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Different Forms of Word Formation

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Mayeth Bautista-Ramos
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52 views17 pages

Different Forms of Word Formation

Uploaded by

Mayeth Bautista-Ramos
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 PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Different Forms of

Word Formation |
Morphology
What is Word Formation?
• Word formation process is basically how new
words are formed.
• In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a
new word by making changes in existing words or
by creating words.
• In other words, it refers to the ways in which new
words are made on the basis of other words.
Different Forms of Word
Formation
Word Formation process is achieved by different ways to create a new
word that includes:
• Coinage • Clipping
• Compounding • Contraction
• Borrowing • Backformation
• Blending • Affixation
• Acronym • Conversion
Compounding
Compounding is a type of word formation where we join two words
side by side to create a new word. It is very common type of word formation
in a language. Some time we write a compound word with a hyphen
between two words and some time we keep a space and sometime we write
them jointly. All these three forms are common in all languages.
• Part + time = part-time • Wall + paper = wallpaper
• Book + case = bookcase • Sun + burn = sunburn
• Low + paid = low-paid • Text + book = textbook
• Good + looking = good-looking
• Door + knob = doorknob
• Ice + cream = Ice-cream
• Finger + print = fingerprint
Borrowing
In word formation process, borrowing is the process by which a word
from one language is adapted for use in another language. The word that is
borrowed is called a borrowing, a loanword, or a borrowed word. It is also
known as lexical borrowing. It is the most common source of new words in
all languages.
• Yogurt (Turkish)
• Dope (Dutch)
• Piano (Italian)
• Croissant (French)
• Sofa (Arabic)
• Zebra (Bantu)
• Tattoo (Tahitian)
• Lilac (Persian)
• Tycoon (Japanese)
• Pretzel (German)
Blending
Blending is the combination of two separate words to form a single
new word. It is different from compounding where we add two words
side by side to make a new word but in blending we do not use both
words in complete sense but new/derived word has part of both words.
• Infotainment ( information
• Smoke + fog = smog + entertainment)
• Smoke + murk=smurk • Franglais ( French +
• Smoke + haze= smaze English)
• Motel (hotel + motor) • Spanglish (Spanish +
• Brunch (breakfast + lunch) English )
Abbreviations
Abbreviation is a process where we create a new word by
making a change in lexical form of a word keeping same meaning.
There are three main types of abbreviations.

• Clipping / Shortening / Truncation


• Acronyms / Initialism
• Contraction
Clipping / Shortening /
Truncation
Clipping is the type of word formation where we use a part of word
instead of whole word. This form of word formation is used where there is a
long/multi-syllable word and to save time we use a short one instead of that
long word e.g. the word advertisement is a long word and we use its short
form ad (ads for plural form) instead of whole word.

• Ad from advertisement • Fan from fanatic


• Gas from gasoline • Flu from Influenza
• Exam from examination • Edu from education
• Cab from cabriolet • Gym from gymnasium
• Fax from facsimile • Lab from laboratory
• Condo from condominium
Acronyms / Initialism
An acronym is a word or name formed as an abbreviation from the initial letters in a
phrase or a multi syllable word (as in Benelux). The initials are pronounced as new single
words. Commonly derived word are written in upper case e.g. NATO.

• Some common examples of acronyms are:


• CD is acronym of compact disk
• VCR is acronym of video cassette recorder
• NATO is acronym of North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• NASA is acronym of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• ATM is acronym of Automatic Teller Machine
• PIN is acronym of Personal Identification Number
• Some time the word is written in lower case (Initial letter capital when at
start of sentence)
• Laser is acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
• Scuba is acronym of Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
• Radar is acronym of Radio Detecting And Ranging
Contraction
A contraction is a word formed as an abbreviation from
a word. Contractions are abbreviations in which we omit
letters from the middle of a word or more than one words.

• Dr. is from Doctor.


• St. is from Saint.
• He’s from He is.
• I’ve is from I have.
Affixation
Affixation is the word formation process where a new word
is created by adding suffix or prefix to a root word. The affixation
may involve prefixes, suffixes, infixes.
- In prefixes, we add extra letters before root word e.g. re+right to
make a new word rewrite.
- In suffix, we add some extra letters with a base/root word e.g.
read+able.
- In infixes, the base word is changed in its form e.g. the plural of
woman is women that creates new word “women”.
• Prefixes: un+ plug = unplug
• Suffixes: cut + ie = cutie
• Infixes: man + plural = men
Zero-derivation (Conversion)
Zero-derivation, or conversion, is a derivational process that forms
new words from existing words. Zero derivation, is a kind of word formation
involving the creation of a word from an existing word without any change in
form, which is to say, derivation using only zero. Zero-derivation or
conversion changes the lexical category of a word without changing its
phonological shape. For example, the word ship is a noun and we use it also
as a verb. See below sentences to understand it.
Beach hotel has a ship to enjoy honeymoon.
Beach hotel will ship your luggage in two days.
In the first sentence, the word ship is a noun and in the second
sentence the word ship (verb) is derived from the action of ship (noun) that
transports luggage, so the word ship (verb) has the meaning of
transportation.
Backformation
Back-formation is the word formation process where a new word is
derived by removing what appears to be an affix. When we remove last part
of word (that looks like suffix but not a suffix in real) form a word it creates a
new word.

Some very familiar words are below:

Peddle from peddler


Edit from editor
Pea from pease
Coinage / Neologism
It is also a process of word formation where new words
(either deliberately or accidentally) are invented. This is a very
rare process to create new words, but in the media and
industry, people and companies try to surpass others with
unique words to name their services or products.

Some common examples of coinage are:


Kodak, Google, Bing, Nylon, etc.
Eponyms
In word formation process, sometime new words are derived by
based on the name of a person or a place. Some time these words have
attribution to a place and sometime the words are attributes to the
things/terms who discover/invent them. For example, the word volt is an
electric term that is after the name of Italian scientist Alessandro Volta.
Some common examples of eponyms are:
Hoover: after the person who marketed it
Jeans: after a city of Italy Genoa
Spangle: after the person who invented it
Watt: after the name of scientist James Watt
Fahrenheit: after the name of German scientist Gabriel Fahrenheit
Use the words in brackets to form a new word that fits into
the gap.
1. Don’t you think it’s too __________________ for you to go sailing in such weather
(DANGER)
2. This is my last __________________. – Don’t walk across the lawn! (WARN)
3. He gave me some good __________________ on where to go shopping (ADVISE)
4. If you want to complain about the product, please go to the __________________
(MANAGE).
5. The new flat is not __________________. It’s too expensive (AFFORD)
6. John is six years old. He’s very __________________ and full of life (ACT)
7. My mother spent her __________________ in France (CHILD)
8. I have made a few __________________ to your article (CORRECT)
9. Every child should get a good __________________ (EDUCATE).
10. Listen carefully to the __________________ before you go out! (INSTRUCT)
1.DANGEROUS 6. ACTIVE
2.WARNING 7. CHILDHOOD
3.ADVICE 8. CORRECTIONS
4.MANAGEMENT 9. EDUCATION
/MANAGER 10. INSTRUCTIONS
5.AFFORDABLE

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