Word Formation
Where do new words come from?
English
words.
old
vocabulary is not a stable, finite collection of
words often take on new meanings
mouse, virus, window in computing
older
meanings can simply die out
the original meaning of computer was a person whose
job was to make calculations or do accounts
words
are very rarely invented entirely from scratch
one example of a completely made-up word is blurb
this
process of fashioning new words out of old ones
is called derivation, and here are six of the most
common types of English word formation.
Over
half the words in our language have been
formed by adding prefixes and suffixes to root
words.
Recent coinages of this type include
semi-celebrity
subprime
awesomeness
facebookable
1. Affixation
blend is a combination of parts of two words,
usually the beginning of one and the end of
another
glocalization (global + localization)
guesstimate (guess + estimate)
netiquette (net + etiquette)
Frankenfood (Frankenstein + food)
pixel (picture + element)
2. Blending
Many
English words are loanwords from other
languages
paparazzi (Italian)
tsunami (Japanese)
Many
are so familiar that we no longer think of
them as borrowings
bungalow (Hindi)
ombudsman (Swedish)
3. Borrowing
Clippings
are shortened forms of words
blog (short for web log)
zoo (from zoological garden)
flu (from influenza)
4. Clipping
compound is a fresh word or expression made
up of two or more independent words:
office ghost
tramp stamp
breakup buddy
backseat surfer
5. Compounding
Conversion
is the process of changing the
grammatical class of a word without changing its
form.
Conversion
of nouns to verbs is particularly
common in English
to word a message carefully
More
recently, nouns such as Google, email,
text, and Skype are also being used as verbs.
6. Conversion
Affixation
Many words are formed by adding affixes (prefixes and
suffixes) to existing (root) words.
If you know the meanings of the original word and the
affix, you can often guess the meaning of the new word.
Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, and suffixes
to the end.
A prefix is something that we can put at the beginning of
a word to change the meaning.
Compare these two sentences.
I calculated the amount I would need.
I miscalculated the amount I would need.
= I wrongly calculated the amount I would need
the prefix mis- (= wrongly) changes the meaning
anti- (= against)
auto- ( = self)
co- (= together)
ex- (= previously)
inter- (= between)
mini- (= small)
mis- (= badly/wrongly)
mono- (= one)
multi- (= many)
out- (= more/better)
over- (= too much)
post- (= after)
pre- (= before)
pro- (= in favour of)
re- (= again)
semi- (= half)
sub- (= under/less)
super- (= big/more)
trans- (= across)
under- (= too little)
anti-nuclear, anti-social
autobiography, auto-suggestion
co-exist, co-production, co-driver
ex-wife, ex-footballer
intercity, international
minibus, minicab
misuse, misbehave, miscount, misprint
monorail, monolingual. monotone
multinational, multi-storey,
outnumber, outplay
overweight, overgrown, overwork
post-war, post-dated
pre-war, preheat
pro-government, pro-European
re-write, remarry, resale
semi-precious, semi-final
subway, sub-zero
superstar, superhuman, supersonic
transatlantic, transplant
undercooked, underused, underpopulation
There are some negative prefixes meaning not
uninil- (+ l)
im- (+ b/m/p)
ir- (+r)
disnonde-
Note:
unhappy, unfair, unhealthy, unemployment, unplug, unpack
independent, inoffensive, invisible, incurable, injustice
illegal, illogical
imbalance, immoral, immature, impossible, impractical
irrational, irresponsible
dishonest, disagreement, disappearing, dislike
non-alcoholic, non-stop, non-smoking
defront, depopulation, decentralization
We do not use in- before b, l, m, p, or r.
We use il-, im-, and ir- instead.
suffix comes at the end of a word.
For
example, we can add the suffix -ness to the
adjective kind to form the noun kindness.
Compare these two sentences,
We wont forget how kind youve been.
We wont forget your kindness.
Here, the use of the suffix to form a noun makes the
sentence shorted and neater.
Sometimes
the addition of a suffix involves other
changes in the form or pronunciation of the
word:
apply application
possible possibility
courage courageous
Suffix
able, ible
Meaning
Example
able, capable
capable, agreeable, edible, visible
act of, state of, result of
storage, wreckage, damage
relating to
gradual, manual, natural
ance, ancy
action, process, state
assistance, allowance, defiance
ary, ery, ory
relating to, quality, place
aviary, bravery, dormitory
cian
possessing a specific skill
magician, physician
action, function
hesitancy, prophecy, normalcy
quality, realm
freedom, kingdom, wisdom
ee
one who receives the action
refugee, nominee, lessee
en
made of, to make
silken, frozen, wooden
action, state of, quality
difference, confidence, urgency, agency
er, or
one who, that which
baker, miller, professor
escent
in the process of
adolescent, senescence
ess
female
goddess, lioness, actress
fic
making, causing
scientific, specific
ful
full of
frightful, careful, helpful
fy
make
beautify, fortify, simplify
order, condition, quality
manhood, adulthood
age
al
cy
dom
ence, ency
hood
ic
nature of, like
metallic, acidic, bucolic, simplistic
act, result, or state of
cancellation, contagion, infection
ish
origin, nature, resembling
foolish, Irish, clownish, impish
ism
manner, condition
alcoholism, communism, capitalism,
ite
nature of, quality of
Mennonite, dynamite, graphite, Israelite
ity, ty
state of, quality
celebrity, captivity, clarity, poverty
ive
causing, making
abusive, exhaustive, abortive
make
emphasize, exercise, bastardize, idolize
study, science, theory
biology, anthropology, neurology
like, manner of
carelessly, fearlessly, hopelessly
ment
act of, state or, result
containment, contentment, amendment
ness
state of
carelessness, restlessness
nomy
law
autonomy, economy, taxonomy
ous
full of, having
gracious, nervous, pompous,
ship
state of, office, quality
assistantship, friendship, authorship
some
like, apt, tending to
lonesome, threesome, gruesome
ward
in the direction of
eastward, downward, backward
inclined to, tend to
cheery, crafty, faulty
ion, sion, tion
ize, ise
logy
ly
Task 1
Question IV (5 marks)
Instructions: Complete the sentences by using the correct form of the word in
parentheses, which are taken from the passage. Use AFFIXES to form
the correct form of the word. The first one has been done for you.
Example: (0) Those mean doctors were really unhelpful. (HELP)
1.
We were __________ that the party was only for ticket holders and we
were turned away by the doorman. (AWARE)
2.
He remained __________ to the companys offer. (DIFFERENT)
3.
The residents have been __________ dumping rubbish along the road and
this has turned out to be an eye sore. (DISCRIMINATE)
4.
Cyber bullying uses technology to spread rumours and __________
messages. (HATE)
5.
The behaviour of the students during the football match was found
__________ so they had to be suspended. (ACCEPT)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
unaware
indifferent
indiscriminately
hateful
unacceptable
Answer Key: Task 1
