COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN ENGLISH

First Semester, A.Y. 2023-2024
EL 102: STRUCTURES OF ENGLISH

TERM PRELIM
MODULE NO. 1
MODULE TITLE WORDS: THE DEFINITION AND CRITERIA

Introduction

In traditional grammar, word is the basic unit of language. Words can be classified
according to their action and meaning, but it is challenging to define. The English
language has gone through many changes through the years. New words are being
created almost every day to accommodate the needs of the people speaking the
language. In this lesson, you will learn the definition, criteria of words and how are they
formed.

I. OBJECTIVES

At the end of the end of this module, students should be able to:
a. discuss how words are formed; its mechanism and process;
b. reflect about the significance and impact of words and its formation in everyday
communication; and
c. analyze on how word meaning changes when used in varied contexts.

II. DATE AND TIME ALLOTMENT

August 29, 2023 (1 hour)

III. LECTURES

A WORD refers to a speech sound, or a mixture of two or more speech sounds in both
written and verbal form of language. A word works as a symbol to represent/refer to
something/someone in language to communicate a specific meaning.

Example: ‘love’, ‘cricket’, ‘sky’ etc.

"[A word is the] smallest unit of grammar that can stand alone as a complete utterance,
separated by spaces in written language and potentially by pauses in speech."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge
University Press, 2003)
There are several criteria for a speech sound, or a combination of some speech
sounds to be called a word.
 • There must be a potential pause in speech and a space in written form between
two words. For instance, suppose ‘ball’ and ‘bat’ are two different words. So, if
we use them in a sentence, we must have a potential pause after pronouncing
each of them. It cannot be like “Idonotplaywithbatball.” If we take pause, these
sounds can be regarded as seven distinct words which are ‘I,' ‘do,' ‘not,' ‘play,'
‘with,' ‘bat,' and ‘ball.'
• Every word must contain at least one root. If you break this root, it cannot be a
word anymore. For example, the word ‘unfaithful’ has a root ‘faith.' If we break
‘faith’ into ‘fa’ and ‘ith,' these sounds will not be regarded as words.
• Every word must have a meaning. For example, the sound ‘lakkanah’ has no
meaning in the English language. So, it cannot be an English word.

HOW WORDS ARE FORMED

In linguistics, word formation refers to the ways in which new words are made on the
basis of other words or morphemes.

Some of the word-formation processes are described below:

Coinage
This refers to the invention of totally new terms and using it for any version of that
product.
e.g., Kleenex, Colgate, Xerox, nylon, aspirin, Hoover.

Borrowing
This refers to the borrowing of words from other languages.
e.g., Alcohol (Arabic), Croissant (French), Robot (Czech), Bass (Dutch), Piano
(Italian), Yogurt (Turkish)

Compounding
When two separate words are joined to produce a single form, this process is
called ‘compounding ‘. It is very common in English, but less common in French,
Spanish.
e.g., Bookcase, fingerprint, sunburn, wallpaper
Blending
This process is accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining
it to the end of the other word.
e.g., Gasoline + Alcohol => Gasohol
Smoke + Fog => Smog
Binary + Digit => Bit
Breakfast + Lunch => Brunch

Clipping
When a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form, often in casual
speech, this process is called clipping.
e.g., Gasoline => Gas
Advertisement => Ad
Situation comedy => Sitcom
Chemistry => Chem

Backformation
This process occurs when a word of one type of (usually a noun) is reduced to
form another word of a different type (usually a verb).
e.g., Television => Televise
Donation => Donate
Option => Opt

A longer word is reduced to a single syllable, then “–y “or “ -ie “ is added to the
end. This is known as ‘HYPOCORISM’.
e.g., Moving pictures => Movie
Television => Telly

Conversion
This refers to when the function of a word is changed, for example, when a noun
comes to be used as verb (without any reduction).
This process can also be called as ‘category change ‘and ‘functional change ‘.
Eg. Butter (n) => Have you buttered (v) the toast?
Paper (n) => He is papering (v) the bedroom walls.

Acronyms
Acronyms are formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.
Eg. Compact Disc: CD, Personal Identification Number: PIN
 Video Cassette Recorder: VCR, Automatic Teller Machine: ATM, Radio Detecting
and Ranging (RADAR)

Derivation
This process is accomplished by means of a large number of small bits of English.
These small bits are called ‘AFFIXES.’

Eg: –un / -less / -ish / mis- / pre- / – full / -ism / -ness …

Unhappy , boyish, misrepresent , joyful , careless, sadness, prejudge,terrorism

Prefixes and Suffixes:

Some affixes have to be added to the beginning of a word. These are called
PREFIXES. Some affixes have to be added to the end of the word. They are called
SUFFIXES.
Eg. Mislead mis => prefix
Disrespectful dis => prefix ful => suffix

Infixes:
Infix is an affix which is incorporated inside another word. They are not
normally found in English.

Examples are from Kamhmu .

Eg. See => To Drill => Srnee => A drill
Toh => To Chisel => Trnoh => A chisel

Eg: (English) Absogoddamlutely!

Hallebloadylujah!

------------------------------------------END OF MODULE # 1----------------------------------------

Prepared:

JAN KARLO THOMAS V. RANCHEZ, LPT

Instructor, College of Teacher Education

Checked:

RAYMOND N. CLARO, PhD

Dean, College of Teacher Education