Lecture 5. Contrastive Word-formation.

1. Word formation and morpheme as its unit

2. Affixation
3. Prefixation
4. Suffixation
5. Conversion
6. Composition
7. Shortening. Back formation. Blending. Sound interchange. Stress interchange. Sound
imitation

1. Word formation and morpheme as its unit

Word formation is the formation of longer, more complex words from shorter, simpler words.
If viewed structurally, words appear to be divisible into smaller units which are called morphemes.
Like a word a morpheme is an association of a given meaning with a given group of sounds. But unlike a
word it is not autonomous. Morphemes occur as constituents of words. But there are quite a lot of words
which contain only one morpheme.
Morphemes can be divided into two main types: free (those that can occur alone) and bound (those
which cannot occur alone).The word wool, for instance, has one free morpheme, the word woolen
consists of two morphemes: wool (which is free) and –en (which is bound). The word лісистий consists
of the free morpheme ліс and the bound morpheme –ст.
A word has at least one lexical morpheme represented by a root by which we mean the ultimate
constituent element which remains after the removal of affixes and it does not admit any further analysis.
It is the common element of words within a word-family. It is the primary element of the word, its basic
part conveys its fundamental lexical meaning. There are many root-morphemes which can stand alone as
words: table, car chair, room. It is one of the specific features of the English language. Free morphemes
can be found only among roots. But not all roots are free morphemes. Only productive roots are free.
Unlike roots affixes are usually bound morphemes. According to their function and meaning
prefixes and suffixes are divided into derivational and functional. There are several differences between
them. Derivational affixes are those by means of which new words are formed: to teach – a teacher.
Functional are those by means of which new forms of words are formed: teach – teaches. Derivational
affixes permit the substitution of one word by another without this affix. Functional affixes do not permit
such substitution without violating grammar rules. Derivational affixes permit further derivation: teach –
teaching – teaching-room. Functional affixes do not permit such derivation. Derivational affixes do not
combine freely. Functional affixes combine more or less freely. The suffix –s can be added practically to
any noun to form the plural form.

2. Affixation
Affixation is the creation of a word by modifying its root with an affix. It is a very productive type
of word formation.
In conformity with the division of derivational affixes into suffixes and prefixes affixation is
subdivided into suffixation and prefixation.
Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of stems to which they are added. A prefixal derivative
usually joins the part of speech the word belongs to: definite – indefinite; convenient – inconvenient.
In a suffixal derivative the suffix does not only modify the lexical meaning of the stem it is affixed
to, but the word itself is usually transferred to another part of speech: care(N) – careless (A), good (A) –
goodness (N). In the English language there prevails either suffixation or prefixation, in the Ukrainian
language they can be used in the same word. English suffixes usually transfer a word from one part of
speech into another, Ukrainian affixes never do it.

3. Prefixation
Derivational morphemes affixed before the stem are called prefixes. They modify the lexical
meaning of the stem, but in doing so they seldom affect its basic lexico-grammatical component. Unlike
suffixation, which is usually bound up with a paradigm of a certain part of speech, prefixation is
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considered to be neutral in this respect. Prefixes originated from notional words, which in the course of
time lost their independent meanings and became prefixes: re (Lat. Adv.) – once again or back; under (OE
Adv., Prep.) - under; fore (OE Adv., Prep) – foresee.
Prefixes can be classified from the point of view of their meanings. Among them we can single
out prefixes of the negative meaning: un-, in-, dis-, mis-: comfortable – uncomfortable, convenient –
inconvenient, satisfied – dissatisfied, understand – misunderstand.
Prefixes denoting reversal or repetition of an action: un-, dis-, re-, роз-, пере-: lock – unlock,
regard – disregard, consider – reconsider, єднати – роз’єднати, писати – переписати.
In the Ukrainian language the most productive is the prefix не-, which is used to form adjectives
and nouns, but never verbs: нелегкий, невільний. A very productive prefix is the prefix без-:
безпомічний. In the English language this prefix corresponds to the suffix –less: defenceless. The
prefixes де-, дис-, а- are used as parts of borrowed words and they are unproductive: децентралізація,
дисбаланс, асиметричний.
Prefixes denoting space and time relations: fore-, pre-, post-, over-, super-, до-, перед-, над-, під-,
пере-, після-: tell – foretell, war – prewar, war – postwar, spread – overspread, structure – superstructure,
історичний – доісторичний, воєнний – післявоєнний, водний – підводний.
Prefixes can be international: Anti-/анти- (antifascist, антифашист); Counter-/контр
(countermarch, контрмарш); sub-/суб (submarine, субмарина).
Some prefixes can have a semantic identity only (but no linguistic similarity): foresee –
передбачити; extranatural – надприродний.
There can be semantically alien prefixes pertaining to one of the contrasted languages: de-
(decamp); mis- (misstate); по- (по-українському); що- (щонайкраще).
A specifically Ukrainian phenomenon is the usage of the prefix по- (попоїсти).

4. Suffixation
Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. Suffixes usually modify the lexical
meaning of stems and transfer words to a different part of speech. There are suffixes, however, which do
not shift words from one part of speech into another. A suffix of this kind usually transfers a word into a
different semantic group. A concrete noun becomes an abstract one: child – childhood.
Suffixes can be classified according to their ability to form a new part of speech, to their origin,
productivity.
Noun-forming suffixes: -er (teacher, worker), -ing (living, reading); -ness (kindness, tenderness).
These suffixes are productive. -age (voyage, courage); -ard (coward, drunkard); -ment (agreement,
employment); -th (strength, length). These suffixes are non-productive.
In the Ukrainian language these are the following suffixes: -ар (шахтар, лікар); -ик (історик,
радник); -ець (гравець, українець); -ач (оглядач, наглядач); -ак (співак, мастак); -нь (учень,
здоровань).
Adjective-forming suffixes: -able (movable, readable); -ful (powerful, delightful); -ish (whitish,
bookish); -less (useless, hopeless); -y (noisy, sunny). These are productive suffixes. -en (golden, woollen)
– non-productive.
In the Ukrainian language these are the following suffixes: ов- (зимовий, раптовий) н-
(хмарний, класний) ив- (щасливий, кмітливий) ськ-/ цьк- (англійський, німецький).
Some suffixes are homonymous. For example, the suffix ful- can form adjectives and nouns:
careful (Adj) – handful (N).
In the Ukrainian language (but not in English) diminutive suffixes are often used: -ньк
(малесенький), -чк (дівчатко), -ець(вітерець).
Numeral-forming suffixes: -teen (thirteen, fifteen); -ty (sixty, seventy); -th (seventh, eighth).
These are non-productive suffixes.
Pronoun-forming suffixes: -s (ours, yours). The suffix is non-productive.
Verb-forming suffixes: - ate (complicate, navigate); - en (darken, strengthen); - fy (signify,
simplify); - ute (attribute, execute). These suffixes are non-productive.
In the Ukrainian language these are the suffixes: (ув)ати-, ити-(сушити, головувати).
Adverb—forming suffixes: - ly (quickly, lately); - long (sidelong, headlong); - ward(s) forward,
toward(s); -ways, wise (clockwise, otherwise, crabways). Of all these suffixes only the suffix -ly is
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productive.
In the Ukrainian language that is the suffix о-: високо, широко.
From the point of view of semantics suffixes can be classified in the following way:
1. Agent suffixes: -ist/ -іст/-ист (journalist, артист) ; ar/ -ар/-яр (scholar, школяр); ier-/-yer/ -ир
(cashier, бригадир).
2. Suffixes denoting abstract notions: -ism/ -ізм (socialism, комунізм); -tion/ -ац (demonstration,
демонстрація); -dom/ -ств/-цтв (kingdom, газетярство); -hood/ -ств (brotherhood, братство).
3. Evaluative suffixes: -ette (kitchenette); -y/-ie/-ey (sissy); -ling (duckling). -атк/ ятк (дівчатко,
оленятко) -ик (ротик); -ечк (донечка); -ичк (сестричка); -ньк (дівчинонька).
All Ukrainian diminutive suffixes are productive. In English only –ie/ey, -ette are productive.
4. Gender/sex expressing suffixes. In the Ukrainian language they can express masculine gender:
-ар/яр (лікар, школяр); -ист/іст (бандурист); -ій (водій); -ант/ент (студент).
Feminine gender can be expressed by means of the following suffixes: -к (артистка); -их
(кравчиха).
Neuter gender is expressed by means of: -атк (курчатко); -к (вушко); -ц (винце).
English gender suffixes are only sex expressing: actor – actress.
5. International suffixes: -er/or ор(conductor, кондуктор); -ist/іст (socialist, соціаліст); -tion/ц
(revolution, революція); -able/абельн(readable, читабельний).

5. Conversion
Conversion (zero derivation, root formation, functional change) is the process of coining a new
word in a different part of speech and with different distribution characteristics but without adding any
derivative element, so that the basic form of the original and the basic form of derived words are
homonymous. This phenomenon can be illustrated by the following cases: work – to work, love – to love,
water – to water.
If we regard these words from the angle of their morphemic structure, we see that they are root
words. On the derivational level, however, one of them should be referred to a derived word, as having
the same root morpheme they belong to different parts of speech. Consequently the question arises here:
“What serves as the word-building means in such cases?” It would appear that the noun is formed from
the verb (or vice versa) without any morphological change, but if we probe deeper into the matter, we
inevitably come to the conclusion that the two words differ only in the paradigm. Thus, it is the paradigm
that is used as a word-building means. Hence, we can define conversion as the formation of a new word
through changes in its paradigm.
The change of the paradigm is the only word-building means of conversion. As the paradigm is a
morphological category, conversion can be described as a morphological way of forming words.
As a type of word-formation conversion exists in many languages. What is specific for the English
vocabulary is not its mere presence, but its intense development.
The main reason for the widespread development of conversion in present-day English is no doubt
the absence of morphological elements serving as classifying signals, or, in other words, of formal signs
marking the part of speech to which the word belongs. The fact that the sound pattern does not show to
what part of speech the word belongs may be illustrated by the word back. It may be a noun, a verb, an
adjective, an adverb.
The two categories of parts of speech especially affected by conversion are the noun and the verb.
Verbs made from nouns are the most numerous among the words produced by conversion.
e.g.: to hand, to face, to nose, to dog, to blackmail.
Nouns are frequently made from verbs: catch, cut, walk, move, go.
Verbs can also be made from adjectives: to pale, to yellow, to cool.
A word made by conversion has a different meaning from that of the word from which it was
made though the two meanings can be associated. There are certain regularities in these associations
which can be roughly classified. In the group of verbs made from nouns some regular semantic
associations are the following:
- A noun is a name of a tool – a verb denotes an action performed by the tool: to knife, to brush.
- A noun is a name of an animal – a verb denotes an action or aspect of behaviour typical of the
animal: monkey – to monkey, snake – to snake. Yet, to fish does not mean to behave like a fish but to try
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to catch fish.
- A noun denotes a part of a human body – a verb denotes an action performed by it : hand – to
hand, shoulder – to shoulder. However, to face does not imply doing something by or even with one’s
face but turning it in a certain direction.
- A noun is a name of some profession or occupation – a verb denotes an activity typical of it : a
butcher – to butcher, a father – to father.
- A noun is a name of a place – a verb denotes the process of occupying this place or putting
something into it: a bed – to bed, a corner – to corner.
- A noun is the name of a container – a verb denotes an act of putting something within the
container: a can – to can, a bottle – to bottle.
- A noun is the name of a meal – a verb denotes the process of taking it: supper – to supper, lunch
– to lunch.
The suggested groups do not include all the great variety of verbs made from nouns by
conversion. They just represent the most obvious cases and illustrate the great variety of semantic
interrelations within the so-called converted pairs and the complex nature of the logical associations
which underlie them.
Substantivation can also be considered as a type of conversion. Complete substantivation is a kind
of substantivation when the whole paradigm of a noun is acquired: a private - the private – privates – the
privates. Alongside with complete substantivation there exists partial substantivation when a feature or
several features of a paradigm of a noun are acquired: the rich. Besides the substantivized adjectives
denoting human beings there is a considerable group of abstract nouns: the Singular, the Present. It is thus
evident that substantivation has been the object of much controversy. Those who do not accept
substantivation of adjectives as a type of conversion consider conversion as a process limited to the
formation of verbs from nouns and nouns from verbs. But this point of view is far from being universally
accepted.
Conversion is not characteristic of the Ukrainian language. The only type of conversion that can
be found there is substantivation: молодий, хворий.

6. Composition
Composition can be defined as the formation of a lexical unit out of two or more stems, usually
the first differentiating, modifying or qualifying and the second identifying. The last element expresses a
general meaning, whereas the prefixed element renders it less generally. Any compound word has at least
two semantic centres but they are never equal in their semantic value. Thus a compound word is
characterised by both structural and semantic unity. It makes them function in a sentence as a separate
lexical unit.
Compound words are unusually graphic. They often come into existence by popular demand.
They are formed simply by combining two words that are in current usage. There are three types of
compound words:
- Compound words with the solid representation: spacecraft, hardtop, землевласник.
- Hyphenated compound words: sit-in, freeze-dry, диван-ліжко.
- Compound words represented by a phrase: cold war, free flight.
Compound words can be further classified: from the functional point of view, from the point of
view of the way the components of the compounds are linked together, from the point of view of different
ways of composition.
In the English language compound words can be graded according to frequency in the following
way: nouns – adjectives – verbs. In the Ukrainian language the scheme will be the following; adjectives –
nouns – verbs.

7. Shortening
Word-building processes involve not only qualitative but also quantitative changes.
As a type of word-building shortening of spoken words also called clipping, curtailment or
contraction, is recorded in the English language as far back as 15 century. It is another fairly productive
way of vocabulary enrichment. The moving force behind it is economy of effort expressed in the trend
towards monosyllabism that has always been characteristic of the English vocabulary.
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 Among shortenings distinction should be made between lexical abbreviations and clippings.
Lexical abbreviations are formed by a simultaneous operation of shortening and compounding.
Distinction should be made between shortening of words in written speech and in the sphere of
oral intercourse. Shortening of words in written speech results in graphical abbreviations which are, in
fact, signs representing words and word groups of high frequency in various spheres of human activity:
RD for road, St for street on envelopes. English graphical abbreviations include rather numerous
shortened variants of Latin and French words and word groups: a.m. (Lat. ante meridiem) – in the
morning, before noon; p.m. (Lat. post meridiem) – in the afternoon; i.e. (Lat. id.est) – that is.
The characteristic feature of graphical abbreviations is that they are restricted in use to written
speech, occurring only in various kinds of texts, articles, books. In reading many of them are substituted
by the words and phrases that they represent: Mr (Mister), Oct. (October). It is natural that some graphical
abbreviations should gradually penetrate into the sphere of oral intercourse : SOS (Save our Souls), MP
(Member of Parliament).
The words formed from the initial letters of each of the successive or major parts of a compound
term are called acronyms: the USA (United States of America), the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation), WASP (Women’s Air Force Service Pilots), США (Сполучені Штати Америки), ООН
(Організація Об’єднаних Націй). They are used as words and if an abbreviation that has a wide
currency is inconvenient for articulation, it is sometimes altered: W.R.N.S. (Women’s Royal Naval
Service) was difficult to pronounce, so it was changed to WRENS.
There are two possible ways of reading acronyms in the English language. If the abbreviated
written form can be read as though it were an ordinary English word it will be read like one: the NATO,
the UNESCO, the UNO. The second way of reading acronyms is reading according to the ABC: BBC
(the British Broadcasting Corporation), G.I. (Government Issue).
The second group of shortened words is represented by clippings. Clipping consists in the cutting
off of one of several syllables of the word. It can be of three types: aphaeresis, syncope, apocope.
Aphaeresis is the omission of the initial part of the word. In many cases the shortened word differs
from its source only stylistically: telephone – phone, omnibus – bus. Sometimes, however, the shortened
word is somewhat modified in meaning or even altered: acute (sharp) – cute (pretty, clever), espy (see at a
distance) – spy (to try to get secret information).
Some words owe their historical development to aphaeresis as for instance down from adown
which in its turn developed from the Anglo-Saxon of dune (from the hill, from the down).
Many first names were shortened the aphaeresis way: Bess (Elisabeth), Becky (Rebecca) etc.
Syncope is the omission of an unstressed middle syllable: fantasy – fancy, courtesy – curtsy.
Syncopated words used to be popular with poets (e’en – even, ne’er – never) because of purely
rhythmical considerations. Modern poetry seldom if ever resorts to syncope. There are some graphical
abbreviations of this type: Mr, Mrs, LP.
Apocope is the omission of the final part of the word. It is the most productive type of shortening.
It is mostly through apocope that stylistic synonyms are coined. It is the colloquial layer that profits from
apocope: gym (gymnasium), specs (spectacles), croc (crocodile). Proper names are also apocopated: Nick
(Nicholas), Ed (Edward), Люда (Людмила). There are some words that are seldom if ever used in their
unapocopated form (pub for public house, brig for brigantine).
Apocope and syncope are not characteristic of the Ukrainian language. Though apocope is used in
Ukrainian slang: універ, лаби. Apocope is often used with compounding: генпрокуратура, міськрада.
There are not so many words of this type in English: Internet, Eurobank.
Cases of a combination of several shortening devices are also possible: perambulator – pram
(syncope + apocope); refrigerator – fridge (aphaeresis + apocope).
Shortening brings new words in the same part of speech. Most lexical units of this type are nouns.
Shortened verbs like rev from revolve, tab from tabulate are very rare. Such verbs as to phone, to tot up
(to sum up, total), to taxi, to vac come to look like clipped words but are in fact, denominal verbs made
through conversion. Clipped adjectives are also few in number: comfortable – comfy, awkward – awk,
impossible – imposs.
It is a well-known fact that in the course of time a good many slang clippings have found their
way into standard English. Some of them occur both in spoken and written English, others keep only
colloquial tinge.
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 The coining of clipped word-forms may result either in the ousting of one of the words from the
vocabulary or in establishing a clear semantic differentiation between the two units. In a few cases the full
words become new roots: chapman – chap, brandywine – brandy. But in most cases a shortened word
exists in the vocabulary together with the longer word from which it is derived and usually has the same
lexical meaning differing only in stylistic reference. The question naturally arises whether the shortened
and original forms should be considered separate words. Though it is obvious that in the case of semantic
difference between a shortened unit and a longer one from which it is derived they can be termed as two
distinct words: cabriolet – cab. Some linguists hold the view that as the two units do not differ in meaning
but only in stylistic application, it would be wrong to apply the term word to the shortened unit. In fact,
the shortened unit is a word-variant. Other linguists contend that even when the original word and the
shortened form are generally used with some difference in style, they are both to be recognised as two
distinct words. If this treatment of the process of word-shortening is accepted, the essential difference
between the shortening of words and the usual process of word-formation should be pointed out.
- Words built by affixation, for example, are of a more complex character both structurally and
semantically. Shortened words are structurally simple words and in most cases have the same lexical
meaning as longer words from which they are derived.
- There are no structural patterns after which new shortened words could be coined. At any rate,
linguistic research has failed to establish any so far.
Lexical abbreviations and clipped words possess some peculiarities. They are the following:
- When performing syntactical functions of ordinary words they take on grammatical inflections:
exams, MPs.
- They may be used with articles: a bike, the BBC.
- They may be combined with derivational affixes and used in compounding: M.Pess (woman –
member of Parliament), hanky from handkerchief
- Clipped words are characteristic of colloquial speech, lexical abbreviations are used in written
speech.

Back Formation
Back formation or back derivation is a term of diachronistic linguistics. It implies the inferring of
a short word from a long one. If we take, for example, the word speaker we reasonably connect it with the
verb to speak. The existence of a derivative speaker suggests that the basic word speak also exists. Now,
if speaker is correlated to speak, then editor must have the basis, edit too. But historically speaking, things
are different.
There are words in English which owe their origin to one part of a word being mistaken for some
derivative suffix or more rarely a prefix. A word of this kind has often been supposed to imply the
existence of a primary word from which it has been derived. Similarly, the new verb to burgle has been
created from burglar, evidently through reinterpretation on the analogy to the lie from liar. Further
examples of back formation are: to hush from husht, to pettifog from pettifogger, to audit from auditor, to
peeve from peevish. These examples show that simple, derived words were formed from other root
lexical units by means of splitting the root.
Back formation may be also based on the analogy of inflectional forms as testified by the singular
nouns pea and cherry. Pea (Plural peas) is from ME pese < OE pise< Lat. pisa, Plural pesum. The ending
s being the most frequent mark of the plural in English, English speakers thought that sweet peas(e) was a
plural and turned peas(e)(soup into pea soup. Cherry is from OFr. cherise and the se was dropped for
exactly the same reason.
At the present time back formation is applied intentionally. At the beginning of the 19 th century to
diddle appeared by means of back formation from the surname Jeremy Diddler (the character in
J.Kenney’s work “Raising the Wind”. At the beginning of the 20 th century the verb to maffick appeared
under the influence of the spirit which was in London during Anglo-boerish war after the town Mafeking
yielded.
Back formation is held due to the rules of the development of the English language. It is not by
chance that such words as to beg, to peeve, to resurrect were formed on the analogy of the existing word-
building pattern.

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 Blending
The term blending is used to designate the method of merging parts of words (not morphemes)
into one new word. The result of it is a blend, also known as a portmanteau word. It was Lewis Carroll ,
the author of the well-known book “Alice in Wonderland”, who called such creations portmanteau words
and described them as words into which two meanings are packed like in a portmanteau.
We always look for a way of saving time. This explains the growing popularity of blends. Why
use two words if one will do? If, for example, you get up too late for breakfast and too early for lunch you
can have brunch. If a state decides to execute a criminal with the aid of electricity it electrocutes him. A
telegram sent by cable is a cablegram. The astronaut has a tool, a space hammer, which is known as
spammer. News that is broadcast is a newscast. If фрукт is added to йогурт you will get фругурт.
Many blends are short-lived. A fair proportion has become established in the vocabulary. In most
cases blends belong to the colloquial layer of the vocabulary sometimes bordering on slang: slanguage =
slang + language, pollutician = pollute + politician.
The process when the final part of one word and the initial part of another coincide is called
telescoping because the words seem to slide into one another like sections of a telescope: infanticipate =
infant + anticipate.
Sound Interchange
Another term for sound interchange is gradation. It is the feature that is characteristic of all Indo-
European languages. In English sound interchange used to play a certain role in word-building: sit – sat,
fall – fell. Vowel interchange is the most widespread case: food – feed, tooth – teeth, стіл – стола.
Consonant interchange is a more rare case: advice – advise, сів - сіла. In other cases both vowel and
consonant interchange takes place: bath – to bathe, grass – to graze, сидіти - село. Sometimes sound
interchange is accompanied by affixation: deep – depth, long – length.
Stress Interchange
Many English verbs of Latin-French origin are distinguished from the corresponding nouns by the
position of the stress: 'conduct – to con'duct, 'present – to pre'sent, 'export – to ex'port, 'import – to
im'port. Stress interchange is not restricted to pairs of words consisting of a noun and a verb. Adjectives
and adverbs can undergo this process: 'frequent - to fre'quent, 'absent – to ab'sent. Stress distinction is,
however, neither productive nor regular. There are many denominal verbs that are forestressed and thus
homonymous with the corresponding nouns: 'figure – to 'figure, 'programme – to 'programme. There is a
large group of disyllabic loan words that retain the stress on the second syllable both in nouns and verbs:
ac'count – to ac'count, de'feat – to de'feat.
In the Ukrainian language homonyms can also be formed by means of stress interchange: до'рога
– доро'га, дере'вина – дереви'на.
It is worth noting that stress alone, unaccompanied by any other differentiating factor, does not
seem to provide a very effective means of distinguishing words and that is, probably, the reason why
oppositions of this kind are neither regular nor productive.
Sound Imitation
Other terms for sound imitation are onomatopoeia and echoism. Words coined by this type of
word building are made by imitating different kinds of sounds that may be produced by animals, birds,
human beings and inanimate objects.
Dogs bark, cocks cock-a-doodle-doo, ducks quack, frogs croak, cats mew (miaow, meow), cows
moo (low). Гав-гав, кукуріку, кря-кря, ква-ква, мяу: промовляють українські тварини та птахи.
There is a hypothesis that sound imitation as a way of word building should be viewed as
something much wider than just the production of words by the imitation of purely acoustic phenomena.
Some scholars suggest that words may imitate through their sound form certain acoustic features and
qualities of inanimate objects, actions or that the meaning of the word can be regarded as the immediate
relation of the sound group to the object. If a young chicken or kitten is described as fluffy there seems to
be something in the sound of the adjective that conveys softness. To glance, to glide, to slide, to slip
convey the meaning of an easy movement over a slippery surface. To rush, to dash, to flash render the
meaning of brevity, swiftness.