WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
Though every language has words, it is not easy to define what a word is. Several different
sets of criteria may be considered while defining what a word is. But these criteria yield
contradictory results. Most words have the characteristics of
(a) being able to occur in isolation,
(b) being able to take affixes,
(c) being units of meaning and
(d) being able to be moved freely in clauses.
Linguists commonly recognize three different types of words. Words that are found recorded
in dictionaries are known as lexemes; some lexemes may be homonymous or some may be
polysemous. Some words may be illustrative of different grammatical categories. Such words
are known as grammatical words. Some other words are illustrative of different inflectional
categories, as for instance take, takes, etc. Such words are also known word-forms of the same
lexeme. In every language, there are a number of word formation processes. Some of the
important word formation processes are as follows:
Inflection
Derivation
Compounding
Reduplication
Conversion
Back-formation
Blending
Borrowing
Shortening
1. Inflection: Inflection produces different grammatical forms of the same lexeme. Hence
inflection does not produce new words but inflection is extremely productive and consistent.
Normally inflection doesn’t change the part of speech affiliation of the words categories like
numbers, case, tense, mood, etc. are examples of inflection. The number of inflectional affixes.
May be limited, but they apply almost without exception.
e.g.: cat – cats
man – men
fast – faster – fastest
walk – walks – walking – walked
P. Veerraghava, Assistant Professor, BVRITN
2. Derivation: As opposed to inflection, derivation is often inconsistent and sometimes
changes the parts of speech. Derivation is sometimes irregular and opaque so stop the number
of derivational affixes is usually large but they may not apply to all words.
e.g.: slave – slavish – enslave – slavery
disloyal – loyal – loyalty
faith –faithful – faithfully – unfaithful
Some suffixes give different meanings in different words
e.g.: -dom: Freedom, Wisdom, Kingdom
3. Compounding: Dysfunctional sometimes two words are two bases maybe combine to
produce a unit known as a compound Word. Compounding is a very productive process in
many languages. Languages follow different processes of compounding some of which may
be joined together by a -, or may be written as two different words. Sometimes two words
together indicate two entities, or one of them may be modify the other ones, or the meaning of
the compound word may be entirely different from the meanings of the both constituents.
e.g.: Over (adverb) + load (noun) Overload
White (adjective) + wash (verb) Whitewash
Black (adjective) + board (noun) Blackboard
Cup (noun) + board (noun) Cupboard
Swimming (present participle) + pool (noun) Swimming pool
Three (adjective) + legged (past participle) Three-legged
Break (verb) + Down (preposition) Breakdown
Up (preposition) + town (noun) Uptown
Copy (verb) + writer (noun) Copywriter
Sun (noun) + rise (verb) Sunrise
4. Reduplication: This is the process of repeating either the entire word or part of it to create
a new word. The two main types of discourse are partial and total.
• Total reduplication is the repetition of an entire word.
e.g. Ack ack, aye-aye, back-to-back, blah-blah, boo-boo, bye-bye, fifty-fifty, ha
ha, honk-honk, mama, night-night, no-no, papa, so-so, ta-ta, yo-yo, etc.
• Partial reduplication is the repetition of a single part of a word.
e.g.: flip-flop, dribs and drabs, Boogie-woogie, easy-peasy, razzle-dazzle,
super-duper, tick-tock, etc.
P. Veerraghava, Assistant Professor, BVRITN
5. Conversion: It is a process of using a word as another part of speech in a new grammatical
function.
e.g.: run(v)-run(n)
fall(v)-fall(n)
6. Back-formation: Sometimes due to wrong analysis, a morphologically simple word may
be analyzed as if it were a complex world, and a new, simple form is created. In English, the
suffix -er is agentive suffix, and hence speakers tend to associate the -er sequence with the
agentive suffix, even though it is not.
e.g.: editor (to) edit
beggar (to) beg
swindler (to) swindle
7. Blending: This is the process of combining parts of two different words to create a new word
to indicate a new object or a new concept.
e.g.: breakfast + lunch brunch
smoke + fog smog
fly + hurry flurry
8. Borrowing: Though this is not a process of creating new native words, it is still used very
frequently in many languages to create new words for new concepts.
e.g.: ketchup, gweilo (Chinese)
balcony, opera, violin, spaghetti, macaroni (Italian)
kindergarten, pretzel, hamburger, iceberg (German)
karaoke, tsunami, sushi, origami, tycoon, karate (Japanese)
croissant, macaroon, resume, mayonnaise (French)
yoga, shampoo (Indian)
yogurt, kebab (Turkish)
9. Shortening:
a) Clipping: Clipping is a process of creating new word by shortening of a longer
word, often reducing it to one syllable.
e.g.: advertisement ad
cell phone cell
P. Veerraghava, Assistant Professor, BVRITN
doctor doc
examination exam
facsimile fax
gasoline gas
gymnasium gym
memorandum memo
demonstration demo
photograph photo
stenographer steno
b) Abbreviation: This is a process in which the initial letters/sounds of some words are
put together to form a new word with its own pronunciation.
e.g.: WTO World Health Organization
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
UFO Unidentified Flying Object
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CCTV Closed Circuit TeleVision
FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt
MBA Master of Business Administration
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
c) Acronyms: This is a process in which the initial letters/ sounds of some words are
put together to form a new word with its own pronunciation, and hence its own identity.
e.g.: WHO World Health Organization
UNISEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
P. Veerraghava, Assistant Professor, BVRITN
