Israel Castelo Word Formation 4th B

2-01-2019

1. Compounding:

Existing words are put together to form a single new word.

-A -N -V -P
A- Light-green Poorhouse Blackmail Close-up
N- Knee-deep Rainbow Brainwash Runner-up
V- Failsafe Pickpocket Stir-fry Push-up
P- Down-low Outlaw Upgrade Into

 Periods of time: I work eight hours every day --> I work an eight-hour day
 Adverbs + past participle: This is a brightly-lit room; We live in a densely-
populated city.
 Noun + past participle: I love eating sun-dried raisins.
 Noun + present participle: That was a record-breaking jump.
 Adjective + past participle: That is an old-fashioned dress
 Adjective + present participle: She is a good-looking girl.

2. Affixation: Combination between an affix and a word to create a new lexeme

Rudeness; Incompetent; Misunderstood; Heartlessness.

3. Conversion: Changing the function of a word without changing its form.

NOUNS that turned into VERBS:

The access is prohibited I accessed to her personal computer
She finally got a divorce. I heard they are divorcing.
That dress was amazing. He likes the way she dresses.
I wrote you an e-mail. He e-mailed me several times.

4. Clipping: Shortening a word by the deletion of phonological material (not necessarily

morphemes):

Professor -> Prof

Influenza -> Flue
Application -> App

5. Backformation: The process of shortening a long word by cutting off an affix to form a new
word. The new word has a different part of speech from the original word.

televise ← television
donate ← donation
babysit ← babysitter
6. Acronymy: A word made up from the first letters of the words that make up the name of
something.

NASA; NATO; Interpol

7. Blending: Making one word out of two others: AB+CD= AD based not on the morphological
structure but in the sound structure.

Mocktail; mansplaining; Brunch; Bionic

8. Combinations: Words formed by joining two or more existing words.

 bag + pipe = bagpipe

 smoke + fog = smog

 spoon + fork = spork

 motor + hotel = motel

9. Coinage: Invention of a new term

Aspirin; Facebook; Watsapp

10. Borrowing: croissant; macaroon; resume; mayonnaise; coup d'etat

11. Reduplication:The formation of a new word by doubling a word, either with

change of initial consonants (teenie-weenie, walkie-talkie), with change of vowel
(chit-chat, zig-zag) or without change (night-night, so-so and win-win).