Word-formation

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A Concise Companion to Word-Formation

Ahmad Faiz ([email protected])

Badril Huda Islamic Institute for Science & Education, Situbondo, East Java, Indonesia

I. Introduction

In English, word formation is a creation of a new word. People have been

generating new words through many processes. Generally new words can

be generated by derivation and compounding processes. The derivation

process can be further divided into two smaller processes i.e. affixation

and non-affixation. The affixation processes can also be broken down into

prefixation and suffixation. While non-affixation processes consists of

coinage, eponyms, borrowing, blending, clipping, backformation,

conversion, acronyms and initialisms.

II. Word Formation

The following passage will explain you how new words are generated.

2.1 Derivation

Derivation is the most common word-formation process to be found in

the production of new English words. This is accomplished by the so-

called affixation. English only recognizes two kinds of affixations. They

are prefixes and suffixes. Note that other languages e.g. Bahasa

Indonesia may have also other kinds of affixation such as infixation and

circumfixation.

2.1.1 Affixation

Affixes are bound morphemes attached to certain words to change its

meaning or use, for example an adjective rich plus an affix en– forms a

verb enrich and an adjective bright plus an affix –ness can form brightness

which is a noun. An Affix added to the beginning of a word is called

prefix as en– in enrich, when it is added in the end of a word, we call it

suffix as –ness in brightness.

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2.1.1.1 Prefixation

A prefix is a group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change

its meaning and make a new word. For example, un–, dis–, and multi– are

prefixes in the words unnecessary, distrust, and multicultural. Many prefixes

appear as headwords in the dictionary. Learning the meanings of

common prefixes can unlock the meanings of many new words, especially

academic words. The following list is most common prefixes taken from

Teaching Reading Sourcebook: For Kindergarten through Eighth Grade by Bill

Honig, Linda Diamond, and Linda Gutlohn. Can you mention other

examples?

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2.1.1.2 Suffixation

A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its

function, making it into a different part of speech. For example, the suffix

–al changes verbs to nouns: arrival, refusal, denial. The suffix –ous

changes nouns to adjectives dangerous, famous, and poisonous. Many

suffixes appear as headwords in the dictionary. Learning common

suffixes can help you understand and use all the members of a word

family. Here is the list of most common suffixes taken from Teaching

Reading Sourcebook: For Kindergarten through Eighth Grade by Bill Honig,

Linda Diamond, and Linda Gutlohn. Can you make your own list of the

common suffixes?

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2.1.2 Non-affixation

Some linguists e.g. Plag classifies non-affixation processes which have

many subcategories such as coinage, eponyms, borrowing, and so on

under derivation processes. This is rather odd because derivation

processes require affixation. Whereas, coinage, eponyms, etc. do not use

any affixes at all. Thus, this kind of process in generating new words is

not through affixes, whether prefixes nor suffixes. Some linguists may

also call this kind of process as zero-affixation because no affixes involved

or attached to generate new words. There are many types of non-

affixation. They are coinage, eponyms, borrowing, blending, clipping,

backformation, conversion, acronyms and initialisms. The following

section will discuss them respectfully.

2.1.2.1 Coinage

Coinage is totally the invention of new words. However, this is one of the

least common processes of word-formation in English. The most typical

sources are invented trade names for commercial products that become

general terms (usually without capital letters). The most well-known

example for this is the word xerox (a photocopying machine) as in Can you

xerox this report for me? or a recent word google (a search engine on the

Internet) that come into use as in I have googled the answer last night. Other

examples are kodak, kleenex, aspirin, nylon, teflon, and zipper. Can you think

of other examples?

2.1.2.2 Eponyms

Like coinage, eponyms is also least common processes of word-formation.

Eponyms is generating new words based on the name of a person or a

place. For example, the word sandwich is derived from the eighteenth-

century Earl of Sandwich who first insisted on having his bread and meat

together while gambling. Another example is the word jeans which is

derived from the Italian city of Genoa where the type of cloth was first

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made. Other examples are the word watt as in A 60-watt light bulb; the

word sprangler and volt. Can you make a sentence using those two words?

2.1.2.3 Borrowing

When one language takes a word from another one, it is simply said to

borrow the word, and the word is called a loan-word. Borrowing is one of

the most common sources of new words in English. Throughout its

history, the English language has adopted a vast number of words from

other languages, including croissant (French), dope (Dutch), lilac (Persian),

piano (Italian), pretzel (German), sofa (Arabic), tattoo (Tahitian), tycoon

(Japanese), yogurt (Turkish) and zebra (Bantu). What do you think of the

word bamboo, orangutan, and sarong? Where do these words come from?

Note that, a special type of borrowing is described as loan-translation or

calque. In this process, there is a direct translation of the elements of a

word into the borrowing language. The common English phrase flea

market is calque of the French marché aux puces which means market with

fleas. Also, the English expression moment of truth is believed to be a loan-

translation from the Spanish phrase el momento de la verdad.

2.1.2.4 Blending

Blending can be simply defined as the combination of two separate forms

to produce a single new term. Blending is usually accomplished by taking

only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other

word such as the word brunch, a combination of breakfast and lunch, or

smog, a combination of smoke and fog. Other examples of blending are

infotainment, motel, and Macbook. Can you identify the combination of

those words?

2.1.2.5 Clipping

Clipping can be defined as creating new words by shortening already

existing words. Moreover, the element of reduction that is noticeable in

blending is even more apparent in clipping. This occurs when a word of

more than one syllable e.g. facsimile is reduced to a shorter form fax. Also,

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we have info from information, ad from advertisement, fridge from

refrigerator, and Mac from Macintosh as in My roommate just got a Mac.

Others are lab, flu, phone, gas, bra, and condo. Can you guess the complete

word for those clipping?

Do you know that English speakers also like to clip each other’s names, as

in Al, Ed, Liz, Mike, Ron, Sam, Sue and Tom?

2.1.2.6 Backformation

A very specialized type of reduction process is known as backformation.

Typically, a word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word

of another type (usually a verb). A good example of backformation is the

process whereby the noun television first came into use and then the verb

to televise was created from it. Others are to donate from donation, to edit

from editor, to burgle from burglar, to surveil from surveillance and a very

recent word to twit from twitter. Can you think of other examples?

2.1.2.7 Conversion

Conversion is a change in the function of a word, as for example when a

noun comes to be used as a verb (without any reduction). Other linguists

also call this type of word-formation as category change or functional shift

because the category or function of the word is shifted or altered. An

example of conversion of a verb derived from a noun is chair in Someone

has to chair the meeting. Conversion is also able to create a noun from a verb

as a noun a guess, a spy, and a must. They respectively come from a verb

guess, spy and must. Further, through conversion a phrasal verb can

transform into a noun as to print out and to take over can be a noun a

printout and a takeover. Verbs as see through and stand up also become

adjectives as see-through materials and a stand-up comedian. Some compound

nouns have assumed adjectival or verbal functions, exemplified by the ball

park appearing in a ball-park figure or asking someone to ball-park an

estimate of the cost. Other nouns of this type are carpool, mastermind,

microwave and quarterback. Other forms, such as up and down, can also

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become verbs, as in They upped the offer by 50% or More than 60 electric lines

were downed by the severe thunderstorm. Can you think of other examples of

conversion?

2.1.2.8 Acronyms and Initialisms

When the first letters of words that make up a name or a phrase are used

to create a new word, the results are called acronyms or initialisms. In

acronyms, the new word is pronounced as a word, rather than as a series

of letters. For example, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome gives us AIDS,

pronounced [eidz], North Atlantic Treaty Organization gives us NATO

pronounced [neıţoʊ]. Other example is self-contained underwater breathing

apparatus gives us scuba. The word laser is also an acronyms of light

amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Furthermore, Initialisms are

similar to acronyms in that they are composed from the first letters of a

phrase, but unlike acronyms, they are pronounced as a series of letters.

So most people in the US refer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the

FBI pronounced [ɛf bi ai] and the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA

pronounced [si ai eı]. Other words we commonly found are PIN, ATM,

BBM, MAC OS, zip, Interpol, radar, LCD, and HIV. Can you identify which

ones are acronyms and which ones are initialisms?

2.2 Compounding

Derivation is not the only way of forming new words, of course. Many

languages also form words by a process called compounding. Chiefly,

compounding can be described as a joining of two separate words to

produce a single form. Common English compounds are bookcase,

doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn, textbook, wallpaper, wastebasket and waterbed.

Some compounds that have been introduced fairly recently into English

are Facebook, YouTube, powerbank, and carjack. All these examples are

nouns, but we can also create compound adjectives as good-looking and

low-paid and compounds of adjective fast plus noun food as in a fast-food

restaurant or a full-time job. Also, compound words are commonly found in

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movies such as Harry Potter movies and a well-known American TV

serials, Friends. You will notice some compound words as you-know-what

and you-know-who words to refer to Voldemort. And in Friends you will

frequently hear Mr. I wanna-be-your-buddy, Man-child, You should go to a

quit-being-a-baby-and-leave-me-alone clinic, Mr. right-place-at-the-right-time,

and Who is educated now? Mr. I-forgot-ten-states! Those are examples of

compound words. Now, can you make your own compound words?

III. Summary

We have reviewed how new English words are generated. Keep in mind

that word-formation is generally divided into two main branches. They

are derivation and compounding. In derivation, the affixes play vital role

in creating new words. Note that, some subcategories of derivation which

is called non-affixation does not need any affixes at all. Please read other

sources to address this issue. On the other hand, compounding is really

depending on joining two separate words. However, in compounding

words, you should consider many issues dealing with when do we have a

compound? compound structure, and types of compound. Please consult

other books in addressing these issues. Hopefully, this brief explanation

will help you to understand the process of creating new words in Queen

Elizabeth’s language. Last but not least, below is a diagram of word-

formation for you based on the discussion above-mentioned.

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Diagram of Word-formation

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References for Further Reading

Bauer, Laura. 2001. Vocabulary. New York, NY: Routledge

Fromkin, Victoria, Rodman, Robert, and Hyams, Nina. 2011. An

Introduction to Language (9th

Edition). Boston, MA: Wadsworth

Lieber, Rochelle. 2009. Introducing Morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press

Plag, Ingo. 2002. Word-Formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press

Yule, George. 2010. The Study of Language (4th

Edition). Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press