WORD-BUILDING PROCESSES IN ENGLISH

Objectives:

• Identify the types of word formation processes in English.

• Discuss the 9 essential of word formation processes.
• Apply word formation processes in constructing a sentence.
The ‘Word Formation Process’ is regarded as the branch of Morphology, and it
has a significant role in expanding the vocabulary that helps us communicate
very smoothly.

The main objectives of the word-formation process are to form new words with
the same root by deploying different rules or processes

9 ESSENTIAL WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

1. Affixation 6. Conversion
2. Back Formation 7. Abbreviation
3. Blending 8. Acronyms
4. Compounding 9. Loan-Word
5. Clipping

1. AFFIXATION
Affixation involves the use of prefixes and suffixes which are
small words put before or after some words to change their meaning
and part of speech. Here are some examples:
• Create-----creation
Here, the suffix -ion shows the result of a process.
• Agree----- disagree
Here, the prefix dis- shows the opposite meaning of the word
2. BACK FORMATION
Back-Formation’ is a word-formation process that eliminates the
actual derivational affix from the main form to create a new word.

EXAMPLE
BASE FORM BACK FORMATION
Insertion Insert
Donation Donate
Procession Process
Obsessive Obsess
Resurrection Resurrect
Action Act
3. BLENDING
In the Blending word-formation method, the parts of two or more
words combine to form a new word. EXAMPLE
WORD BLENDING WORD
Breakfast +Lunch Brunch
Biographical+ Picture Biopic
Smoke +Fog Smog
Chill+ Relax Chillax
Information+ Informercial
Commercial

4. COMPOUNDING
When two separate words are combined together to form a single
new word, compounding happens.
• Open compounding: When there is a space between two
elements.
Ex. Fingerprint
Classroom
Notebook
• Hyphenated compounding: When there is a hyphen
between two compounded elements.
Ex. In-depth
Left-handed
• Closed compounding: When the two elements are written
together.
Ex. Ice cream
Full moon
Post office
5. CLIPPING
Clipping' reduces or shortens a word without changing the exact meaning.
In contrast to the back-formation process, it reserves the original meaning.
• COMPLEX CLIPPING Removes multiple pieces
from multiple words. Ex: Cable telegram-
Cablegram. Organization Man- Org-man
• FORE CLIPPING Removes the beginning part
of a word. Ex: Cellphone-Phone Internet-Net
• MIDDLE CLIPPING Reserves the middle
position. Ex: Influenza-Flu
• BACK CLIPPING Removes the end part of a
word. Ex: Advertisement-Ad Doctor-Doc

6. CONVERSION
Conversion or zero derivation is the process by which new words are
created by using a word in new function (i.e., by Shifting, changing, or
 converting its original grammatical class to another class), without any
change in its form or without changing its form

Example 1.1: Water used as Noun

When the word water is used in the following sentence: “Give me some
water please.” It is used as a noun, which is probably its original (and
more common) use.
Example 1.2: Water used as Verb
When the word water is used in the following sentence: “The children
water the plants every morning.”
It is used in a new syntactic function. Namely, as a verb, and no change in
spelling or pronunciation has been made.
Example 2.1: Walk used as Verb
If the shop isn’t too far away, we can walk over there.
He can easily walk to the shop
Example 2.2: Walk used as Noun
I take a walk around the block every
evening Let’s have a walk around
together.

7. ABBREVIATION
Abbreviation is another famous and widely used word-formation
method used to shorten a word or phrase.
WORDS PHRASE
Junior Jr.
Mister Mr.
Mistress Mrs.
Doctor Dr.
Bachelor of Arts B.A.
Department Dept.

8. ACRONYMS
Acronym is a popular word-formation process in which an initialism
is pronounced as a word.
It forms from the first letter of each word in a phrase, and the newly
formed letters create a new word that helps US speedy communication.

EXAMPLE:
ACRONYM MEANING
S
HIV Human Immudeficiency Virus
AIDS Acquired Immudeficiency Syndrome
NASA National Aeronautics and space
Administration
 ASAP As Soon As Possible
AWOL Absent Without Leave

9. LOAN-WORD

Borrowing or loan word refers to the process where a foreign word is used in the
language without being translated. The English language has adopted a large
number of words from other languages. Remember that the word does not lose
its meaning in the target language.

LOAN-WORD TYPES

1. Foreign words with the same spelling.

This happens when a word is borrowed from a foreign language and
its orthography stays the same.
Example:
• Ballet from (French) to (English)
• Hamster from (German) to (English)
• Cookie from (Dutch) to (English)
• Yogurt from (Turkish) to (English)

2. Foreign words with different spelling.

In this case, the orthography of the word changes in the target
language.
Example:
• Chauffeur from (French) to (Spanish) chofer
• Football from (English) to (Hungarian) futbal
• Check from (English) to (Finnish) sˇekki

REFERENCES

Azizul Hakim (2021, May 28), Word formation Process

https://englishfinders.com/wordformation-processes/

Langeek.co https://langeek.co/en/grammar/course/353/word -formation-processes

Asynchronous Activity – Introduction to Linguistic
A. Directions: Sort the following words into their correct word formation
process categories. Write them under the appropriate process name.
Unhappiness Bromance Photocopy
Info Texting Selfie
Preorder Refill Brunch
Ice Cream

Compoundin Blending Abbreviation Conversion Affixation

g
B. Directions: Analyze the following new words and determine the word
formation process used. Write your answer and explain why that process
was used. Example: Motivational – Affixation (Suffix “al” added to
“motivation:)
1. Blog
2. Smog
3. Reimagine
4. Unfriend
5. Tweet

C. Directions: Look at the following terms from popular culture and identify
the word formation process used. Write a sentence using each of the new
words.
1. Meme
2. Fanfic
3. Vlog
4. App
5. Bromance

D. Directions: Reflect on how word formation affects the English Language.

Write a short paragraph (5 sentences) discussing the impact of word
formation processes like affixation, compounding, and clipping in modern
English communication.