Lexicology II.
Word formation
2023
Wordformation
Word-formation is a process of creating new words by
means of existing elements and according to the
patterns and rules of a given language.
1) Derivation
2) Compounding
3) Conversion
4) Quantitative changes
Derivation
Derivation is a kind of word-formation when a new word
is formed by adding a derivational morpheme (usually
suffix or prefix) to the root.
1) Suffixation is a kind of word-formation when a new
word is formed by adding a suffix to the root.
2) Prefixation is a kind of word-formation when a new
word is formed by adding a prefix to the root.
1 Noun-forming suffixes
-age (passage, marriage, mileage…); -ance/-ence
(assistance, predominance, correspondence…); -dom
(freedom, kingdom…)
-ee (employee, referee…); -eer/er (engineer, profiteer,
manager…); -ess (manageress, heiress…)
-ist (economist…)
-hood (adulthood, singlehood…)
-ing (building, meaning…)
-ion/-sion/-tion/-ition/-ation (production, conclusion,
realisation…)
-ism (consumerism, perfectionism…)
-ment (agreement, investment…)
-ness (effectiveness…)
-ship (ownership…)
-ty/-ity (productivity, prosperity…)
-ure/-ture (procedure, expenditure…)
2 Adjective-forming suffixes
-able/-ible (manageable, permissible)
-al/-tal/-ial/-tial (economical, statistical)
-ant/-ent (redundant, dependent)
-ary (monetary, inflationary)
-ate/-ete (accurate, complete)
-ful (dutiful, powerful)
-ish (snobbish, reddish)
-ive (effective, extensive)
-less (effortless, powerless)
-like (businesslike, lifelike)
-ly (costly, orderly)
-ous/-ious (ambiguous, nutritious)
-some (troublesome, worrisome)
-y (sexy, worthy)
3 Verb-forming suffixes
-en (brighten, moisten)
-ify/-fy (intensify, qualify)
-ize/*-ise (rationalize, advertise, stabilize)
______________________________
*‘ize’ is often used in American English (maximize) as
an alternative spelling of ‘ise’ in British English
(maximise).
4 Adverb forming suffixes
-ly (frequently, perfectly)
*-ward/-wards (windward, backward, homewards)
-wise (vote-wise, percentage-wise) _
________________________________
*Words formed with ‘ward’ can usually be used as
either adverbs or adjectives words formed with
‘wards’ are mainly used as adverbs (e.g. westward,
westwards).
Prefixation
Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the root;
therefore the simple word and its prefixed derivative
usually belong to the same part of speech. The group of
class-changing prefixes is rather small, e.g.:
be- (belittle, befriend), de- (defrost, descale).
Negative prefixes
Negative prefixes
give negative, reverse or opposite meaning
a- (apolitical, asexual)
de- (destabilise, declassify)
dis- (disenfranchise, disinvest)
il- (before l: illegal)/ im-(before p,b,m: imperceptible)/
in-(inadequate)/ ir-(before r: irresponsible)
non- (non-economic, non-profit)
un- (unacceptable, undemocratic)
Non-negative prefixes I
1) a. Degree, measures or size:
hyper- (hypercreative, hyperdevoted);
over- (overestimate, overcompensate); semi-
(semiskilled, semi-annual); super- (super-dominant,
supercharged); ultra- (ultra-conservative, ultra-secret)
2) Repetition or possibility:
em-(before p,b,m)/en- (embark, enclose)
3) Time, place, order relation:
ex- (ex-employer, ex-tenant); inter- (inter-office,
inter-government); post- (post-budget, post-election);
pre- (pre-delivery, pre-budget)
Non-negative prefixes II
4) Number and numeral relation: bi- (bilateral,
bilingual); multi- (multi-dimensional, multi-
media); uni- (unilateral, unisex)
5) Attitude, counteraction: anti- (anti-EEC,
antiestablishment); auto- (autodial,
autonomy); counter- (countercharge,
counteroffer); pro- (pro-business, pro-liberal)
6) Pejoration: mis- (miscalculation, mismanage);
pseudo- (pseudo-creativity, pseudo-
democratic)
Latin prefixes
magn- large, big, great
mal- bad, badly, wrong; ill; evil; abnormal, defective
medi- middle
non- nothing, not
omni- all, every
pro- before; for, in favor of; in front of; in place of
re- back, backward, again
semi- half, partly, twice
sub- under, below
ult- beyond, excessive, to an extreme degree
uni- one, single
ver- true, truth, real, truthfulness
via- way, road, path
Assignment 1
English Suffix Slovak
mileage
costly
manageable
salesmanship
expenditure
effortless
Assignment 2
Word Slovak Noun
capable
efficient
proud
ready
wise
Assignment 3
Noun Slovak Verb Adjective
argument
emptiness
intensity
satisfaction
strength
Compounds
Endocentric compounds – the two constituent elements
are clearly the determinant and determinatum (ashtray,
mousetrap, stepladder)
Exocentric compounds – the determinatum is not
expressed (hangover, killjoy, ladybird, forget-me-not)
Rhyme-motivated (harum-scarum)
Pseudo-compounds (mayday, hamburger)
Semiaffixes (chairman, yes-man, kissproof)
Assignment 4
English Slovak
snail mail
shareholder
user-friendly
blackmail (verb!)
junk food
Conversion - zero derivation
The process of converting words from one part of speech
to another without adding any derivative element is
called conversion or zero derivation.
"In English every word can be verbed..."
Conversion - classification
Verbs
(to nurse, to hand, to e-mail, to finger, to hammer, to
empty, to up, to blind)
Nouns
(a go, a hunt, a lift, a find, pros and cons, whys, ups and
downs, a black, breakdown, make-up, comeback, take-
off)
Occasional formations (nonce-words)
Occasional words are usually emotionally coloured words
coined for a unique occasion.
E.g. Don’t darling me!, Don’t yes-mum me!
Marginal Cases of Conversion
Cases of formations by shift of stress are neither
regular, nor productive.
E.g. verb > noun (abstract, import, refill, transfer)
verb > adjective ( frequent, moderate, perfect)
Assignment 5
Word Meaning
to chair
to elbow
do's and dont's
a must (conversion!)
the rich
Quantitative Changes
Clipping
Blending
Graphical Abbreviations
Back-formation
Clipping
Clipping (shortening)
The shortening of words consists of the reduction of a
word to one of its parts, as a result of which the new
form is used as an independent lexical unit.
This type of word-formation is in English highly productive.
a. Final clipping – the beginning of the prototype is
retained. E.g. ad, advert < advertisement,
memo < memorandum, lab < laboratory,
gym < gymnasium, vac < vacuum cleaner.
b. Initial clipping – the final part is retained.
E.g. chute < parachute, phone < telephone,
copter < helicopter, plane < aeroplane.
c. The middle is retained. E.g. Liz < Elizabeth ,
flu < influenza, tec < detective.
d. The middle is left. E.g. fancy < fantasy,
bionics < binoculars, maths < mathematics,
ag’st < against.
Blending
Blending is a word-formation process of forming a new
lexeme from parts of two or more other words.
E.g. smog < smoke + fog, brunch < breakfast + lunch,
tranceiver < transmitter + receiver, bit < binary digit,
chunnel < channel + tunnel…
Graphical abbreviations
New lexical units formed from the initial letters of the
words and pronounced as one word – acronyms. E.g.
UNESCO, AIDS, NATO, laser, radar.
New lexical units formed from the initial letters of the
words with alphabetic reading. E.g. BC, SOS, TV, VIP,
VAT.
Initial abbreviation in which the first element is a letter
and the second a complete word. E.g. A-bomb, E-mail,
U-pronunciation (U < upper class).
Latin abbreviations. E.g. AD, BC, i.e., e.g., pa.
Shortenings formed by a part of a word and the
remaining part expressed by a capital letter or a figure.
E.g. 2-nite, 4 you, par-T.
Assignment 6
Latin abbreviation Full expression Translation
AD
etc.
e.g.
i.e.
A.M.
(part of a day)
