Transcript Introduction to Linguistocs - An

Introduction to Linguistics
Ms. Suha Jawabreh
Lecture 12
Word-formation Processes
What is a word-formation process?
word formation is the creation
of a new word.
Word-formation Processes
1. Coinage
2. Borrowing
3. Blending
4. Clipping
5. Acronyms
Morphological Processes
1. Derivation
2. Conversion
3. Backformation
4. Compounding
Derivation
What is derivation?
Derivation is the process of creating a new word out
of an old word, usually by adding a prefix or a suffix.
Examples:
Happy
un+happy = unhappy (un- is a prefix)
Happy
happi+ness = happiness
(-ness is a suffix)
-What is a prefix?
A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a
word to create a new word with a different
meaning.
Examples:
inactive
rewrite
Dislike
prejudge
misrepresent
-What is a suffix?
A suffix is a word part added to the end of a word to
create a new word with a different
meaning.
Examples:
joyful
careless
boyish
sadness
terrorism
-All English words formed by this derivational
process use either prefixes or suffixes, or both.
-mislead has a prefix.
- disrespectful has both a prefix and a suffix.
- foolishness has two suffixes.
Types of Affixes
1. A prefix
2. A suffix
3. An infix
-What is an infix?
- An infix is an affix that is added to the middle of a
word.
-English does not use infixes.
-some vulgar words, like bloody, are used as infixes
in informal English.
Examples:
Kangabloodyroo
Absogoddamlutely
Conversion (zero-derivation)
-What is conversion?
Conversion is the creation of a word from an
existing word without any change in form.
Examples:
(from nouns to verbs)
1. vacation(N) to vacation (V)
2. butter (N)
to butter (V)
(From verbs to nouns)
to impact (V)
impact (N)
to guess (V)
guess (N)
(from adjectives to verbs)
empty
to empty
dirty
to dirty
(from adjectives to nouns)
crazy
a crazy
nasty
a nasty
Backformation
What is backformation?
The process by which a new word is formed by
removing an affix.
Examples:
television
donation
editor
televise
donate
edit
Hypocorism
What is hypocorism?
Hypocorism is a special type of backformation
where a longer word is reduced to a single
syllable , then –y or -ie is added.
Examples:
telly (television)
brekky (breakfast)
Compounding
Compounding is joining of two separate words
to produce a single form.
Examples:
bookcase
fingerprint
sunburn
textbook