words are coined because an acute need is felt
Randolph Quirk
Word-formation is the process of forming new words from the material, already existing in the language (derivational bases and patterns) according to structural and semantic patterns.
Morphological Processes
A. Compounding = putting 2 or more words together to make a new word. Ex: out+house = outhouse, tooth+brush = toothbrush, book+keeper = bookkeeper.
B. Affixation = addition of an affix
a. prefix: affix to front of base re +activate = reactivate
b. suffix: affix to back of base stark+ ly = starkly
c. infix: in the middle of the base (only one variant in English) abso + friggin + lutely = absofriggin lutely.
C. Internal change = substitution of one nonmorphemic segment for another.
a. f oo t f ee t, g oo se g ee se (plural)
b. r i de r o de (past).
E. S uppletion = replace morpheme with entirely different one for grammatical contrast.
Ex: be (root) am (present tense).
F. Reduplication = repeat all or part of base for some contrast in meaning
Ex: bye-bye, walkie-talkie.
Derivation
A. Derivation is an affixal process that forms a word with a meaning and/or category that is different from its base. Derived words become independent items.
Ex: magic + ian magician.
B. Examples of derivational affixes. Note: Only suffixes are able to change a words category.
-able V A kissable, huggable, teasable
-ment V N resentment, enjoyment, retirement
-ic N A imbecilic, idyllic, idiotic
-ize N V crystallize, idolize
-en A V redden, blacken, deaden
-ness A N silliness, sexiness
anti- N N anti-Bush, antioxidant
un- A A unfair, unclear, unfavorable
dis- V V disrespect.
C. How to decide the order of affixation. Ex: unhappiness. Is it
a. unhappiness = unhappy + ness = (un + happy) + ness
b. unhappiness = un + happiness = un + (happy + ness)
Look at what the prefix un- attaches to: N? *unhealth, *unfreedom. A? unruffled, untrue.
Therefore, we see that un- likes to attach to Adjectives. We then think that the derivation is (un+happy)+ness rather than un+(happy+ness).
Compounds Again.
A. Category of compounds determined by rightmost morpheme (known as the head of the word).
B. Examples
a. Noun Head
i. fire+engine (N+N) = type of engine, not type of fire
ii. green+house (A+N) = type of house, not type of green
iii. jump+suit (V+N) = type of suit, not type of jumping
iv. after+thought (P+N) = type of thought, not type of after
b. Verb Head
i. spoon+feed (N+V) = type of feeding, not type of spoon
ii. dry+clean (A+V) = type of cleaning, not type of dry
iii. break+dance (V+V) = type of dancing, not type of breaking
iv. over+look (P+V) = type of looking, not type of over
c. Adjective Head
i. sky+blue (N+A) = type of blue, not type of sky
ii. red+hot (A+A) = type of hot, not type of red
iii. over+ripe (P+A) = type of ripe, not type of over.
C. Compounds vs. Non-compounds: telling the difference
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a. Stress
i. Compounds: stress on 1st component. Ex: bláckboard.
ii. Non-Compunds: stress on 2nd component. Ex: black bóard.
b. Modifiers
i. Compounds: cant take modifier on non-head: *a very blackboard.
ii. Non-Compounds: can take modifier on non-head: a very black board.
D. Endocentric vs. Exocentric Compounds
a. endocentric compound denotes subclass of head. Plural involves making plural of head, even if its irregular. Ex: wisdom teeth = type of teeth, plural teeth rather than *wisdom tooths.
b. exocentric compound denotes something else. Plural usually involves standard s plural marker on the end of the entire word. Ex: Walkmans ≠ type of men, plural mans rather than *Walkmen.
Other Types of Word Formation
A. Conversion (zero derivation) = change the category of the word without adding any affixes or otherwise altering the word.
a. butter (N V)
b. survey (V N)
c. total (a car) (A V)
d. (the) poor (A N)
e. down (a beer) (P V).
B. Clipping = shorten polysyllabic word by deleting 1 or more syllables
a. prof (from professor)
b. auto (from automobile)
c. porn (from pornography).
C. B lends = words created from 2 nonmorphemic parts of already existing words
a. smog (from sm oke and f og)
b. spam (from sp iced and h am).
D. Backformation = word created by removing a morpheme perceived as an affix from an already existing word
a. self-destruction self-destruct
b. swindler swindle
c. pease pea.
E. Acronym = taking the initial letters of 2 or more words and pronouncing those as a single word
a. NASA
b. AWOL
c. AIDS
d. LASER.
F. Onomatopoeia = word which sounds like the thing it names
a. meow
b. moo.
Word formation
