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English Word Formation

English Word Formation. Deny A. Kwary http://www.kwary.net Airlanga University. Types of Word Formation. Compounding Prefixation Suffixation Conversion Clipping Blends Backformation Acronyms Onomatopoeia Eponyms Toponyms. 1. Compounding.

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English Word Formation

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  1. English Word Formation Deny A. Kwary http://www.kwary.net Airlanga University

  2. Types of Word Formation • Compounding • Prefixation • Suffixation • Conversion • Clipping • Blends • Backformation • Acronyms • Onomatopoeia • Eponyms • Toponyms

  3. 1. Compounding • Definition: Two or more words joined together to form a new word. • Examples: • Home + work  homework • Pick + pocket  pickpocket • The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts. • Types of compounds: • Compound nouns • Compound verbs • Compound adjectives

  4. Compound Nouns • Boyfriend, hatchback • Cut-throat, breakfast • Sunshine, birth control • Software, fast food • In-crowd, overkill • Drop-out, put-on • Noun + Noun • Verb + Noun • Noun + Verb • Adjective + Noun • Particle + Noun • Verb + Particle

  5. Compound Verbs • Carbon-copy, sky-dive • Fine-tune • Overbook • Bad-mouth • Noun + Verb • Adjective + Verb • Particle + Verb • Adjective + Noun

  6. Compound Adjectives • Capital-intensive • Deaf-mute • Coffee-table • Roll-neck • White-collar • Before-tax • Go-go • Noun + Adjective • Adjective + Adjective • Noun + Noun • Verb + Noun • Adjective + Noun • Particle + Noun • Verb-verb

  7. 2. Prefixation • Class-changing prefixes: • a-  asleep  V to Adj • be-  bewitch  N to V • en-  enslave  N to V • Class-maintaining prefixes: • in-  indefinite  Adj to Adj • fore-  foreman  N to N • Etc.

  8. 3. Suffixation • Suffixes forming Nouns • N from N: -dom  kingdom • N from V: -ee  employee • N from Adj: -ce  dependence • Suffixes forming Verbs • V from N: -ify  beautify • V from Adj: -en  shorten • Suffixes forming adjectives • Adj from N: -al  educational • Adj from V: -able  understandable • Adj from Adj: -ish  greenish • Suffixes forming Adverbs: -ly, -ward, and –wise.

  9. 4. Conversion • Definition: Assigning an already existing word to a new syntactic category. • Types of Conversion • Verb to Noun: to hit  a hit • Adj to N: a final game  a final • N to V: a sign  to sign • Adj to V: an empty box  to empty

  10. 5. Clipping • Definition: Shortening a polysyllabic word by deleting one or more syllables • Examples: • Gasoline  Gas • Hamburger  Burger • delicatessen  • microphone  deli mike

  11. 6. Blends • Definition: Similar to compounds, but parts of the words are deleted. • Examples: • Motor + hotel  Motel • Breakfast + lunch  Brunch • Wireless + Fidelity  • Sheep + goat  Wi-fi Shoat

  12. 7. Back-formations • Definition: Creative reduction due to incorrect morphological analysis. • Examples: • editor (1649)  edit (1791) • television (1907)  televise (1927) • Paramedical (1921)  paramedic (1967)

  13. 8. Acronyms • Definition: Words derived from the initial letters of several words and use them as a new word • Examples: • Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats  SWOT • Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus  SCUBA SWBAT PIN, laser

  14. 9. Onomatopoeia • Definition: Words created to sound like the thing that they name.

  15. 10. Eponyms • Definition: a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named. • Examples: • Celcius (Anders Celcius) • Cook Islands (James Cook) • Ford Cars

  16. 11. Toponyms • Definition: a place name, especially one derived from a topographical feature. • Examples: • Montana (‘mountains’ in Spanish) • Mississippi (‘big river’ in Chippewa)

  17. Identify the type of word formation: 1. information, commercials  Informercials 2. Babysitter  babysit 3. Demi + god  Demigod 4. Do + able  doable 5. A catalogue  to catalogue 6. Drama + comedy  dramedy 7. Game + pad  gamepad 8. Greek + god  Greek god = Blend = Back-formation = Prefixation = Suffixation = Conversion = Blend = Compound = Compound

  18. MULTIPLE PROCESSES • For example, the term deli seems to have become a common American English expression via a process of first borrowing delicatessen (from German) and then clipping that borrowed form. • If someone says that problems with the project have snowballed, the final word can be analyzed as an example of compounding in which snow and ball were combined to form the noun snowball, which was then turned into a verb through conversion

  19. STUDY QUESTIONS • 1 What is the difference between etymology and entomology? • 2 Which of the following pairs contains an example of calque? How would you describe the other(s)? • (a) footobooru (Japanese) – football (English) • (b) tre´ning (Hungarian) – training (English) • (c) luna de miel (Spanish “moon of honey”) – honeymoon (English) • (d) jardin d’enfants (French “garden of children”) – Kindergarten (German“children garden”)

  20. That's all... See you next week.

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