LING507 Linguistics The Nature of Language

1. LING507 LinguisticsThe Nature of Language Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü Lecture 6: Word formatIon

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3. Word Formation Though the Dutch were only a passing political presence in America, their linguistic legacy isimmense. From their earliest days of contact, Americans freely appropriated Dutch terms –blunderbuss(literally “thunder gun”) as early as 1654, scowin 1660, sleigh in 1703. By the mid-eighteenthcentury Dutch words flooded into American English: stoop, span, coleslaw, boss, pitin the sense of the stone of a fruit, bedpan, bedspread (previously known as a counterpane),cookie, waffle, thedistinctive American interrogative how come? (a literal translation of the Dutch hoekom)… Bryson (1994)

4. Word Formation (cont’d) Around 1900, in New Berlin, Ohio, a department-store worker named J. Murray Spanglerinvented a device which he called an electric suction sweeper. This device eventually becamevery popular and could have been known as a spangler. People could have been spangleringtheir floors or theymight even have spanglered their rugs and curtains…. However, none of that happened. Instead, Mr. Spangler sold his new invention to a local businessman called WilliamH. Hoover,whose Hoover Suction Sweeper Company produced the firstmachine called a “Hoover.” Notonly did the word hoover become as familiar as vacuum cleaner all overthe world, but in Britain, people still talk about hoovering (and not spanglering).

5. Word Formation (cont’d) Etymology • The study of the origin and history of a word is known as its etymology. Etymology is a term which, like many of thetechnical words, comes to us throughLatin, but has its origins in Greek. • (e´tymon“original form” + logia “study of”). • When we look closely at the etymologiesof words, we discoverthat there are many different ways inwhich new words can enter the language. • A lot of words in daily use todaywere, at one time, considered barbaric misuses of the language: aviationandhandbag

6. Word Formation (cont’d) • Rather than act as if the language is beingdebased, we might prefer to view the constant evolution of new words and new uses ofold words as a sign of vitality and creativeness ofa language. • One of thedistinctiveproperties of language is creativity • Vastamount of newinventionsmade in the 20th and 21st century • Language is dynamic • Language is not a staticthing. It is alwayschangingfromgenerationtogeneration, situationtosituation.

7. Word Formation (cont’d) Coinage • The least common processes of word-formation in English iscoinage. Coinageis the invention of totally new terms. • Themost typical sources are invented trade names forcommercial products that become general terms forany version of that product. • Kleenex, Teflon, Xerox, Robotics, nylon, aspirin,zipper, Internet… • The most salientcontemporaryexample of coinage is: google. • Originally amisspelling for the word googol (= the number 1 followed by 100 zeros). The termgooglehas become a widely used expression meaning “to usethe internet to find information”. The name of a company (Google)

8. Word Formation (cont’d) Borrowing • One of the most commonsources of new words in English is the process simply labeled borrowing, that is, thetaking over of words from other languages. • alcohol(Arabic),croissant(French), robot(Czech), bass (Dutch), piano(Italian),yogurt(Turkish), tattoo (Tahitian), tycoon (Japanese)… • Otherlanguageshave taken many English words into their dictionaries: • okay, Internet • suupaa,suupaamaaketto, taipuraitaa(Japanese) • le stress, le whisky,le weekend (French)

9. Word Formation (cont’d) Borrowing • A special type of borrowing is described as loan-translation or calque. In this process, there is a direct translation of the elementsof a word into the borrowing language. • English: theflea market / French: marchéaux puces "market of fleas« • English: moment of truth / Spanish: el memento de la verdad • English: skyscraper • French: gratte-cielthatliterallytranslates as ‘scrape-sky’ • Dutch: wolkenkrabber ‘cloud-scratcher’ • German: Wolkenkratzer‘cloudscraper’

10. Word Formation (cont’d) Compounding • The joining of two seperate words to produce a single form is called compounding. It is very common in EnglishandGermanbut lesscommon in French, Spanish. • bookcase= book + case, fingerprint, sunburn,wallpaper… • good-looking, low-paid • fast-food, full-time • Hmong (spoken in South East Asia) • hwj‘pot’ + kais ‘spout’ = hwjkais ‘kettle’ • pajflower + kws ‘corn’ = pajkws ‘popcorn’ • hnab‘bag’ + rau ‘put’ + ntawv ‘book’ = __________

11. Word Formation (cont’d) Blending • Blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of oneword and joining it to the end of the other word. • smoke+ fogsmog • emotion+ iconemoticon • breakfast+ lunchbrunch • web + seminarwebinar • In a fewblends, wecombinethebeginnings of bothwords. • teleprinter + exchangetelex • modulator + demodulator modem

12. Word Formation (cont’d) Clipping • Clipping is a process in whicha word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form,often in casual speech. • gasolinegas • advertisementad, advert • mathematicsmath • examinationexam • gymnasticsgym • Hypocorisms: Inthisprocess, a longerword is reducedto a singlesyllable, then -yor -ie is addedtotheend. • movie(movingpictures), telly (television), brekky (breakfast), barbie

13. Word Formation (cont’d) Backformation • A word of one type of (usually a noun) is reduced to form anotherword of a different type (usually a verb). • editor edit • televisiontelevise • donationdonate • optionopt

14. Word Formation (cont’d) Conversion • A change in the function of a word, as for example, when a nouncomes to be used as a verb (without any reduction), is generally knownas conversion. • This process can also be called as category change and functional shift. • butter (n) Willyoubutter(v) the toastplease? • paper(n) He is papering (v) the bedroom walls. • bottle (n)  Havetheybottled (v) thewater yet? • chair (n)  Theprofessorwillchairtheconference.

15. Word Formation (cont’d) Conversion (cont’d) • Conversion can involve verbs becoming nouns. • guess(v) aguess • spy(v)  aspy • must(v)  amust • print out (v) print out • take over (v)  atake over • Conversion can involve verbs becoming adjectives. • seethrough (v)  a seethroughdress • standup (v)  a standupcomedian

16. Word Formation (cont’d) Acronyms • Acronymsare formed from the initial letters of a set of other words. • Compact Dick: CD • VideoCassette Recorder: VCR • Federal Bureau of Investigation: FBI • Automatic Teller Machine: ATM • RadioDetecting and Ranging: RADAR • Personal Identification Number: PIN • North AtlanticTreatyOrganization: NATO • AcquiredImmuneDeficiencySyndrome: AIDS

17. Word Formation (cont’d) Derivation • Derivationis a widelyusedwordformationprocessand it is accomplished by means of a large number of smallbitsof English. These small bits are generally described as affixes. • Prefixes: Theyareaddedtothebeginning of a word: prefix + root. • un-, mis-, dis, ir-, pre-, non-, re-. Ex. unhappy, misrepresent, disagree, redo • Suffixes: Theyareaddedtotheend of a word: root+ suffix. • -ish, -ism, -less, ful, -ness, -ity. Ex. boyish, terrorism, careless, tactful, clarity • Infixes: Theyareinserted inside theworditself: r + infix + oot. • see‘todrill’srnee‘a drill’ (Kamhmu, a language of Sout East Asia) • toh ‘to chisel’ trnoh‘a chisel’

18. Word Formation (cont’d) Derivation • Circumfixes: Theyareaddedtothebeginningandend of a word:circumfix + root + circumfix. • chokma‘he is good’ (Chickasaw, language of Oklahoma) ik-chokm-o ‘he is not good’ • lakna‘it is yellow’ ik-lakn-o‘it is not yellow’ • palli ‘it is hot’ ________ ‘it is not hot’