English LexicologyMorphological Processes (III): Minor Word-Formation Processes
Week 7
Instructor: Liu Hongyong
Major word-formation processes
Affixation (Derivation) Compounding
Endocentric compounds Exocentric compounds
Conversion
Minor word-formation processes
Initialism and acronyms Clipping Blending Back formation Words from proper names Reduplication Aphesis
Initialisms
Initialism is the making of a new word by using the first letters of words, and the new word is called an initialism.
When initialisms are pronounced with the names of the letters of the alphabet, they may be called alphabetisms.
When initialisms are pronounced like independent lexical items, they are called acronyms.
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
VIP very important person
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
ISBN International Standard Book Number
ROM read-only-memory
WTO World Trade Organization
BO body odor
VD venereal disease
MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SCNU South China Normal University
AI artificial intelligence
VOA Voice of America
UFO Unidentified flying object
IMF International monetary fund
laser lightwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
TEFL Teaching English as a foreign language
TSSL Teaching English as a second language
TOEFL Test of English as a foreign language
TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome
NATO North Altlantic Treaty Organization
UNESCO United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization
DINK dual income no kid
More examples of acronyms
Clipping
Clipping involves the type of word-formation device in which only part of the stem is retained. The beginning may be retained as in lab (from laboratory), the end as in phone (from telephone), the middle as in flu (from influenza).
More examples of Clipping
dorm (dormitory) photo (photograph)
demo (demonstration) memo (memorandum)
exam (examination) bus (omnibus)
fridge (refrigerator) maths (mathematics)
bike (bicycle) auto (automobile)
ad (advertisement) copter (helicopter)
gym (gymnasium) prof (professor)
Blending
A blend may be defined as a new lexeme built from parts of two (or more) words or a word plus a part of another word, for example, brunch (breakfast + lunch); smog (smoke + mog).
Words formed in this way are called ‘blends’. Blending = clipping + compounding.
More examples of blending
smoke + fog smog
Oxford + Cambridge Oxbridge
motor + hotel motel
slang + language slanguage
American + Indian Amerind
slim + gynmastics slimnastics
Back-formation
donate donation
edit editor
ept inept
daydream daydreamer
Which word is older? Which word do we have first?
Back-formation
Back-formation is the making of a new word from an older word which is mistakenly thought to be its derivative.
It involves the shortening of a longer word by cutting away an imagined/supposed derivational suffix.
editoredit edit + or edit
But how can I judge which is
right?
The word edit is often cited as an example of back-formation. In other words, edit is not the source of editor, as dive is not the source of diver, which is the expected derivational pattern; rather, the opposite is the case.
Edit in the sense “to prepare for publication,” first recorded in 1793, comes from editor, first recorded in 1712 in the sense “one who edits.”
Diachronic evidence (历时证据 ):
editor: first recoded in 1712
edit: first recoded in 1793, almost a hundred years later.
More examples of back-formation
peddle peddler televise television
baby-sit baby-sitter housekeep housekeeper
daydream daydreamer mass-produce mass-production
greed greedy ept inept
vaccum-clean
vaccum-cleaner eavesdrop eavesdropper
donate donation typewrite typewriter
Back-formation
Back-formation are created by analogy according to the following proportion ( 比例式 ).
writer: write :: peddler: ?
revision: revise :: television: ?
write is to writer as peddle is to peddler.
revise is to revision as televise is to television.
peddle
televise
Affixation Back-formation
seemingly similar, actually opposite
Words from Proper Names
Common Nouns Proper Names
Count N Mass N
Singular N Plural N
Nouns
Classification of Nouns
Words from Proper Names
Another minor word-formation process is the creation of new words from proper names. The transition from proper names to common nouns is a gradual one.
Proper names People’s name Name of places Book names
A good example: sandwich
It originates from John Montagu (1718-92), Fourth Earl of Sandwich. He was so fond of gambling that he would not leave the gambling table to have a proper meal. He was said to eat while playing. Later,
people used his name to refer to all similar food.
Words from names of places
china:
champagne: a white wine made in the region of Champagne, France.
watergate: originally the name of an office building in Washington, D.C.
Watergate
The Watergate scandal began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972.
Investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed that this burglary was one of many illegal activities authorized and carried out by Nixon's staff.
watergate now means any political scandal involving abuse of power, bribery, and obstruction of justice
Why is a scandal always a -gate ?
President-related scandals伊朗门 白宫秘书门 情报门
Politics-related scandalsKoreangate cattlegate 虐囚门
All kinds of scandals电话门 艳照门 奶粉门
catch-22 ( 第 22 条军规 ; 令人左右为难的规定 )
Catch-22 is a satirical novel by the American author Joseph Heller (born 1923), first published in 1961.
It refers to a paradoxical Air Force rule by which a pilot is considered insane if he keeps flying combat missions without asking for a relief, but if he does ask for a relief, he is considered sane and may not be relieved.
例如,如果我是一位还没有发表过作品的作家,也就是说,我的作品没有在出版社出版过;我拿着我的作品去出版社商讨出版问题,出版社的人却对我说,他们不替没有发表过作品的人出版作品。如果所有的出版社都给我同样的答复,我岂不是就遇上 Catch-22 了!
评副教授必须承担过省级科研项目 , 而申请省级科研项目的人员必须具有副教授资格 , 这就是 catch-22 。
Reduplication
Reduplication is a special case of affixation process, where the affixes are phonologically underspecified, receiving phonetic expression by copying adjacent segments.
total vs. partial redupliacation
Reduplication
Total reduplication (Walpiri data from Nash, 1980) :
Singular Plural
Kurdu ‘child’ kurdukurdu ‘children’
Kamina ‘girl’ kaminakamina ‘girls’
Partial reduplication (Maori data from Katamba, 1993):
nui ‘big’ nunui ‘big plural’
moe ‘sleep’ momoe ‘sleep together’
*Only the first CV of a word is reduplicated.
Reduplication
quack-quack ( 嘎嘎 , 鸭子 ( 小儿语 ) )
zigzag (from German Zickzack (Zack: tooth)
seesaw (reduplication of what?)
Aphesis
Aphetic forms are a special kind of shortening characterized by the omission of the initial unstressed syllable as in ’scuse me (excuse me) and ’cause (because).
professor
prof ’fessor
When pronounced casually, the first unstressed syllable may be omitted.
An instance of clipping
An aphetic formA clipping