Word formation Process

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 How new words are being formed in the
language.
 Word formation is of great interest for
linguists as it sheds light on other aspects
of language.

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Why are new words
needed?
 Because of new inventions and
changes
 Language is dynamic
 vast amount of new inventions
made in the 20th and 21st
 One of the distinctive properties of
human language is creativity

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 Entry Of a Word in a language

etymology: studies of the history of words,

their origin, and how their form
and meaning changed over time

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Etymology: English
“Alleviate”
 It is a combination of of Latin levis means light
and the prefix ad- means ‘to’ ( ad- changes to
al-before a root starting from l-)
 Words derieved from it (levis)
relieve- re (again) + levis
elevate (to raise up)- e-( out) +levis
levitation- process of object apparently rise
in the air as if floating
levity- lightness in sense of frivolity means
lack of seriousness.

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 English word formation
1. 2. Borrowing,
coinage
3. 4. Compound
Calque
5. 6. Blending
Derivation
7. Backformation 8.
Conversion 9.Acronym 10.
Initialism
11. Onomatopoeia 12.
Clipping
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1. Coinage
 the word formation process of
inventing entirely new words
 Ex: robotics (1941), genocide
(1943), black hole (1968),blog,
internet, google, Aspirine.

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Some more examples
 e-cruitment-online recruitment of employees;
online submission of resumes and cover
 letters
netbook–small laptop computer which weighs
 less than 3 pounds and has a 7 to 10 inch screen
notspot-an area where there is slow internet
 access or no connection at all
slumdog-very poor, underprivileged person who
lives in an overcrowded a slum

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Epony
m
 --new words based on names of
persons/place
 volt [ Alessandro Volta, Italian]
 watt [James Watt, Scot
scientist]
 boycott [Charles Boycott, Irish]
 fahrenheit [Gabriel Farenheit, German
scientist]
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2. Borrowing
 Borrowing is the process of actually borrowing
words from foreign languages.
 The English language has been borrowing words
from ''nearly a hundred languages in the last
hundred years'‘
 The other way round, many countries also have
taken many English words into their dictionaries,
such as the well-known “OK or internet”
 most of the loan words are nouns, only some of
them are verbs or adjectives.

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 Latin: interim, memorandum, agenda, p.m. and
a.m., sponsor.
 Greek : pneumonia, panorama, psychoanalysis,
psychology, python
 French: bureau, café, chauffeur, abattoir,
attaché, á la carte
 Sanskrit: chakra, mahatma, nirvana,
 musk
Hindi -avatar, bungalow, jungle, pajamas,
verandah, shampoo, yoga, pundit, cheetah

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3. Calque
 Direct translation of the element of a
word into the borrowing language.
 word-for-word translation of a phrase
borrowed from another language.
 Ex: Spanish from English perros
calientes –dog hot =
hot dog

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4. Compounding
 Compounding is the process of putting
words together to build a new one that
''does not denote two things, but one''
and that is ''pronounced as one unit''
 Ex: -handbag=hand + bag;
-wallpaper=wall + paper;
-fingerprint=finger + print;
-sunburn=sun + burn,

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5. Derivation
 Derivation, as ''the most common word
formation process'', builds new words by adding
morphemes
 word formation by affixes
 By prefixes: un-usual , mis-pronounce
mis-lead, dis-
 respect By suffixes: care-less,
child-ish
 faith-ful
prefix and suffix: dis-
loyal-ty
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un-
6. Blending
 A blending is a combination of two or more
words to create a new one, usually by taking
the beginning of the other word and the end
of the other one
 Ex: brunch =breakfast+ lunch
motel = motor + hotel
smog = smoke + fog
transistor = transfer + resistor
emoticon = emotion + icon
webinar = web+ seminar

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Some more example
 Sitcom= situation + comedy; television
series based on humorous everyday
situations
 Netiquette=network + etiquette
 Netizen = internet+ citizen

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7. Backformation

 --nouns > verbs: reduction of nouns to form

verbs
Ex: television = televise
donation = donate
option = opt
emotion = emote
enthusiasm = enthuse
editor = edit

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8. Conversion

 -changing the category of words

 zero derivation –no affixes are added
 nouns & verbs: bottle, butter, chair,
vacation
 verbs & nouns: guess, spy,
 print out & printout
 verbs & adjectives : see through
 adjectives & verbs: empty, dirty
 adjectives & nouns: the poor; the weak
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9. Acronym

 word from initials of a set of words

 Ex: SCUBA -Self-Contained
Underwater Breathing
Apparatus
RADAR -Radio Detection And
Ranging
LASER –Light Amplification by
Stimulated Emission of
Radiation
PIN-Personal Identification
Number 19
10. Initialism
 initialisms are pronounced ''as a
sequence of letters'‘
DNA- Deoxy Riboneuclic acid
USA- United states of america

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11. Onomatopoeia

 This special type of word that depicts ''the

sound associated with what is named''
Ex: buzz, hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, crash,
bang, hush, ticktack, etc.

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12. Clipping
 shortening of a poly-syllabic word.
 Types: back clipping, fore-clipping, middle and
complex clipping
 Ex: facsimile = fax
fanatic = fan
telephone=
phone gasoline =
gas influenza =
flu
cable telegram= cablegram
gym, lab, exam, math, prof. 22
Conclusio
n
 As we have seen before, there are many
ways to create new words
 So finally, if we take a look around, we will
see a mass of new words surrounding us,
brought to us both consciously by language
trends and unconsciously through
language change over time
 Language changes constantly. And who
knows if the people will understand
the language we are using now in a
few decades?
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Refrences
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_formatio
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_%28
 http://introling.ynada.com/session-7-word-

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