PROCESSES OF WORD FORMATION:
English gets new words by means of easily definable processes employed by users of English.
A. Compounding
Compounding is the joining of two or more Words into a Single Word, as in hang glider, breakfast, longhaired.
• Such words are called compounds.
•They contain two or more words.
• Compounds may be written as:
1. One word as in : cornflakes
2. A hyphenated word as in : long-haired
3. Two words as in : high school/15/2011
• Compound words may take three forms.
•They may be an “open compound”, a “hyphenated compound”, or a “closed compound”:
Examples:
1. sweet potato (open compound)
2. mother-in-law (hyphenated compound)
3. secondhand (closed compound)
B. Derivation
Derivation is the forming of new words by combining derivational affixes or bound bases with existing Words , as in: tele-play, re-ask.
EXAMPLES:
- disadvise
- emplane8 11/15
- ecosyste
- coachdom
• They are usually invented in the heat of speaking and writing.
•They are immediately understandable because we know the meaning of the parts.
C. Invention
Now and then new words are totally invented like kodak and goof.
Few of them find their way in the common vocabulary.
• Coining is the creation of new words without reference to the existing morphological resources of the language, that is, solely out of the sounds of the language.
• Coining is very rare, but the most typical sources are invented trade names for commercial products that become general terms (usually without capital letters) for any version of that product.
OLDER EXAMPLES:
- aspirin
- nylon
- vaseline
- zipper
MORE RECENT EXAMPL
- kleenex
- teflon
- tylenol
- xerox
D .Echoism
Echoism is the formation of words whose sound suggests their meaning like hiss and peewee. The sound is either natural like the roar of a waterfall or artificial like the clang of a bell.
In literature, ECHOISM is referred to as ‘onomatopoeia’.
EXAMPLES:
- click
- murmur
- whisper
E. Clipping
Clipping means cutting off the beginning or the end of a word or both leaving a part to stand for the whole: lab, dorm, prof , and exam.
Clipping is the word formation process in which a word is reduced or shortened without changing the meaning of the word.
• There are four types of clipping:
1. Back clipping,
2. Fore-clipping,
3. Middle clipping, and
4. Complex clipping.
1. Back clipping is removing the end of a word as in gas from gasoline. Back clipping is the most common type, in which the beginning is retained. Examples are: ad (advertisement), cable (cablegram), doc (doctor), exam (examination), fax (facsimile), memo (memorandum), pub (public house), and pop (popular music).
2. Fore-clipping is removing the beginning of a word as in gator from alligator. Fore-clipping retains the final part. Examples: phone (telephone), pike (turnpike), Math (mathematics), gym (gymnasium).
3. Middle clipping is retaining only the middle of a word as in flu from influenza. flu (influenza), jams or jammies (pajamas/pyjamas), polly (apollinaris), shrink (head-shrinker), tec (detective).
4. Complex clipping is removing multiple parts from multiple words as in sitcom from situation comedy.
• Some of the most common products of clipping are names--Liz, Ron, Rob, Sue, and so on.
Source:
Stageberg, Norman C. and Dallin D. Oaks (2000). An Introductory English Grammar , Heinle, Boston:USA.
