processes of word formation_4

7/30/2019 Processes of Word Formation_4

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PROCESSES OF

WORD FORMATION


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English words came from:

English core words

e.g. sun, man, foot, father, fire, I, he,with, of

Loan/borrowed words

e.g. guru - Hindi

sake Japanese

Word formation processes

e.g. derivation, compounding, etc.


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The processes of word formation are:

1. Compounding2. Derivation

3. Invention

4. Echoism

5. Clipping

6. Acronymy

7. Blending

8. Back-formation9. Folk Etymology

10.Antonomasia

11. Reduplication


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Compounding The joining of two or more words into a single

word.e.g. airlines, downpour, cornflakes, breakfast,high-school,, etc.

May be written as one word, as a hyphenatedword, or as two words.e.g. long-haired, happy-go-lucky, etc.

Sometimes, its difficult to identify whether aword is a compound or not.e.g. despite vs. in spite of

instead of vs. in place of


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Derivation

Forming new word by combiningderivational affixes or bound bases withexisting words.

e.g. disagreedisagreement

agreeable


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Invention

New words which are totally invented.e.g. Kodak

nylon

dingbat

goof

blurb


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Echoism/onomatopoeia

Formation of words whose sound suggests theirmeanings

e.g. hiss, pee, wee

The meaning is usually a sound, either naturalor artificial.

e.g. roar, clang

The meaning may also be the creatureproducing the sound

e.g. bobwhite, moan, click, thunder, quack,whisper, murmur, etc.


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Clipping

Cutting off the beginning or the end of a word,or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole clipped word new free form

e.g. lab, dorm, Prof, exam, gym, prom, math,

mike, plane, phone, flu, Liz, still, fridge, etc.

Clipped words are formed not only fromindividual words but also from grammatical

units, such as modifier plus noun.e.g. paratrooper parachutist trooper

sitcom situation comedy


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Acronymy

A process whereby a word is formed fromthe initials or beginning segments of asuccession of words. in some cases, the initials are pronounced

in other cases, the initials and/or beginningsegments are pronounced as the spelled wordwould be

e.g. NATO (North Atlantic TreatyOrganization) - /neto/

radar (radio detecting and ranging) -/redar/


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Blending

The fusion of two words into one, usually the

first part of one word with the last part ofanother, the resulted blend partakes of both theoriginal meanings.e.g. gasohol gas + alcohol

brunch breakfast + lunch

Many blends are not permanent, few becomepart of the standard lexicon.

Blends and clipped words are not sharplyseparated, some words may be put into eithergroup.


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Back-formation

Formation of a word from one that looks like itsderivative.

An analogy for the creation of the new word

creation of the previously nonexistent words

e.g. peddler peddle

beggar beg


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Folk Etymology

changing a word, in part or whole, to make itmore understandable and more like familiarwords although it is based on an inaccurate viewof its origin.

e.g. let ball

let to prevent (Old English)

let ball not allowing a tennis player to

touch the top of the net net ball


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Verging Virgin the Virgin Island

very close veins varicose veins


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Antonomasia

Formation of a common noun, a verb, or anadjective from the name of a person or place.

e.g. frisbee Frisbie Bakery in Bridgewater,

Connecticutvandal the Vandals, a Germanic people

who overran southern Europe fifteen hundred

years ago and sacked and looted Rome in thefifth century

romeo, don juan, casanova

hamburger


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Reduplication

Process of word formation by doubling amorpheme, usually with a change of vowel orinitial consonante.g. pooh-pooh, tiptop, hanky-panky, etc.

The basic, originating morpheme is mostfrequently the second half (e.g. dilly-dally), mayalso be the first half (e.g. ticktock), both halves(e.g. singsong), or neither half (e.g. boogie-

woogie).

So called twin-words because it involves theprocess, the result and the element repeated.


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Twin-words can be divided into three classes,leaving only a small residue of irregular forms:

1. The base morpheme is repeated withoutchange.

e.g. clop-clop, tick-tick, blink-blink, etc.

the twin-words in this group are oftenonomatopoetic representing sound

this class of morpheme is commonly usedwhen speaking with small children, and itsometimes involves repetition of an alreadyclipped form, e.g. dada (dad), baba (bottle),nana (nanny), mama (mommy), etc.


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2. The base morpheme is repeated with achange of initial consonant.

e.g. tootsie-wootsie, razzle-dazzle, teeney-

weeney, boogie-woogie, hootchy-kootchy,etc.


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3. The base morpheme is repeated with a

change of vowel.

e.g. chitchat, tiptop, criss-cross, etc.

the first vowel usually the high frontlax vowel /I/, and the second is a low

vowel //, /a/, or /oa/e.g. zigzag, ticktock, pingpong, etc.

processes of word formation_4

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