Forming new words

1. Forming new words 3

2. Compounding • Compounding is a process of word formation that involves combining two or more words to form a single compound form. A compound word contains at least two bases that are both words, or at any rate, root morphemes. • The meaning of a compound is derived from its components • E.g. • Dream catcher • Talk show • Green house • Wind mill

3. Compounding • Compounding is a very important way of adding new words to the stock of English. • notebook • breakfast • lifejacket • teapot • frying pan • internet • classroom • wallpaper • skyscraper

4. Compounding • Compounding cannot be limited to 2 bases: • E.g. • mother-in-law • daughter-in-law • Three-time-loser

5. Conversion • Conversion/ functional shift is a highly productive process of word formation . • In English, it is possible to form a new word from an existing word without any change in form. • E. g. • They will be at the party • They like to party • You must finish your plate, It is a must

6. Conversion • Conversion = zero derivation • Morphological structure, & / or syntactic position of the word tell us whether it is a noun or a verb. • I’m going to paperthe wall • She will head that school • I have no access to the system or files • Let’s have a drink • The professor will chair the session

7. Conversion • Conversions from adjectives to nouns and vice versa are both very common in English. • N  V Fish  to fish Butter  to butter Bread  to bread Milk  to milk • V N To kick  kick

8. Coinage • The making up of entirely new words from whole cloth; coined words are completely new words that are created outright to fit some purposes. • New products are given coined names: Clorox, Tide, Panadol, Vazline, Xerox, Kleenex

9. Backformation • We usually derive words by attaching affixes to bases. Sometimes, however, there are complex words that historically existed as affixes before the base of the word. • When native speakers come to perceive these words as being complex rather than simple, they create what is called a back-formation by removing the supposed affixes. • The resulting word is called a backformation.

10. Backformation • People then start to create a verb out of this word. • Edit (v)  editor (n) • Resurrect (v)  resurrection (n) Burgle (v)  Burglar (n) • pea (n/sing.) Pease (n/ plural) • to babysit (v) Babysitter(n)

11. Blending • Blending is a process of word formation in which parts of lexemes that are not themselves morphemes are combined to form a new lexeme. • a blend is a word formed from parts of two or more other words. These parts are sometimes, but not always, morphemes.

12. Blending • Breakfast + lunch = brunch • Motor + hotel = motel • Spoon + fork = spork • Smoke + fog = smog

13. Clipping • clipping is the process of creating or forming new words by shortening already existing words. • Clipping is also known as "truncation" or “shortening.“ • Examination  exam • Mathematics  math • Condominium condo. • Influenza  flu • Laboratory  lab • Photograph  photo • Gymnasium  gym • Refrigerator  fridge • Dormitory  dorm • Limousine  limo

14. Acronyms & initialisms • An acronym is a word whose letters are the first letters of other words • SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome • AIDS – Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome • UNESCO – united nations educational scientific cultural organization • UNICEF – united nations international children’s emergency fund