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Formation: The Study of Language George Yule

The document discusses various processes of word formation in the English language. It describes 10 main processes: 1) borrowing, 2) compounding, 3) blending, 4) clipping, 5) hypocorisms, 6) backformation, 7) conversion, 8) coinage, 9) acronyms, and 10) derivation. For each process, it provides examples to illustrate how new words are created using that process. The key processes discussed are borrowing words from other languages, joining words to form compounds, clipping words down, and adding affixes to change a word's meaning or class.

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يوسف معد ناجي عباس
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2K views22 pages

Formation: The Study of Language George Yule

The document discusses various processes of word formation in the English language. It describes 10 main processes: 1) borrowing, 2) compounding, 3) blending, 4) clipping, 5) hypocorisms, 6) backformation, 7) conversion, 8) coinage, 9) acronyms, and 10) derivation. For each process, it provides examples to illustrate how new words are created using that process. The key processes discussed are borrowing words from other languages, joining words to form compounds, clipping words down, and adding affixes to change a word's meaning or class.

Uploaded by

يوسف معد ناجي عباس
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Chapter 5

Word Formation

The Study of Language


George Yule

Words are formed/created by different processes.


Etymology
• The study of the origin and history of words.
Word Formation Processes
1-Borrowing
2-Compounding
3-Blending
4-Clipping
5-Hypocorisms
6-Backformation
7-Conversion
8-Coinage
9-Acronyms
10-Derivation
Borrowing
• It is taking words from other languages.
Borrowing 1
 Is one of the most common sources of
new words.
 Examples of English borrowing from
other languages:
Piano (Italian)
Yogurt (Turkish)
Alcohol (Arabic)
Croissant (French)
 From English to other languages:
Suupaamaaketto / sport/ klub/futbal
Borrowing 2

 Loan-translation (Calque)
A direct translation of the word into the
borrowing language.

Gratte ciel (Fr)/ wolkenkrabber


Skyscraper
(Dutch)/ wolkenkratzer (Gr)
Compounding
• The joining of two separate words to form a single
word.
Blending
• The combination of two separate forms to produce a single
new term.

• Taking the beginning of one word and joining it to the end


of another.

• smoke/fog SMOG
• Binary /digit BIT

• Teleprinter/exchange TELEX

• Information/entertainment INFOTAINMENT
Clipping
• It occurs when a word of more than one syllable is
reduced to one word.

 Examples
ad = advertisment
plane = aeroplane
flu = influenza
math = mathematics
exam = examination
Clipping
Hypocorisms

A word reduced to a single syllable, y or ie-is


added to the end
telly (television)
movie (moving pictures)
bookie (book maker)

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Clipping
Backformation

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Clipping
Backformation
• A specialized type of reduction
• A word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to
form a word of another type (usually a verb)

Donation Donate

Backformation Backform

Babysitter Babysit

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Conversion
• A change in the function of a word without any
reduction.

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Verbs as nouns:
a must/ a guess/ a spy
Phrasal verbs as nouns:
A print out/ a take over

Verbs as adjectives:
See-through material/ a stand-up comedian
Adjectives as verbs:
to dirty/ to empty

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Prepositions as verbs:

1-Compound Noun to Verb


Microwave (v.) - Shall I microwave something for dinner?
2-Up/down to Verb :
-They’re going to up the price of oil.
- We downed the prices.
3-Noun to Verb:
(It has a negative meaning and is not usually associated with the
infinitive).

- Doctor (v.) - The picture is doctored. / The evidence was doctored.

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Coinage

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


Coinage 1
• The invention of totally new terms for
Commercial products that become
general terms.

• Older examples: aspirin, nylon, Vaseline

• Newer examples: Kleenex, Xerox, Google


Coinage 2
Eponyms
• New words based on the names of persons or places
Acronyms
• New words formed from the initial letters of a set of
other words.
Derivation
• By adding affixes
Derivation
• The most common word-formation
process.
• Linking affixes to words
• Affixes are prefixes & suffixes &
infixes.

• Prefixes: beginning of words & change the meaning


(un+happy=unhappy).

• Suffixes: end of words & change the word class


(happy+ly=happily).

Dr. Marwa Abdel Mohsen


• Words with infixes:

Mouse / mice - Foot / feet - mother-in-law /


mothers-in-law

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