Chapter 5 Word Formation

 

Chapter 5 Word Formation

Neologisms

In 1900 J. Murray Spangler, who invented an electric suction sweeper did not popular. However it was popular under the world "hoover". This shows our ability to quickly recognize new words.

Etymology

The study of the origin and history of a word is known as its etymology,Greek and Latin are the sources of many English words,often providing alternative ways to describe things, such as mono- from Greek (mono-cycle) and uni- from Latin (uni-cycle).

Borrowing

One of the most common sources of new words in English is the process simply labeled

borrowing, that is, the taking over of words from other languages.

Loan-translation

A special type of borrowing is described as loan-translation, is a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing language.

Ex: French term gratte-ciel translates as “scrape-sky,”

      The Dutch wolkenkrabber (“cloud scratcher”) or the German Wolkenkratzer (“cloud scraper”)

Compounding

There is a joining of two separate words to produce a single form.

Ex: adjective (fast) + noun (food) = fast-food restaurant

       or a full-time job.

Blending

The combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term is also present in the

process called blending.

Ex:  smaze (smoke + haze)

        smurk (smoke +murk) 

Clipping

The element of reduction that is noticeable in blending is even more apparent in the

process described as clipping.

Ex: ad (advertisement)

       bra (brassiere)

       cab (cabriolet)

Hypocorisms

A particular type of reduction, favored in Australian and British English, produces forms

technically known as hypocorisms.

Ex:Aussie (“Australian”)

      Bookie (“bookmaker”)

      Telly (“television”)

Backformation

A very specialized type of reduction process is known as backformation. A word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another type (usually a verb).

Ex: donate (from “donation”)

       emote (from “emotion”)

       enthuse (from “enthusiasm”)

Conversion

A change in the function of a word, as for example when a noun comes to be used as a verb

(without any reduction), is generally known as conversion.

Coinage     

The invention and general use of totally new terms, or coinage, is not very common in

English

Older ex  :aspirin, nylon, vaseline, zipper

Recent ex: granola, kleenex, teflon, xerox

Acronyms

Acronyms are new words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.

Ex: CD (“compact disk”) 

       SPCA (“Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”)

Derivation

This process is the most common word-formation process to be found in the production of new words.

Ex: un-, mis-, pre-, -ful, -less, -ish, -ism and -ness

Prefixes and Suffixes

- Some affixes are added to the beginning of the word (e.g. un-, mis-) are called prefixes.

- Other affixes are added to the end of the word (e.g. -less, -ish) and are called suffixes.

Infixes

Infix found in some other languages, which is an affix that is incorporated inside another word.

Multiple Processes

It is possible to trace the operation of more than one process at work in the creation of a

particular word.

Ex: deli become a common American English expression via a process of first borrowing delicatessen (from German)