinordertoformadverbs.Wemayfindadverb
suffixesaddedtodifferentbases,andamongthemostpopularadverb
suffixes,wemaymention:(a)ly,inordertoformmainlyadverbsof
mannerorviewpointmeaningina...manner(i.e.sadly,strangely);(b)
ward(s),inordertoformadverbsofmanneranddirection(i.e.
backwards,afterwards);(c)wise,inordertomakefirst,adverbsof
mannermeaninginthemannerof(i.e.homewards),andsecondly,
viewpointadverbsmeaningasfaras...isconcerned(i.e.weatherwise,
cornerwise).Otherlesspopularadverbsare(d)styleand(e)fashion,
meaninginthemannerorstyleof(i.e.Americanstyle);(f)fold,and
(g)way(s)toformadverbialcompounds.

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(5)Amongotherformclassesasbases,itisclaimedthatnotonlynouns,
verbs,adjectivesandadverbscanbetheproductofwordformation,but
alsoprepositionsandpronouns(i.e.into,anyone,downer,inness,
suchness,whyness).
Andfinally,(6)Englishsuffixationonforeignbasesshowsthatmostof
themoftencomefromLatin,Greek,andFrench,althoughfollowing
Adams(1973),therearemanymoreoriginstotakeintoaccount.For

instance,thesuffix(a)nikfromRussian,denotingapersonengagedin
orconnectedwithsomethingspecified(i.e.sputnik,nudnik(=abore,a
nuisance),beatnik);(b)prooffromOldEnglishmeaningaffording
protectionagainswhatisdenotedbythefirstelement(i.e.soundproof,
waterproof,burglarproof);(c)crazy/cratfromtheReinasanceperiod
denotingelite,rulinggroup(i.e.aristocrazyaristocrat;democracy
democrat).
Also,(d)drome,fromGreekmeaningabuildinginwhichexhibitions
areheld(i.e.hippodrome,aerodromo,velodrome);(e)naut,fromthe
legendaryArgo,whichwentinquestoftheGolden
Fleece.Itdenotesatraveller(i.e.astronaut,aeronaut,cosmonaut);(f)
scope,fromGreekmeaningtolookat,examine(i.e.laryngoscope,
microscope,cinemascope);(g)topia,fromGreek,andlateraword
formedbyThomasMore(1516)meaningnoplace(i.eutopia,subtopia,
semitopia);(h)genic,fromtheneoclassicalperiodandusedin
scientificcontextsmeaningproducingorgeneratinglight(i.e.
photogenic,radiogenic,videogenic);(i)cade,fromLatinandFrench
meaningaceremonialprocession(i.e.cavalcade,arcade,masquerade,
parade);(j)er,ry,fromFrench(i.e.cavalier,cavalry);(k)ent(i.e.
agent,solvent),al(i.e.terrestrial),andrecentcoinages(i.e.bariatrics,
fromGreek;cryonics,ebulism,laterize,ludic,andviridian),andtron,
tronic,onics,ortronics,meaningradiantenergy(i.e.electron,
electronic,neutron).
4.2.COMPOUNDING.
Afterexaminingaffixationfeatures,thenextprocessunderdiscussionis
compounding.Beforeexaminingindepththecompoundingprocess,we
mustbearinmindthatinatheoryoflanguage,allbranchesof
morphologyhaveincommonthattheydealwiththestructureofword
forms,butindifferentways.Forinstance,inflectionalmorphologydeals
withthevariousformsofindividuallexemesfromgivenstems,whereas
wordformationdealswiththeformationofnewlexemesfromgiven
roots.Hence,wordformationproccessesaremainlybasedon,first,
derivation(affixation)andcompounding(combinationofwordswith

morethanoneroot).
TheoriginsofcompoundingprocessestracebacktotheOldEnglish
period,wherenativewordswerecombinedinordertomakeself
interpretingwords.ThispracticewasnotabandonedinMiddleEnglish,
sincetheinfluenceofotherculturesontheEnglishlanguagepromoted
theborrowingofreadymadeforeignwordsalthoughnewwordscould
havebeeneasilyformedonthenativemodel.FollowingAlgeo&Pyles
(1993),todayselfexplainingcompoundsarestillformedbyasure
instinct(i.e.picturetube)althoughthemethodismuchlessuniversal
thanitoncewas.

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Morerecently,compoundinghasbeenrelatedtothenotionofmultiword
units,whicharesaidtooperatebeyondthelevelofsinglewordsin
discourseassingleentitiesand,therefore,actasasinglelexemewitha
singlemeaning,asinlightyearsagoorasfarasIknow(Schmitt,
2000:97).Itisinthecategorizationofmultiwordunitsthatwefind,
amongthemostcommoncategories,compoundnouns,togetherwith
phrasalverbs,fixedphrases,idioms,proverbs,andlexicalphrases
(Alexander,1984;NattingerandDeCarrico,1992;andMoon,1998).
Compounding,then,isdefinedastheprocessofwordformationby
meansofcombiningwords,thatis,bymeansofcompounds(Adams,
1973;Quirk1973;Algeo&Pyles,1982;Bauer,1983;Aitchinson,1987;
Schmitt,2000).Acompound,then,isaunitconsistingoftwoormore
wordstogetherinordertomakeasinglelexemewithameaninginsome
waydifferent,ifonlyinbeingmorespecific(notethedifferencebetween
blackboardandblackboard).Itisusuallyahyponymofthe
grammaticalhead(i.e.sunrisethesunrises;ashtraythetrayforash).Itis
worthrememberingthatthecompoundlexemecontainsatleasttwo
roots,andnottwolexemesandeven,itmaycontainmorethantworoots,
asindriverssideairbagorfourwheeldiscbrakes).
So,thenewsinglelexemesaresaidtohaveanotherwiseindependent
existence,andhavetheidentifyingcharacteristicsofsinglewords.Thus,

first,theirconstituentsmaynotbeseparatedbyotherforms,andsecond,
theirorderisfixed.Compounding,then,differsfromderivation
(affixation)inthatitisnotformedbyderivationalparadigmsbutby
combiningwords,thatmayornotbesubjectedtoderivationalprocesses.
Compoundshavesignificantcharacteristicsregarding(1)orthographic
conventionsandacloseconnectionbetween(2)phonologyand(3)
meaning.Firstly,(1)asfaraswritingisconcerned,thesenewlexemes
canbepresentedasmultipleorthographicwords(i.e.infrontof),
hyphenatedwords(i.e.fireeater),orasasingleorthographicword(i.e.
outgoing).Inmanycases,thereisnostandardizedspelling,withthe
resultthatthewrittenrepresentationcanvaryfrompersontoperson,or
fromtimetotime(i.e.freezedry,freezedry,orfreezedry).
Anothersignificantcharacteristicofcompoundsdealswiththeir(2)
phonology.Ingeneral,acompoundnounismadeupoftwoseparately
writtenwords,hyphenatedornot(asinteacuporforthcoming),andasa
generalrule,thefirstelementofthecompoundisstronglystressed,
whetherthecompoundissimpleorcomplex(i.e.airplane(simple
compound)vsairplanewing(complexcompound)).Theplacementof
stressincompoundwordstellsus,first,whetherwearedealingwithtwo
ormorewordsusedindependentlyorasaunit,andsecond,aboutthe
closeconnectionbetweentheconstituentsandtheirspecialmeanings.
Regarding(3)meaning,ineffect,stressweldstogethertheelementsand
thusmakesthedifferencebetweenthemembersofthefollowingpairs:
highbrow(intellectual)andhigh,brow(resultofrecedinghair);
blackball(voteagainst)andblack,ball(ballcolouredblack);makeup
(cosmetics)andmake,up(reconcile);loudspeaker(soundamplifier)
andloud,speaker(noisytalker).

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Theclassificationofcompoundsisboundtobecontroversialsincemany
scholarshaveattemptedtodoitfromdifferentapproaches(i.e.class
form,semanticclass,linkingelements,andsyntacticfunctionamong
others)andnoneofthemareconsideredtowinunqualifiedsupport.

However,wehaveapproachedcompoundingfollowingBauer(1983),
whoseclassificationdealswiththeformclassesofcompound
constituents,thatis,bythefunctiontheyplayinthesentence(i.e.noun,
adjective,verb,adverb,andsoon).Itsmainstrengthliesonthe
discussionofsemanticrelationshipswithineachofthecategories
provided,anditsmainweaknessisthatsometimesthereisnotaclear
cutboundaryamongclassformsduetothesimilaritybetween
compoundingandtheprocessofconversion.
Hence,acompoundmaybeusedinanygrammaticalfunction:asanoun
(wishbone),pronoun(anyone),adjective(waterproof),adverb
(overhead),verb(sightsee),conjunction(whenever),orpreposition
(without).Moreover,sinceitisacombinationoftwoormorewords,the
firstelement(i.e.noun,adjective,verb,etc)maybecombinedwithother
categories.Hencewedistinguishfivemajorcompoundpatterns:(1)noun
compounds,wherenounsarecombinedwithothercategoriesinorderto
makenouns;similarly,(2)adjectivecompounds;(3)verbcompounds;
(4)adverbcompounds;andfinally(5)othercompounds,whichincludea
numberofphrasesthathavebecomeweldedintocompounds.
Itisworthnotingthat,althoughnouncompoundsaremorefrequentin
Englishthanadjectivecompoundsandverbcompounds,thethreeof
themfollowthesamestresspatterns,thatis,primary
stressfallsonthefirstelementofthecompoundandsecondarystresson
thesecond.Moreover,sincebothelementsofthesethreepatternsreceive
stress,theydonotexhibitanyvowelreductiontoschwa,exceptfor
compoundswithman,whichoftenhavethereducedvowelschwainthe
mansyllable(i.e.postman,fireman).
4.2.1.Compoundnouns.
Sometimes,asinglenounisnotclearenoughtorefertopeopleorthings,
andanotherelementisneededinordertomakewordsmorespecific.A
twowordcompoundisthemostfrequentpatternregardingthistype,
althoughwemayfindmorethantwowords(i.esisterinlaw).Hence,
nounsmaybecombinedmainlywithothernouns,adjectives,andverbs,

althoughothercombinationsarealsopossible(prepositions,adverbs,and
phrasecompounds).Then,acompoundnounisafixedexpressionmade
upoftwoormorewordswithitsownmeaning,andhasanominal
functioninasentence(i.e.subject,object,attribute).
Amongnouncompounds,therearefourmainpatternsaccordingto
semanticcriteria(Bauer1983:30),althoughmostofcompoundsinthis
classareendocentric:(a)endocentriccompoundnouns,thatis,
hyponymsofthegrammaticalhead(secondelementofthecompound
word)asinbeehiveahiveforbeesandarmchairachairwitharms.
ThisisthemostcommonpatterninEnglishintwowordformation
processes(i.e.fireplace,bloodtest).(b)Thesecondtypeis

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exocentric,thatis,whenthecompoundnounisnotahyponymofthe
grammaticalhead,andhasametaphoricalmeaning.Forinstance,
skinheadorhighbrow.(c)Thethirdtypeiscalledappositional(or
bahuvrihi)sincethefirstelementmarksthesexofaperson(i.e.
maidservant,boyfriend),andsexmarkersinanimals(i.eshegoat,he
cheetah).(d)Thefourthtypeiscalledcopulative(ordvandva)and
describescopulativecompounds(i.epantyhose,CadburySchweppes).
(1)Thepatternnoun+nounisthemostfrequentinEnglish(hatchback,
boyfriend,jazzrock,pantyhose).Othercompoundnounsaredrawn
from(a)propernouns+nounswhichareaveryproductiveprocessin
modernEnglishbymeansofplaceandpeoplesnames(i.e.California
dreams,Chomskyrevolution).Anothertypeis(b)gerund+noun,which
haseithernominalorverbalcharacteristics.However,semantically
speaking,itisconsideredasanoun(i.e.afishingrodarodforfishing,
andabathtowelatowelforbath.Andfinally,(c)commonnoun+
commonnounpatterns,withhundredsofexamplestobefoundin
newspaper,magazine,ordictionaries(i.e.acidrain,dominotheory,
adventureplayground,languagelaboratory).
Also,wefind(2)verb+nounpatternswherewefindtwotypes:(a)
whenthenounisthedirectobjectoftheverb(i.e.sightseeing=Xsees

sights,andsimilarly,taxpayer,bloodtest,chewinggum),and(b)when
thenounisnotthedirectobjectoftheverb(i.e.drownproofing,goggle
bos,crashpad,playpit).Anothertype,notveryproductiveisthatof(3)
noun+verb(i.e.nosebleed,sunshine,birthcontrol,nosedive).(4)Next
type,verb+verbisunusualandnonproductive(i.e.makebelieve).The
fifthtype(5)isadjective+noun.Inordertodistinguishwhetheragiven
adjective+nouncombinationisacompoundorsimplyanounphraseis
bymeansofstresspatterns(asseenbefore).Forinstance,deepstructure,
fastfood,andsoftware.
Nexttypeis(6)particle+noun,whichformsderivationalcompounds
withzerosuffix,isquiteaproductivepattern(i.e.inlaw,underground,
offislander,overhead).(7)Verb+particlepatternsformnominalizations
ofphrasalverbs(i.e.drawback,dropout,putdown,putoff)orcoinedby
analogywithphrasalverbs(i.e.fallout,prayin,teachin).(8)With
respecttophrasecompounds,thereareseveralconstructionstobetaken
intoaccount.Theyarephrasesthathavebecomeweldedinto
compounds,forinstance,doginthemanger,fatherinlaw,eighteen
yearold,whiskyandsoda,pepperandsalt,loveinamist.
Finally,itisworthrememberingthat,sincecompoundnounssharethe
samecharacteristicsofsinglenouns,thereisafurtherclassification
regardingtheirqualitynature.Therefore,wemayofferafurther
classificationaccordingtocountable,uncountable,singular,andplural
compoundnouns.Firstly,commouncountablecompoundnounssuchas
babysitter,carpark,postoffice,motorcycle,andswimmingpoolamong
others.Secondly,commonuncountablecompoundnounsare,for
instance,firstaid,incometax,firstrate,daydream,orclassconscious.
Thirdly,commonsingularcompoundnouns,suchastelevisionscreen,
mothertongue,solarsystem,breakfast,andmilkman.Finally,common
pluralcompoundnounsare,forinstance,yellowpages,highheels,
humanrights,wintersports,andcivilrights.

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4.2.2.Compoundadjectives.

Compoundadjectives,ascompoundnouns,areformedwhenasingle
adjectiveisnotenoughtodescribepeople,objects,oranykindof
situation.Themostfrequentpatterninformingadjectivesisthatoftwo
ormorewords,usuallyhyphenated(i.e.wellknown).Sinceadjectives
sharethesamecharacteristicsassingleadjectives,theyarecombined
withothergrammaticalcategoriesinordertoexpressqualitativeand
classifyingcharacteristicsofthecompoundwordregardingpersonality,
physicaldescription,colour,andmaterialamongmanyotherfeatures.
Regardingstress,inasentencewithanadjective+nounsequence,likeI
alwaysuse,coldcream,thefirstelementiscarryingasecondarystress,
andfunctionssimplyasanadjectivemodifyingthenouncream,which
carriestheprimarystress,anditmeansIalwaysusewellchilled
cream.Hence,wemayfindwordsequencesthatcanfunctionaseither
nouncompoundsoradjective+nounphrasesdependingonstressand
context,suchasgreenhouse,darkroom,andblackboard.
Then,theadjectivecompoundsactuallytaketwostresspatterns,which
areoftenhyphenatedwhenwritten.Thefirstpattern,wherethefirst
elementcarriestheprimarystressandthesecondelementcarriesthe
secondarystress,tendstobeusedwhentheadjectivecompoundmodifies
anoun(i.e.awell,traineddogandasecond,handjacket).Thesecond
patterntakesthesecondarystressonthefirstelementandtheprimary
stressonthesecondelementwhentheadjectivecompoundoccursin
utternacefinalposition(i.e.Thissalesmanis,middleagedorHeis
really,goodlooking).
Compoundadjectivesare,then,classifiedaccordingtodifferentpatterns,
amongwhichthemostcommononesare(1)noun+adjective(tobe
includedinthesamegroupofnounsfifthtype),and(2)thealternative
patternofadjective+noun+endinged(i.e.dimwitted,redhaired,
pigheaded).Thethirdtypeis(3)adjective+adjective,wherewemay
findappositionalandendocentrictypes(i.e.bittersweet,anddeadalive).
Similartypesare(4)adverb+adjective,whichisnotparticularly
common(i.e.overqualified,uptight)and(5)adjective/adverb+past
participle(i.e.lowpaid,wellknown,highpriced).Finally,(6)the

patternadjective,adverb,ornoun+presentparticiple(i.e.goodlooking,
easylygoing,heartbreaking).Othernonproductivetypesare(7)verb+
verbasingogo(dancer)andstopgo(economics);(8)verb+particleas
inseethrough(blouse),towaway(zone)andwraparound(skirt);(9)
particle+nounasinbeforetax(profits)andindepth(study).
Afurthersemanticclassificationincludesfeaturessuchas(1)
appositional,usuallyfoundinliterature(i.e.fortunateunhappy,foolish
wittyandsobersad);(2)instrumental,whichsometimesoverlapswith
(3)thelocativeclass(i.e.airborne,seasick,handpicked;worldfamous,
factorypacked,homebrewed);(4)comparative,inwhichthesecond
elementisspecifiedbyacomparisonwithsomequalitycharacteristicof
whatthefirstelementdenotes(i.e.dirtcheap,icecold,snowwhite).
Herewefindasubclassificationinto,first,(a)intensifyingfeatures(i.e.
rockhard,crystalclear,brandnew,paperthin)and(b)particularizing
features(i.e.bloodred,grassgreen,lemonyellow,midnightblue,pearl
grey,skyblue);(5)prepositional,bywhichelementsarelilnkedina
paraphrasebyapreposition(i.e.colourblind,homesick,rentfree,self
sufficient);(6)derivational,whichconsistsofacompounnounstem
(nounoradjective)+noun/adjectivewithsuffixendingin

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ed(i.e.goodnatured,quicktempered;eagleeyed,chickenhearted).
Finally,(7)othernominalattributives(i.e.middleclass,freelance,full
scale,oldtime,whitecollar).
4.2.3.Compoundverbs.
FollowingAdams(1973),verbcompoundsaremainlyformedfollowing
threemainprocesses:first,bybackformationfromnounoradjective
compounds(i.e.aircondition,sleepwalk,freeassociate);second,by
conversion(i.e.househuntfromhousehunter)oralsocalledzero
derivationfromnouncompounds(i.e.bluepencil,honeymoon,
snowball);andthird,andlessoften,inthesamewayasothertypesof
compounds,bycompounding,linkingtwowordstogether(i.e.keepfit,
bedmaking).Inaddition,Bauer(1983)distinguishesothercategories

whichareincludedasotherverbpatterncompoundings,andpointsout
thatcompoundverbsare,inanycase,ratherrare.
Wemaybeginbysayingthatbackformationisthemakingofanewword
fromanolderwordthatismistakenlyassumedtobeaderivativeofit
(i.e.fromburglar,toburgle)wherethefinalarsuggeststhatthewordis
anounofagencyandhenceoughttomeanonewhoburgles.Others
resultinginapairofwordswhichconformswithabasederivedpattern
alreadyexisting(i.e.fromnounbeggartoverbbeg,andsimilarly
singsinger,writewriter).Conversion,onthecontrary,iswhenwords
donotneedanaffixtomeananotherword.Theyjustchangewordclass
bywordorderandsyntacticrules(i.e.averbinthecontinuousform
eatinginHeiseatingmayhaveanominalpatternHiseatingisquite
unhealthy).
Sinceverbcompoundsarecomparablewithnounandadjective
compoundsinrespectoftherelationsbetweentheirelements,theymay
begiventhesamekindofclassificationasnounsandadjectives
regardingthenotionsofobjectheading(i.e.giftwrap,sightsee,breast
feeding),andinstrumentalpatterns(i.e.taperecord,pitchfork,chauffeur
drift).Verbcompoundsarelikelytobewrittensolidorhyphenated,and
theyappearastwoseparatewordsmuchlessoftenthannoun
compounds.
Regardingstress,verbcompoundsusuallytakeasageneralruleonlyone
stresspatternwheretheprimarystressfallsonthefirstelement,andthe
secondarystressfallsonthesecondelementinthecompound(i.e.
baby,sit).Notethatstresswillalsovarybetweensuchtrueverb
compounds,whichconsistofanounandaverb,wherethenounelement
receivesprimarystressandtheverbelementsecondarystress(i.e.Did
youtype,writethatreportforme?).Inthosecaseswherethereare
wordsthatlooklikeverbcompoundsbutareactuallyfunctioningas
prefix+verbsequences,itistheverbthatreceivesprimarystressandthe
prefixsecondarystressornostress(i.e.Canyoureheatthoseleftovers
forme?).
Asfarasmeaningisconcerned,whenverbsareformedfromnouns,we

dealwithtransitiveandintransitiveverbsdependingonthefunction
nounsplayinthesentence(i.e.objectorsubject).Forinstance,ifthe
nounistheobjectinaparaphrasesentence,weobtainbothintransitive
verbsmeaningtoperformtheactiondenotedbythenoun(i.e.from
Johncatchesfishtoverbfish)

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ortransitiveverbsmeaningtocopy(i.e.fromIsawamodeltoverb
Hemodelledafiguremadeofclay).Also,whenthenounisthesubject
complementinaparaphrasesentence,weobtaintransitiveverbsmeaning
totakeontheroledenotedbythenoun(i.e.fromJohnistheir
chaperontoJohnchaperonsthetopmodels)orintransitiveverbsfrom
humannouns(i.e.fromHeisafooltoDontfoolmeanymore).
Yet,followingBauer(1983),themainpatternsinformingverbsare:(1)
noun+verbpatternwhicharisesfrombackformation,althoughaform
liketocarboncopyisaconversion.Recentexamplesarecarbondate,
colourcode,andskydive;(2)verb+nounpattern,whichisquite
unproductive(i.e.shunpike);(3)verb+verbpattern,whichis
exceedinglyrare(i.e.typewrite,freezedry);(4)adjective+verb,whose
patternarisesfrombackformation(i.e.doublebook,softland)or,
sometimes,conversion(i.e.freeassociate,finetune).Othersare(5)
particle+verb,wheremostofthemaregenuineverbalformations(i.e.
overbook,overeducate,overmark);(6)adjective+noun,whichisnot
commonandcanbeseenasconvertednounphrases(i.e.brownbag,bad
mouth);andfinally,(7)noun+nounpatternwhich,again,isnot
particularlycommon(i.e.tobreathtest).
However,themostcommonpatternofcompoundverbsisthatof
compoundphrasescombining(8)verb+adverb/preposition,which
functionsasinformalalternativeformstosimpleverbsandarecalled
phrasalverbs.TheirimportanceincontemporaryEnglishisattestedby
thefactthatnomorethattwentybasicverbsareusedtoderivephrasal
verbsfromthem(back,blow,break,bring,call,come,fall,get,give,go,
hold,lay,let,make,put,run,set,take,turnandwork).However,when
combinedwithadverbsorprepositions(amongthemostcommon

prepositions,weinclude:about,at,for,from,ofto,andwith,andamong
themostcommonadverbialparticlesintwowordverbs,wemay
mention:across,ahead,along,away,back,behind,down,in(to),off,on,
over,under,andup)theygiverisetoaround155combinationswithover
600differentmeaningsoruses.
Forthose,themaincharacteristicsarethat(a)themeaningofa
compoundverbisoftenverydifferentfromthemeaningofthetwo
wordstakenseparately(i.e.Hecountedonhisfriendshedependedon
themvshecountedonhisfingersheusedhisfingerstocount).
Secondly,(b)thatcompoundverbsareoftenusedasaninformal
alternativetosinglewordverbs(i.e.putoffvspostpone,bringupvs
educate).
Regardingtheirphonologicalfeatures,sincephrasalverbsconsistoftwo
orthreewords,prepositionsandadverbialparticlesfollowdifferent
stresspatternssincetheyfallintodifferentgrammaticalcategories.Yet,
nouns,verbs,adjectives,andadverbs,tendtoreceivestressinasentence,
whereasarticles,auxiliaryverbs,andprepositionsdonot.Thishelps
explainwhyprepositionsinphrasalverbunitsareunstressedandwhy
adverbsreceivestress.
Infact,wecanclassifytwowordandthreewordphrasalverbsintothree
mainpatterns:(1)verbhead+unstressedparticle(i.e.talkabout,look
at);(2)verbhead+stressedparticle(i.e.figureout,takeover);and
(3)verbhead+stressedparticle+unstressedparticle(i.e.runaway
with,talkdownto).Inallthreepatterns,theverbheadhasatleastone
stressedsyllableandthefollowingelementsareeitherunstressed(if
functioningasprepositions)orstress(iffunctioningas

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adverbialparticles).Thesestresspatternsappearwhenphrasalverbsare
spokeninisolationorwhenthephrasalverbrepresentsthelastpieceof
newinformationinthepredicate(i.e.Sheslookingatit,Theywere
standingaround,andHeranawaywithit).

4.2.4.Compoundadverbs.
AccordingtoBauer(1983),themostcommonwayofformingcompound
adverbsisbythesuffixationoflytoacompoundadjective.Yet,other
patternsarefound(i.e.doublequick,flatout,flatstick,offhand,over
night).Wepointoutthatsomeofthesearealsousedinotherform
classes,andalso,thatitisnotcleartowhatextentsuchformationsare
productive.
4.2.5.Othercompoundtypes.
Wemayalsofindotherformclasses,buttheyareconsideredtoberare
andofextremelylowproductivity.Therefore,weincludeas(1)
compoundprepositions:into,ontoandbecauseof;(2)compound
pronouns,suchastheselfformsandindefinitepronouns(i.e.
somebody,everybody,anyone,andsoon);(3)andcompound
conjunctions,whichincludewhenever,sothatandevenand/or.
Othertypesare(4)rhymemotivatedcompounds,whichareusually
madeupoftwonouns,inwhichtherhymeofthetwoelementsisthe
majormotivatingfactorintheformation(i.e.hobnob,hokeypokey,
hoitytoity,teenyweeny).Recentexamplesarebraindrain,culture
vulture,flowerpower,gangbang,andnittygritty.Finally,wefind(5)
theablautmotivatedcompoundswhich,similarlytorhymemotivated
compounds,involvesomephonologicalelements,suchastheablaut(i.e.
thevowelchangeoralternationbetweentwoelements).Established
examplesareflipflop,riffraff,shillyshally,ticktock,andzigzag.
4.3.CONVERSION.
Inordertodefinethetermconversion,weshallfollowBauer(1983),
whostatesthatitisthechangeinformclassofaformwithoutany
correspondingchangeofform.Inotherwords,Quirkdefinesthistermas
thederivationalprocesswherebyanitemchangesitswordclasswithout
theadditionofanaffix.Forinstance,theverbrelease(i.e.Theyreleased
him)correspondstoanounrelease(i.e.Theyorderedhisrelease),and
thisrelationshipmaybeseenasparalleltothatbetweenaverbanda

noun(i.e.drivehisdrive).On(3)formativeconversionwemustsaythat
themainchangesaregivenfrom(a)nountoverbs(i.e.garagetogarage,
screentoscreen);(b)verbtonoun(i.e.must(v)amust(n),blackout
(v)ablackout(n);(c)fromadverb/adjectivetonoun(i.e.overforties,
theoverforties;highup,ahighup).

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FollowingQuirk(1973),themainconversionchangesaretobe
classifiedasfollows.Thus,(1)fromverbtonoun.Withinthispatternwe
mayfinddifferenttypes,forinstance,(a)stativeverbsthatchangeto
nounforms(i.e.doubt,love)andalso(b)dynamicverbs(i.e.laugh,
walk,talk);(c)verbobjectsintonouns(i.e.answer,catch);(d)the
subjectofverbsintonouns(i.e.bore,cheat);(e)theinstrumental
complementofaverbintonoun(i.e.cover,wrap);also(f)manner
complementsofverbsendingining(i.e.throw,walk);(g)andfinally
verbswhichimplyplaceposition(i.e.retreat,turn).
(2)Thispatternisdrawnfromadjectivestonouns.Thus,miscellaneous
examplesaredaily(i.e.dailymilk)andcomic(i.e.comicstrip).This
typeofconversioncanusuallybeexplainedintermsofawell
establishedadjective+nounphrasefromwhichthenounhasbeen
ellipted.(3)Anothertypeisconcernedwithnounstoverbs.Thus,there
aredifferentpatterns:(a)nounwiththemeaningoftoputin/on(i.e.
bottle,corner);(b)nounsthatmeantogiveortoprovide(i.e.coat
giveacoatofpaint,mask);(c)nounswiththemeaningoftodeprive
(i.e.peelsinceitmeanstoremovethepeelfrom,andskin);
(d)nounsthatmeaninstruments(i.e.brake,knifestabwithaknife);(e)nouns
whichmeantobe/actas(noun)withrespectto(i.e.nurse,referee);(f)
nounsthatmeantomakeorchange(i.e.cash,cripple);andfinally,
whennounsmeantosendorgoby(noun)(i.e.mail,ship,bicycle,
motor).
(4)Fromadjectivetoverbs,wefindtwomaintypes,thus,(a)with
transitiveverbsthatmeantomake(more)+adjective(i.e.calm,dirty)
and(b)intransitiveverbsthatmeantobecome+adjective(i.e.dry,
empty).Sometimesaphrasalverbisderivedfromanadjectivebythe

additionofaparticle(i.e.calmdown=tobecomecalm).Nexttypedeals
with(5)minorcategoriesofconversion,forinstance,(a)fromclosed
systemwordstonouns(i.emustThisbookiaamustforstudentsof
English);(b)fromphrasestonouns(i.e.Thisisadreamcometrue);(c)
fromphrasestoadjectives(i.e.anundertheweatherfeeling);(d)from
affixestonouns(i.e.Communism,andmanyotherismsaretobe
examined).
(6)Otherpatternsincludeachangeofsecondarywordclasswithin
nouns.Thus,(a)fromnoncounttocountablenouns(i.e.twocoffees
twocupsofcoffee,andadifficulty);(b)fromcounttononcountable
noun(i.e.afewsquaremetresoffloor);(c)frompropertocommon
nouns(i.e.ThereareseveralCambridgesintheworld,aHitler);(d)
fromstativetodynamicverbs(i.e.Hesbeingafoolhesbehavinglike
afool).
(7)Achangeofsecondarywordclasswithinverbs.Thus,(a)from
intransitiveverbstotransitive(i.e.Herunsfastvsherunsthewater);(b)
fromtransitivetointransitive+adverb(i.e.Yourbookreadswell;thecar
openedbadly);(c)fromintransitivetointensive(i.e.Helayflat;hefell
flat);(d)fromintensivetointransitive(i.e.themilkturnedsuggeting
turnedsour);(e)frommonotransitivetocomplextransitive(i.e.Wecatch
themyoung;Iwipeditclean).
Andfinally,(8)changesofsecondarywordclassregardingadjectives
are(a)fromnongradabletogradable(i.e.hehasaverylegalturnof
mind);and(b)fromstativetodynamicadjectives(i.e.Shesjustbeing
friendlyactinginafriendlymanner).

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4.4.ACRONYMS.
Amongotherminordevicesinwordformation,wefindcoinagesasthe
inventionofnewwordsasaresultofcreativeefforts.Thus,acronymsare
thecreationofnewwordsbycombiningtheinitialletterorsyllablesof
wordsinatitleorphraseandusingthemasanewword(i.e.REM

RapidEyeMovement,RADARRadioDetectingandRanging,DOS
DiskOperatingSystem).However,noteveryabbreviationcountsasan
acronym.Inordertobeanacronymthenewwordmustnotbe
pronouncedasaseriesofletters,butasaword.
Forinstance,ifValueAddedTaxiscalled/vieiti/,thatisan
abbreviation,butifitiscalled/vaet/,ithasbecomeanacronym.
Acronymshavebeenontheincreasesincethebeginningofthetwentieth
century.Manyoriginatedduringthetwoworldwarssincetheywere
formedasshortnamesforgovernmentagenciesandinternational
organizations.
4.5.BLENDS.
Blendsaredefinedasthecreationofnewwordsbyfusingpartsoftwo
differentlexicalunitsinsuchawaythatthereisnotransparentanalysis
intomorph(i.e.flushflash+gush).Bauer(1983:234)distinguishesfour
typesofblends.Thus,(a)theclearestexamplesofblendsaretobe
explained,however,bytheetymologicalrootoftheword(i.e.motel
motor+hotel;smogsmoke+fog;balluteballoon+parachute;
brunchbreakfast+lunch).
Othertypesofblendsare(b)thosewherethetwowordsusedasthe
basesarebothpresent,phonologicallyororthographically,intheir
entiretyintheblend(i.e.guestimateguess+estimate,motordrome
motor+hippodrome,opinionaireopinion+questionnaire);(c)blends
wherethenewlexemelooksasthoughitisormightbeanalysablein
termsofaneoclassicalcompound(i.e.arcologyarchitecturalecology,
electrodelicelectro+psychedelic).Andfinally,(d)blendsmadeupof
oneinstanceofclippingandoneunalteredlexeme(i.e.mocampmotor
+camp;boatelboat+hotel;pulsarpulse+quasar).
LewisCarroll(CharlesLutwidgeDogson)hadanendearingpassionfor
foolingaroundwithlanguageandthiswasreflectedinfactonhis
name,wherebyCharlesLutwidgebecameinreverseLewisCarroll.He
madeagreatthingofsuchblends,whichhecalledportmanteauwords,
andbecametolesserdegreeestablishedinthelanguage(i.e.galumph

gallop+triumphandchortlechuckle+snort).
4.6.CLIPPINGS.
Clippingsaredefinedasthecreationofnewwordsbyremovingsyllables
oflongerwordsandshorteningthem.Thisprocessisgiveninawordof
twoormoresyllables(usuallyanoun)whichisshortenedwithouta
changeinitsfunctiontakingplace(i.e.advertisementadoradvert;

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examinationexam;gymnasiumgym;laboratorylab;photograph
photo;brassirebra;pantaloonspants).Clippedformsaregenerally
usedinlessformalsituationsthantheirfulllengthequivalentssincethey
indicateanattitudeoffamiliarityonthepartoftheuser,eithertowards
theobjectdenoted,ortowardstheaudience.
Otherinstancesaredrawnfromclippedadjectivenounphrases,suchas
permfrompermanentwave,pubfrompublichouse,opfromopticalart,
popfrompopularmusicandsometermswithshiftingofthenucleusas
inzoo,fromzoologicalgarden.Otherirregularclippingsarebikefrom
bicycle,mikefrommicrophone,andpramfromperambulator.Sometimes
clippingsshowvariousdegreesofsemanticdissociationfromtheirfull
forms(i.e.mobfrommobilephoneandpantsfrompantaloons).
4.7.BACKFORMATION.
Backformationisdefinedasthecreationofnewwordsby
misunderstandingsomeofitselements,sothattheyarefalselyassociated
withaffixesandremovedinordertorestoretheoriginalnonexistent
lexemefromwhichtheyarethoughttoderive(i.e.thearendinginthe
wordburglarisinterpretedasthedenominalsuffixer,andomittedto
derivethenewverbtoburgle).Thesameprocessapplieswhentheverb
todonateisderivedfromthenoundonation,toressurrectfrom
resurrectionortoinsurrectfrominsurrection.Intheusualdescriptionof
thisprocess,mostofbackformationsinEnglishareverbs.
4.8.FOLKETYMOLOGY.

Folketymologyistheprocesswherebyawordwhichseemsopaqueto
thenativespeaker,oftenbecauseithasaforeignorigin,isreinterpreted
onthebasisofasimilarnativeword(i.e.asparagusfromLatin
asparagusturnsintosparrowgrass;InfantaofCastileanareaof
LondonturnsintoElephantandCastle).Thisnaivemisunderstandingis
aminorkindofblendingwherenotionsofverbaldelicacyhavelargely
doneawaywithwhatlookslikethefirstelementofanEnglish
compound.Forinstance,theSpanishcucarachawoodlousehasthus
beenmodifiedtocockroach,thoughtheunpopularcreaturesonamedis
neitheracocknoraroachintheearliersenseoftheword,thatis,a
freshwaterfish.
Otherexamplesoffolketymologyfollow,manyofthemwellknown.
Thus,bridegroom(fromMiddleEnglishbridegome,OldEnglishbryd
bride+gumaman.Nothingtodowithgroom);cutlet(fromFrench
ctelettelittlerib+ultimatelyLatincostarib.Nothingtodowith
cut);female(fromOldFrenchfemellelittlewoman.Nothingtodowith
male);mandrake(fromtheherbmandragora,nothingtodowithmanor
drake);penthouse(fromMiddleEnglishpentisistheapheticformofOld
Frenchapentis,connectedwithpendhang,nothingtodowitheither
pentconfinedorhouse);andfinallysirloin(fromFrenchsurabove
plusloin,nothingtodowithsir).

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4.9.EPONYMS.
Eponymsarethecreationofnewwordsbyconvertingapropernameinto
acommonname(i.e.sandwichfromtheearlofSandwich).Alarge
numberofwordshavecometousfrompropernamesbymeansofakind
offunctionalshiftknownascommonization.Algeo&Pyles(1982:285)
distinguishdifferenttypesaccordingtotheirorigin,forinstance,names
ofpeople,personalnames,literatureandmythology,supposed
appropritateness,andplacenames.
Forinstance,(a)fromnamesofpersons,thefivebestknownexamples
arelynchinLynchslaw,fromtheVirginianCaptainWilliamLynch

(17421820);boycottfromcaptainCharlesCunninghamBoycott(1832
97);sandwichfromthefourthEarlofSandwich(171892);cardigan
fromtheearlofCardingan.Otherwordsarealsotheunchangednamesof
actualpeople:chesterfield,derby,guy,macintosh,pompadour,valentine,
andBobby(aBritishpoliceman).Othereponymsarederivativesof
personalnamessuchascamellia,chauvinism,nicotine,pasteurize,
sadism,andfromnamesofwritersMachiavellianandRabelaisian,where
capitalizingishardlynecessary.
Othereponymscomefrompeopleinliteratureandmythology.For
instance,atlas,hector,hermaphrodite,mercury,psyche,DonJuanand
volcano.Thefollowingarederivativesofpersonalnamesfromliterature
andmythology.Thus,aphrodisiac,bacchanl,morphine,odyssey,panic,
quixotic,saturnine,andvulcanize.Namesmaybealsousedgenerically
becauseofsomesupposedappropriateness,likebilly(billycock,silly
billy),tommy(tomboy,tomcat),sam(UncleSam),johnny(johnnyon
thespot,johnnycake),andjack(jackass,jackofalltrades).
Placenameshavealsofurnishedagoodmanycommonwords.For
instance,babel,bourbon,champagne,cheddar,china,cologne,guinea,
madeira,magnesia,morocco,oxford,panama,shanghai,sude,tabasco,
turkey,andutopia.Thefollowingarederivativesofplacenamesorplace
namesthathavedifferentformsfromthoseknowntoustoday:bayonet,
canter(clippingofCanterbury),cashmere,copper,denim,frankfurter,
hamburger,italic,jeans(pants),limousine,mayonnaise,romance,sherry,
spaniel,spartan,andwiener.
4.10.ONOMATOPOEICCOINAGES.
Onomatopoeiccoinagesorechoicwordsrefertotheprocessbywhich
wordsareformedfollowingphonologicalconventions,thatis,
orthographyisdrawnfromphonologyandtheactionstoberepresented
arewritteninthesamewaytheysound(i.e.cuckoo,bang,boom,sloppy,
sluggish,snif,hiccough).Inthisprocess,thereisacloseconnection
betweensoundsandthephenomenaoflifetoberepresented,likebow
wowwhichseemstousafairlyaccurateimitationofthesoundsmadeby
adog(alsoinFrenchgnafgnaf,Germanwauwau,andJapanesewung

wung).Thisiswhyitisthoughtthatthisprocessisnottobewholly
arbitrary.

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4.11.WORDMANUFACTURE.
Finally,Bauer(1983)distinguishesafurtherclassificationcalledword
manufacture,wherewordsarecreatedexnihilo,withno
morphonological,phonologicalororthographicconventions.This
processisquiterare,exceptinbrandnameslikeKodak,Antron,Dacron,
Krylon,Teflon,andLycra.Mostwordstobeincludedinthisprocess
comefromcomputers,business,andscientificenvironments.
5.VOCABULARYINLANGUAGETEACHING.
Theroleofvocabularyintheacquisitionofasecondlanguagehasoften
dealtwithonlyincidentallyinthepreparationofclassmaterialsince
mostattentionwaspaidtootheraspectsoflanguage,suchasgrammar,
phonology,anddiscourseanalysis.Afteralengthyperiodofbeing
preoccupiedwiththedevelopmentofgrammaticalcompetence,language
teachersandappliedlinguisticresearchersnowgenerallyrecognisethe
importanceofvocabularylearningandareexploringwaysofpromoting
itmoreeffectively.Yetwemustnotforgetthatlexicalknowledgeis
centraltocommunicativecompetenceandtotheacquisitionofasecond
languagesincenogrammarorothertypeoflinguisticknowledgecanbe
employedincommunicationordiscoursewithoutthemediationof
vocabulary(Read,2000).
WhenHymes(1972)broughtaboutthenotionofcommunicative
competence,heneglectedChomskysapproachbystatingthatnative
speakersknewmorethanjustgrammaticalcompetence.Withatradition
onsociolinguistics,hehadabroaderviewofthetermwhichincludednot
onlygrammaticalcompetence,butalsosociolinguisticandcontextual
competence,thatis,theunderlyingknowledgeaspeakerhasoftherules
ofgrammarincludingphonology,orthography,syntax,lexicon,and
semantics,andtherulesfortheiruseinsociallyappropriate

circumstances.
Therefore,weunderstandcompetenceastheknowledgeofrulesof
grammar,andperformance,theywaytherulesareused,forstudentsto
getlexical,idiomaticandgrammaticalcorrectness.Itisherewherethe
roleofvocabularybecomesprominentsinceSchmitt(2000)highlights
thatoneofthemostimportantcurrentlinesofthoughtisthenotionof
lexicogrammar,bywhichhepursuestheideathatasecondlanguage
cannotbeacquiredwithoutbothlexisandgrammarasessentialareasto
beaddressed.Ineffect,thismakesitdifficulttothinkofvocabularyand
grammarasseparateentitiessincegrammaticalknowledgeinvolves
knowledgeofvocabulary,syntax,andphonology.Themainreasonfor
believingthatvocabularyknowledgecanhelpgrammaracquisitionis
thatknowingthewordsinatextorconversationpermitslearnersto
understandthemeaningofthediscourse,whichinturnallowsthe
grammaticalpatterningtobecomemoretransparent(Ellis,1997).
Thissectionisaimedtolookatpresentdayapproachesonvocabulary
fromaneducationalapproach,andtherefore,withintheframeworkofa
classroomsetting.Thistypeofformal

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instructioninlanguageteachingaddressestheroleplayedbyourcurrent
educationalsystem,L.O.G.S.E.,inprovidingourstudentsthe
foundationsforaknowledgeofvocabularyandwordformation
processes.TheSpanishEducationalSystem(B.O.E.2002)statesthat
thereisaneedforlearningaforeignlanguageinordertocommunicate
withotherEuropeancountries,andaneedforemphasizingtheroleofa
foreignlanguagewhichgetsrelevanceasamultilingualandmulticultural
identity.
Withinthiscontext,studentsareexpectedtocarryoutseveral
communicationtaskswithspecificcommunicativegoalswithinspecific
contexts.Itisatthisspecificpointthatvocabularygetsrelevanceattwo
levelsregardinglearnerslanguageability.Oneislanguageknowledge
andtheotherisstrategiccompetence.Thatistosay,learnersneedto

knowalotaboutthevocabulary,grammar,soundsystemandspellingof
thetargetlanguage,buttheyalsoneedtobeabletodrawonthat
knowledgeeffectivelyforcommunicativepurposesundernormaltime
constraints(Read2000).
TheEuropeanCouncil(1998)and,inparticular,theSpanishEducational
SystemwithintheframeworkoftheEducationalReform,envisages
vocabularyknowledgeofsecondlanguagelearnerswithinthefourskills
(writing,reading,listening,andspeaking)asbothnecessaryand
reasonablystraightforwardsincewordsarethebasicbuildingblocksof
language,thatis,thoseunitsofmeaningfromwhichlargerstructures
suchassentences,paragraphsandwholetextsareformed.Whenit
comestoverbalskills,lexisissomewhateasierbecausemuchlessis
requiredforlisteningandspeakingthanforreadingandwriting.
Vocabularycanbeacquiredthroughexplicitstudyorincidentally
throughexposuretowordsincontext.Forinstance,thenumberofwords
astudentneedsdependslargelyontheeventualgoaltobeachieved:
approximately2,000wordsforconversationalspeaking,3,000word
familiestobeginreadingauthentictexts,perhapsasmanyas10,000for
challengingacademictexts,and15,000to20,000toequalaneducated
nativespeaker.Inordertoleadtoasignificantvocabularyimprovement,
ourpresentstudyfocusesonthoseprocessesofwordformationwhich
makelearnersbeawareofintralexicalfactorsabouttheworditselfwhich
affectvocabularylearning,suchasinflexionalandderivationalregular
processes,compoundingbycombiningfamiliarletters,stresspatterns,or
specificwordswithregisterconstraints.
Ourgoalasteachersistohighlightanumberofkeyprinciples,suchasto
buildalargesightvocabulary,tointegratenewwordswithold,to
provideanumberofencounterswithaword,topromoteadeeplevelof
processing,tomakenewwordsrealbyconnectingthemtothe
studentsworldinsomesay,andaboveall,touseavarietyoftechniques
inwordformationtoencourageindependentlearningstrategies.Infact,
vocabularyacquisitionisanincrementalprocess,andteachersmust
concentratenotonlyonintroducingnewwords,butalsoonenhancing

learnersknowledgeofpreviouslypresentedwords.

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6.FUTUREDIRECTIONSONTHETREATMENTOFLEXIS.
Asstatedbefore,lexisisconsideredtobeacentralelementin
communicativecompetenceandintheacquisitionofasecondlanguage,
thatis,vocabularyandlexicalunitsareatthecoreoflearningand
communication.Today,communicativecompetenceisthecentralaimof
foreignandsecondlanguageteaching,providinganumberof
suggestionsastohowteacherscangivepupilsoptimumframeworksfor
acquiringagoodcommunicativecompetence.Vocabularyistobefound
withinthelinguisticcompetence,togetherwiththesoundsystemandthe
writtensystemregardingalllanguageskillsandtheabilitytouse
appropriatelyallaspectsofverbalandnonverballanguageinavariety
ofcontexts.
Presentdayapproachesdealwithacommunicativecompetencemodelin
whichfirst,thereisanemphasisonsignificanceoverform,andsecondly,
motivationandinvolvementareenhanced.Withrespecttovocabulary
learning,thisrequirestocreateclassroomsconditionswhichmatchthose
inreallifeandfosteracquisition.Thesuccesspartlyliesinthewaythe
languagebecomesrealtotheusers,feelingthemselvesreallyinthe
language.Someofthismotivationalforceisbroughtaboutby
interveninginauthenticcommunicativeevents.Otherwise,wehaveto
recreateasmuchaspossiblethewholeculturalenvironmentinthe
classroombymeansof,first,recenttechnologicalmultimediatools,
whichutilizeaudiovisualformats;andsecond,navigationalfreedomor
interactivitythatmoderntechnologicaltoolssuchasCDROMand
hypertextprovide.
Recentdevelopmentsinforeignlanguageeducationhaveindicateda
trendtowardsmultimediaandhypermediamaterialwhichsupportthe
acquisitionofrealvocabularyincontextasitissaidtobeoptimalforall
teachingsituations.TheMinistryofEducation(B.O.E.2002)proposes
severalprojectswithintheframeworkoftheEuropeanCommunity,

amongwhichwemayhighlightPlumierprojects,forlearnerstouse
multimediaresourcesinaclassroomsettingwherelearnersareexpected
tolearntointerpretandproducemeaningwithmembersofthetarget
culture.
Then,regardingcontributionsinthetwentyfirstcentury,itisworth
mentioningthattheareaofcomputersand,therefore,theuseofcorpora
invocabularystudieshasbeenoneofthemostsignificantdevelopments
inthefieldoflexisand,therefore,lexicographyordictionarywriting.
Lexicographyhasbeenfundamentallyaffectedsincethefourmajor
learnerdictionarypublishersallrelyingoncorpusinputtosettheirword
definitionsandexamples.Inrecentyears,databasesoflanguagehave
revolutionizedthewayweviewlanguage,particularlybecausethey
allowresearchers,teachers,andlearnerstousegreatamountsofrealdata
intheirstudyoflanguageinsteadofhavingtorelyonintuitionsand
madeupexamples.
7.CONCLUSION.
Aswehaveseeninthisstudy,inthemorethantwothousandyearsof
secondlanguageinstruction,therehavebeennumerousmethodologies.
RecentoneshaveincludedGrammarTranslation(withexplicitgrammar
teachingandtranslationaslanguagepractice),theDirectMethod
(emphasizing

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theexposuretoorallanguage),theReadingMethod(emphasizing
readingandvocabularycontrol),Audiolingualism(buildinggood
languagehabitsthroughdrills),andCommunicativeLanguageTeaching
(withafocusonfluencyoveraccuracy).Acommonfeatureofthese
methodologies,withtheexceptionoftheReadingMethod,isthatthey
didnotaddressvocabularyinanyprincipledway.
Duringthefirstpartofthetwentiethcentury,severalscholarswere
workingonwaystolightenstudentsvocabularylearningload.
Particularlyasappliedtoreading,theydevelopedprinciplesof

presentingcommonvocabularyfirst,andlimitingthenumberofnew
wordsinanytext.ThislineofthinkingeventuallyresultedintheGeneral
ServiceList.Anotherapproachwastocreateanextremelylimited
vocabularythatcouldbeusedtoreplaceallotherEnglishwords(Basic
English).Takentogether,theseapproacheswereknownasthe
VocabularyControlMovement.
Alongwiththismovement,therehasbeenagreatdealofother
vocabularyresearch.Muchofithasbeenpsychologicalinnature,suchas
lookingintothenatureofmemoryandpractice,wordassociations,and
L1acquisition.Atthesametime,otherresearchershavebeentryingto
developimprovedwaysofmeasuringvocabularyknowledgefroma
testingstandpoint.
Thisstudywasaimedtostressthattheformofawordisimportantforits
effectiveuse.Wehaveexaminedwordformationcharacteristicsat
morphological,phonological,andsemanticlevelsinordertoprovidean
overallframeworkforthemainwordformationprocesses,suchas
affixationandcompounding.Togetherwiththem,otherminorprocesses
havebeenincludedtoshowhowimportanttheroleofvocabularyisin
secondlanguagelearning.
Receptively,automaticreadingrequiresagreatdealofsightvocabulary
whereasproductively,learnersneedtodevelopvisualimagesofwords
thatareexceptionstospellingrulesinadditiontotheirknowledgeof
soundsymbolcorrespondenceswherestrategiccompetenceistobe
applied.Thebeginningsofwordsareparticularlysalient,both
orthographicallyandphonologically,withtheendsofwordsslightlyless
so.
Grammaticalknowledgeofawordcanconsistofmanythings,butthe
presentstudyfocusedonwordformationandmorphology,where
knowledgeofsuffixes,prefixes,andcompoundingrulesareparticularly
importantasthisallowslearnerstousethedifferentmembersofaword
family.Affixesshouldbetaughtinthefirstplacebecauseusingword
partsisoneofthreemajorstrategiesthatcanhelpstudentsbecome
independentvocabularylearners,thatis,guessingfromcontextand

havingstudentsworkwithwordfamiliesinsteadofjustsinglewords.
Therefore,anunderstandingofderivationalsuffixesmakesthispossible,
togetherwithknowledgeofprefixesandcompoundingrules.

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8.BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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