48869_Words and Word-formation Processes.ppt

Word formation processess in linguistics.

1. Words and Word-
formation Processes
Chapter 5
Ms. Abrar Mujaddidi

2. Introduction
We quickly understand new words in our
language and accept the use of new forms
of that new word.
There is a lot of regularities in the word-
formation processes in our language.
In this chapter, we explore some of the
processes of creating new words in a
language.

3. Etymology
The study of the origin and history of a
word is known as etymology.
We should view the constant evolution of
the words as a reassuring sign of vitality
of the langusge.

4. Coinage
Coinage is the invention of totally new terms.
Sources of coined words:
1. Trade names of commercial products that
become general terms.
e.g. aspirin, kleenex, teflon, xerox.
2. New words based on the name of a person or a
place.
e.g. hoover, jeans, sandwich.

5. Borrowing
Borrowing is taking over words from
other languages.
English borrows from other languages.
e.g. sofa, lilac, croissant
Many languages borrow from English
e.g. Japanese.
supaamaaketto

6. cont.,
Loan translation:
Direct translation of the elements of a
word into the borrowing language.
Many languages translated the term
‘skyscraper’ into its own vocabulary.
Compare between borrowing and loan-
translation?

7. Compounding
Compounding is the joining of two
separate words to produce a single form.
Compounding is very common in English
and German.
E.g. Compound nouns: Bookcase,
doorknob, sunburn
Compound adjectives: low-paid,
good-looking

8. Blending
The combination of to separate forms to produce
a single form is blending.
BUT Blending is accomplished by taking the
beginning of one word and joining it to the end of
the other word.
E.g. Smog (smoke + fog)
brunch (breakfast + lunch)
Spanglish (spanish + English)

9. Clipping
Clipping occurs when a word with more
than one syllable is is reduced to a shorter
form.
E.g. gas (gasoline)
fan (fanatic)
ad ( advertisement)

10. cont.,
A special type of reduction is hypocorisms:
a longer word is reduced to a single
syllable, then a –y or –ie
E.g. movie (moving picture)
hankie (handkerchief)

11. Backformation
In backformation, a word of one type
(usually a noun) is reduced to form a word
of another type (usually a verb).
E.g. Televise (television)
donate (donation)
babysit (babysitter)

12. Conversion
Conversion is a change in the function of
the word without any reduction.
1. Noun to a verb butter to butter
2. verb to a noun to spy a spy
3. verb to adjective see through a see-through
material

13. Acronyms
Acronyms are new words formed from the
initial letters of a set of other words.
 e.g. CD (compact disk)
VCR (video cassette recorder)
laser
MADD
ATM

14. Derivation
Derivation is accomplished by the use of affixes.
Affixes
prefixes infixes suffixes
added to the not used added to the
beginning of in standard end of the word
a word English -ful or -less
un- or dis-

15. Multiple Processes
It is possible to trace the operation of
more than one process in the creation of a
particular word.

e.g. Deli
snowball

16. See you next class
read chapter 7 please!!