UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, ENUGU CAMPUS

FACULTY OF LAW

A SEMINAR PRESENTATION DONE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR

THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE: USE OF ENGLISH ( GSP 101)

TOPIC:

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

BY:

GROUP FOUR

LECTURER:

DR. OLUCHI CHRIS OKEUGO

 MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESS

Morphological processes are different ways through which new words are formed. It is a

very unique feature in all human language. Every language is unique in its system of organizing

various components of units into meaningful patterns. It provides the linguistic tools for creating

and modifying words in a language, enabling speakers to express a wide range of meanings and

convey grammatical information. Let us look at Acronyms and Paronyms as a morphological

process.

ACRONYMS

An acronym is a specific type of abbreviation, from the first letters of each words in a

phrase. When you shorten a phrase by using the first letters of each words to pronounce it, you

are using an acronym. E.G; IBRD( International Bank For Reconstruction And Development),

RADAR ( Radio Detecting And Ranging), LASER ( Light Amplification by Stimulated

Emission of Radiation). Acronyms were first used in 1940.

Division of acronyms

a) Those pronounced by alphabet. They are called Alphabetisms or Initialism.

Examples; C.D- Computer Disc

VCR- Video Cassette Recorder

OMG- Oh My God!

NFL– National Football League.

b) Those pronounced as single words ( with Capital Letters).

Examples; NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NASA- National Aeroneutics and Space Agency

AIDS- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AFCON- Africa Cup of Nations.

c) Those pronounced by their lost capitals.

Examples; scuba- self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

Zip- zone improvement plan

Laser- light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

PARONYMS

These are words that have similar forms but have different pronunciation and

meaning. The idea contrasts with homonyms that have similar sounds when pronounced

but have different meanings. Example of Paronyms and homonyms;

Paronyms ; Alternately and Alternatively

Affect and Effect

Stationary and Stationery

Homonyms; Flour and Flower

Sea and See

Hour and Our

N.B; The edge- cutting differences is the sounds. More examples of Paronyms are:

Emigrate and Immigrate

Precede and Proceed

AFFIXATION

This is a morphological process of word formation. They are group of letters

(morphemes) added to the beginning or the end of a word to change its meaning or the

way it is used. There are two categories;

a) Prefixes b) Suffixes

There is a third group called Infixes but it is not usually regarded as a category.

Prefixes

These are group of letters or morphemes added before a word which does not

change the part of speech the word originally belongs to. Example, if it is a verb, it

remains a verb.

Example: un + fair = unfair.

 Dis + like = dislike

De + regulate = deregulate

In + adequate= inadequate

Il + legal= illegal

There are various kinds of prefixes. They are :

a) Negative Prefix- Those that are used to indicate the opposite or that something is

lacking.

Examples; un- cover

In- sane

Il- illogical

b) Privative or Reverstative prefix – Shows reversing of an action .

Examples: dis- connect, un- tie, de- frost.

c) Pejorative Prefix- Expresses notion, wrongly or badly .

Examples: mis- inform, mal fuction.

d) Prefixes of Degree or Size; Arch- angel, Super- natural, Super- star, mini- market,

,mini- skirt.
 e) Prefix of time and order- Fore- father, pre- natural, ex- president , re- examine,

post- graduate.

f) Prefix of Attitude – In support or against.

Examples; Anti- hero, co- operate, counter- coup, pro- democracy.

g) Number Prefix- Uni- lateral, uni-sex, bi- annual, mono- gamy, ambi- dexterous.

N.B – “ pre” and “ post” involve conversion from noun to adjective. E.G;

War ( noun) , pre- war( adjective)

Graduate ( noun) , post- graduate ( adjective)

Suffixes

These are group of morphemes added at the end of words to form new words E.G: -arian

Disciplinarian, vegetarian

- dom Christendom, freedom, boredom

-cide Insecticide, herbicide

-an Nigerian, Brazilian

-ism Communism, Narcissism, Skepticism

-ist Chemist, Plagiarist, Narcissist

 -ment Argument, Endorsement, Punishment

Suffixes changes the roots of words

Happy ( adjective) happiness( noun)

Teach ( verb) teacher( noun)

Saliva ( noun) salivate ( verb)

Child ( noun) childlike ( adjective)

There are two types of suffix ; Derivational and Inflectional suffix.

Derivational suffix –Morpheme that often alters the word class of the word it is added

to. Example ;

i ) Adjectives from nouns ; Nouns Adjective

health healthy

Season seasonal

ii ) Nouns from adjectives ; Adjective noun

Innocent innocence

False falsehood

Iii ) Nouns from verbs ; Verb Nouns

 Lecture Lecturer

Manage Management

Iv ) Adverb from adjectives ; Adjectives Adverb

Slow Slowly

Quiet Quietly

V ) Verbs from nouns: Nouns Verbs

Liquid Liquify

Beauty Beautify

Inflectional Suffix – This is a morpheme that performs a grammatical function to the

word it is attached to. It does not change the word class.

E.G; Dance and danced, danced represent past tense form that comes at the end.

Infixation

It is a type of affix applied at the middle ( root or stem) to alter its meaning or create a new

word.

E.G; runner- up ( second place)

Runner ( person who took the second place)

 Runners- up ( plural form ) – infix.

Father-in- law , Fathers- in- law ( plural and infix).

All this are the categories of Affixation. Let us look at other types of morphological

process which are: Blending, Back formation, Borrowing, Clipping, Coinage,

Compounding, Substitution, Conversing, re- duplication and truncation.

1 ) Back formation- Creating a new word by removing an affix from an existing word .

Such words are usually nouns and turns to verb.

Example: Editor – Edit

Mailer – Mail

Payer – Pay

2 ) Blending –Blending is a process of combining two separate forms to produce a single

new term usually a conscious and deliberate formation. Adding parts of two words to create

a new one.

Examples: Brunch ( breakfast + lunch)

Transistor ( transfer + resistor )

Psycho analysis ( psychology + analysis)

3) Borrowing- This is a linguistic feature or tool used in forming new lexical terms. Some

latin words borrowed from English are: genius, ignoramus, album, referendum. Examples

of French words borrowed by English: etiquette, plaintiff, miracle. Greek words borrowed

by English are: tyrant, dilemma, larynx, theatres, philander, sympathy, kinetics.

4) Clipping- English users prefer short words, because of that , we have this term which is

shortening a longer word or reduced to its short form . It may occur at the :

 Beginning ; Telephone- phone, Aeroplane – plane , Internet- net.

 Back ; Professor- prof, Pornography- porn, Gasoline- gas.

 Back and Front Clipping ; Refrigerator – fridge, Influenza – flu.

N.B: Clipping is between a single word, Blending between two words.

5) Coinage- System of inventing a new word usually used when creating trade names or

brand names .E.G : Kodak, Nylon, Vaseline, Hypo.

6) Compounding- This is when two or more words come together to serve as one.

Example: Bookshop ( book + shop )

Grandmother ( grand + mother)

Undergraduate ( under+ graduate)

Bookshop - Solid compound

President- elect - Hyphenated

Tax free - open compound

7) Substitution- Act or process of substituting a part of a word with another element to

create a new word E.G: Book, let , Care, less , god, like , Child, like , Business, man .

8) Conversion- Situation where by a stress mark changes the meaning of a word but not the

form. Examples:

Con’duct (verb) ‘Conduct ( noun)

Ex’port (verb) ‘Export ( noun)

 Re’fuse (verb) ‘Refuse ( noun)

9) Reduplication – Repeating a whole or part of a word to form a new meaning. Doubling

the morpheme may involve changing the vowel or initial consonant.

E.G: Pooh- pooh, tick – tick (Repetition)

Hip- hop, Knick- knack ( vowel change )

Helter- skelter, Hanky – panky (Initial consonant change )

10) Truncation – The action of cutting short of a longer word. It is same with clipping.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REGISTER

Register in relation to language has been described in numerous ways. Halindy,

MCintosh and Strevens declare that register is “a variety of language distinguished according to

use”. Ward Haugh sees register as a “complicating factor”. He said they are sets of language

items associated with discrete occupational groups. Nnamani avers that “language is peculiar to

the professions” but register is narrowly defined when it is seen just as a subject matter or field

of human endeavor. “Register” and “Style” are closely related and used interchangeably by

scholars. Fromkin etal says “register is a stylistic variant of a language appropriate to a social

setting”.

So, register is a broad linguistic term that is related to a number of concepts. That

must have: word and sentence structures, user and good usage, recurrent characteristics,

situation of usage. Different scholars has classified it into:

i) Field of discourse – Subject matter or topic or content of an area of human activity. E.G: Law,

Medicine, Banking e.t.c.

ii) Mode of discourse-This takes into account the medium used by the speaker or writer. It is

sub- divided into two:

b) Written but not spoken as if not written E.g: News broadcast

iii) Style or tenor of discourse – This has to do with the purpose or effect of language used at

that particular period. E.G: teach or solicit.

It also deals with the relationship and participants and the formality they adopt. E.G: Uncle-

Nephew relationship.

Features of tenor of discourse

- Purpose or intention thrives when using tenor of discourse.

E.G: She particularly worked hard for the examination – The purpose of writer is

achieved through specifying the manner of adverbs “particularly” and “hard”.

- Tenor of discourse is usually achieved through adjectives and adverbs.

SPECIALIZED REGISTER ANALYSIS

i) Science Register- Grammatically, sentences have many distinguishing features. It can be

shorter, long, simple or complex and deals with passive constructions such as “The chlorine was

poured” instead of “She poured the chlorine”.

Lexical Terms: Patient, Ophthalmologist, ORS, Weaning e.t.c.

ii) Law Register- It is used in a variety of legal situations in both spoken and written forms.

Legal English is a wide area of professional language usage and the probable audience are

usually experts in the area. Legal language includes: alibi, quasi, affidavit, plaintiff, verdict.

Lexical terms: Prisoner, The jury, Defendant, Not guilty, Indictment, Pleaded.

iii) Journalistic Register- The principal aim of journalistic register is to convey information

attractively in a quick, catchy and sensational manner. It requires use of photograph, use of

colors, different character sizes that are very legible.

Iv)Advertising Register-This is similar to journalistic register. The aim is to persuade and

provide information to a product or service in order to sell it.

Importance of ESP (English for Specific Purposes ) Register

1. It widens and influences learner’s general interests.

2. It enables language users streamline speeches to match their audience.

3. Recognizes the variability and flexibility of language

4. Exposes language users and learners to extensive reading and knowledge in a bid to

identify by analyzing linguistic features.

5. It enables learners to have appreciable knowledge of English.

6. It greatly impacts on the learners and boosts their confidence in social settings.

DIALECTS

This refers to a variant of language that is specific to a particular region, social group

or community. They differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and even idiomatic

expressions. They usually develop due to historic factors and cultural influences.

Understanding dialect is crucial for appreciating linguistic diversity and the cultural

identities they represent. They are essential because they help us to communicate and

identify with one another and also help us to understand what we mean when we speak

our Dialect. They help to enrich the culture and identity of a society or a community or

group.

The two most common dialect are: Regional dialect and Social dialect. They both

differ in the sense that the latter is based on social background while the former is based

on the geographical area.

Examples of dialects are: British English , US American English e.t.c.

DIATYPES

This is a formal variation within a language based on its use in specific context. Unlike

dialects which are tied to regions, Diatypes are related to social functions. It can be

categorized based on factors like formality, register and purpose.

Examples of Diatypes includes:

i) Formal language- Official setting

ii) Informal language- Used in casual writing

iii) Technical language- Specialized field e.g law

iv) Colloquial language- Slangs and conversational tone.

In summary, Dialects are regional or social variations of a language while Diatypes

refer to functional variations based on context and purpose. Both contribute to the rich

diversity of language and culture worldwide.