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Word Formation Processes

Here are some suggestions for using word games to help build vocabulary: - Word association games - One person says a word and the next person says the first new word that comes to mind. This helps make connections between words. - Definition games - One person provides the definition and others try to guess the word. Or one provides a word and others provide definitions to guess its meaning. - Scrabble, Boggle, Upwords - Playing word games helps expose players to new words in a fun way. - Crossword puzzles - Filling in crosswords requires looking up new words and their meanings. - Flashcard games - Create flashcards with words on one side and definitions on the other to quiz yourself

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Nhile S.
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253 views45 pages

Word Formation Processes

Here are some suggestions for using word games to help build vocabulary: - Word association games - One person says a word and the next person says the first new word that comes to mind. This helps make connections between words. - Definition games - One person provides the definition and others try to guess the word. Or one provides a word and others provide definitions to guess its meaning. - Scrabble, Boggle, Upwords - Playing word games helps expose players to new words in a fun way. - Crossword puzzles - Filling in crosswords requires looking up new words and their meanings. - Flashcard games - Create flashcards with words on one side and definitions on the other to quiz yourself

Uploaded by

Nhile S.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Word-Formation Processes in

English (word building)


Morphology
Coinage
► Coinage is the invention of totally new terms.
► Sources of coined words:
1. Trade names of commercial products that become general
terms.
e.g. aspirin, teflon, xerox.

2. New words based on the name of a person or a place.


e.g. hoover, jeans, sandwich.
Borrowing

► Borrowing is taking over words from other


languages.
► English borrows from other languages.
e.g. sofa, lilac, croissant
► Many languages borrow from English
e.g. Japanese.
supaamaaketto
cont.,
► Loan translation:
Direct translation of the elements of a word
into the borrowing language.
► Many languages translated the term
‘skyscraper’ into its own vocabulary.

► Compare between borrowing and loan-


translation?
Acronyms
► Acronyms are new words formed from the
initial letters of a set of other words.

► e.g. CD (compact disk)


VCR (video cassette recorder)
laser
MADD
ATM
1 Affixation = adding an established
prefix or a suffix to the existing base

A) Suffixation
- is characteristic of noun and adjective
formation
- a suffix usually changes not only the
lexical meaning of a word but also its
grammatical meaning or its word class, e.g.
to bake – baker, beauty - beautiful
► Noun-forming suffixes:
-or: actor, visitor, director
-er/eer: speaker, engineer, opener
-ist: scientist, satirist, journalist
-ess: hostess, stewardess, actress
-ty/ity: cruelty, purity, stupidity
-ure/ture: failure, exposure, mixture
-dom: freedom, kingdom,
-age: passage, marriage, postage
-ance/ence: appearance, preference
-hood: likelihood, brotherhood, neighbourhood
-ing: reading, opening, beginning
-ion/sion/tion/ition/ation: operation, permission, description
-ness: kindness, goodness, wilingness
-y/ery: difficulty, enquiry, robbery, slavery
-ship: partnership, membership, kinship
-ment: government, development, movement
-t: complaint, restraint
► Adjective-forming suffixes:
-able/ible: comfortable, fashionable, sensible
-ic/atic: atomic, heroic, systematic
-ful: beautiful, helpful, careful
-y: bloody, dirty, sunny
-less: useless, homeless, careless
-al/ial/tial: personal, influential, preferential
-ive/ative/itive: active, creative, sensitive
-ant/ent: pleasant, different, excellent
-en: wooden, golden, woollen
-like: childlike, ladylike
-ing: amusing, interesting, charming
-ous: dangerous, famous, mysterious
-ish: bookish, childish, foolish
-ly: friendly, lovely, manly
► Verb-forming suffixes:
-ize/ise: civilize, modernize
-ify/fy/efy: simplify, glorify
-en, deepen, sharpen, lengthen

► Adverb-forming suffixes:
-ly: formally, calmly, easily
-ward/wards: homeward, afterwards, backwards
-wise/ways: clockwise, otherwise, sideways
-fold: twofold, threefold
B) Prefixation
- a prefix usually changes or concretizes the
lexical meaning of a word and only rarely
parts of speech, e. g. write – rewrite,
smoker – non-smoker
- Prefixes are sometimes used to form new
verb: circle – encircle, large – enlarge etc.
Prefix
► Negation or opposition:
un-: unable, unfair, unpack, unzip
dis-: disagreeable, dislike
a-: amoral, atypical
in-: informal, inexperience
im-: (before b, m, p) impossible, immoral
il-: (before l) illegal, illogical
ir-: (before r) irregular, irrational
non-: nonsmoker, non-scientific
de-: decode, defrost, devalue

► Repetition, making it possible:


re-: reread, rebuild, reunited
en-/em-: enrich, enlarge, embitter
► Degree, measure or size:
super-: supersonic, superhuman
semi-: semi-final, semidetached
hyper-: hyperactive, hypersensitive
ultra-: ultrahigh, ultraviolet
over-: overtime, overpopulated

► Time and place, order, relation:


post-: post-war, postpone, postgraduate
inter-: international, intercontinental
pre-: pre-war, prehistoric, prearrange
ex-: ex-president, ex-husband, ex-film-star
► Number and numeral relation:
bi-: bilateral, bilabial
uni-: unisex, unicycle, unilateral
auto-: autobiography, autopump, auto-suggestion
multi-: multinational, multi-storey, multilingual

► Attitude, collaboration, membership:


anti-: antisocial, antiwar, antifreeze
counter-: counter-offensive, counter-revolution
pro-: pro-English, pro-vice-chancellor

► Pejoration:
mis-: misinform, mislead, misuse
pseudo-: pseudo-scientific, pseudo-intellectual
Building Vocabulary
Games we play for Vocabulary
Building .Suggest some more
Helping hints for Vocabulary
development
►• Eliminate distractions.
► • Read as often as possible.
► • Keep an orderly notebook for vocabulary work.
► • Do many practice exercises.
► • Analyze words by learning prefixes, roots and suffixes.
► • Memorize a few words every day.
► • Organize a schedule.
► • Manage time carefully, and do not wait until the last minute.
► • Use online resources for better understanding.
► • Learn to skim dense material.
► • Avoid cramming information.
► • Try teaching the material to someone else.
► • Summarize newly-learned information in writing
Compounding is one of the principal,
most productive, and the oldest way of
creating words in English
► Nouns – motorway, breakfast, skinhead
► Adjectives – snow-white, hard-working
► Verbs – daydream, broadcast
► Adverbs – downstairs, sometimes, today
► Pronouns – somebody, anyone, myself
► Prepositions – into, without, within
► Conjunctions – whenever, however
Conversion is the process of gaining new
words in a different part of speech without
adding any derivative elements

face – to face
answer – to answer
clean - to clean
Identify the word-formation process involved in the
production of the following words.

► a) bookworm __________ j) rise (n) ________


► b) Eurovision __________
► c) American ___________ k) chicken burger______
► d) mice _ ____________ l) televise _______ _
► e) best __ ___________
► f) ohm ______________ m) radar ___ _______
► g) UCLA ______________
► h) gas __ ___________ n) nylon ____ _______
► i) arena __ __________
Answers
► a) COMPOUNDING
► b) BLENDING
► c) AFFIXATION
► d) SYMBOLISM
► e) SUPPLETION
► f) EPONYMY
► g) ACRONYMY
► h) CLIPPING
► i) BORROWING
► j) FUCTIONAL SHIFT
► k) MORPHOLOGICAL MISANALYSIS AND COMPOUNDING
► l) BACKFORMATION
► m) ACRONYMY
►
n) COINAGE
Use of Word … Joke below
Use of Word
Consulting Dictionary

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