Ebook Morphology

Word Formation

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY

โดย ชะนี เก้ง กวาง

What is word?

A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level
and above. It is sometimes identifiable according to such criteria
as being the minimal possible unit in a reply, having features such
as a regular stress pattern, and phonological changes
conditioned by or blocked at word boundaries, being the largest
unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within its
boundaries, or being the smallest constituent that can be moved
within a sentence without making the sentence ungrammatical.

A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical
constituents, above the morpheme level and below the phrase
level.

Type of words

Simple Words

-Don’t have internal structure (only consist of one
morpheme) eg work, build, run. They can’t be split into
smaller parts which carry meaning or function.

Compound Words

-When two words are used together to yield a new
meaning, a compound is formed. Compound words can
be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as
two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined
to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated
compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-
term). Sometimes, more than two words can form a
compound (e.g., mother-in-law). The most common
spelling quandary writers face is whether to write
compounds as separate words, one word, or hyphenated
words.

Complex Words

-Have internal structure (consist of two or more
morphemes) eg worker: affix -er added to the root work to form
a noun.

What is word formation ?

Word formation is the creation of a
new word. Word formation is sometimes
contrasted with semantic change, which
is a change in a single word's meaning.
The boundary between word formation
and semantic change can be difficult to
define as a new use of an old word can
be seen as a new word derived from an
old one and identical to it in form.

Type of word formations?

Compounding

- A compound is a lexeme that consists of more than
one stem. Compounding is the process of word
formation that creates compound lexemes and is based
on the combination of lexical elements (words or
stems). That is, in familiar terms, compounding occurs
when two or more words or signs are joined to make a
longer word or sign, often however written in separate
parts in English but not most other languages, e.g. press
conference.

Example : cupcake, dog house, fireplace, fireplug

Derivational

- Derivational morphology often involves the addition of a
derivational suffix or other affix. Such an affix usually applies
to words of one lexical category (part of speech) and
changes them into words of another such category.

EXAMPLE : slow - slowness
healthy - unhealthy
personal - personally

Blending

- Blending is one of the most beloved of word formation processes in
English. It is especially creative in that speakers take two words and
merge them based not on morpheme structure but on sound
structure. The resulting words are called blends.

EXAMPLE : mocktail = mock + cocktail
brunch = breakfast + lunch
motel = motel + hotel

Clipping

- Clipping is a type of abbreviation of a word in which one part is
'clipped' off the rest, and the remaining word now means essentially
the same thing as what the whole word means or meant.

EXAMPLE : burger - hamburger
lab - laboratory
math - mathematics

Acronymy

- Acronyms are abbreviations that also use initials, but those initials
are pronounced as a word rather than saying the individual initials.

EXAMPLE : RADAR - RAdio Detection And Ranging
SONAR - SOund Navigation And
Ranging

Initialism

- Initialisms are when you abbreviate a word to its initials.
Then, you say those initials as individual letters

EXAMPLE : FBI - The Federal Bureau of
Investigation

IBM - International Business
Machines Corporation

Invention

- Invention is the process of word formation where the
new words are coined or invented from existing material
to represent a new invention or development. Some other
words are used as the generic name for different brands
of products.

EXAMPLE:Kleenex,Aspirin, Nylon

Folk Etymology

- A popular idea of a word's origin that is not in accordance
with its real origin. Many folk etymologies are cases of
reanalysis in which the word is not only reanalysis but it
changes under the influence of the new understanding of its
morphemes. The result is that speakers think it has a different
origin than it does.

EXAMPLE : mushroom = moucheron (foreign words)
sand-blind = blinded by the sand
(one part becomes obsolete)

Antonomasia

- Antonomasia is the formation of a common noun, a verb, or an
adjective from the name of a person or place.

EXAMPLE : Madonna - A beautiful, virtuous woman
Einstein - A smart, scientific person

Reduplication

- Reduplication is the process of forming a new words either
by doubling an entire word or part of a word.

EXAMPLE : bling bling

Back-formation

- Back-formation is the formation of new words by the removal
of an affix. It may be defined as the formation of a word from
one that looks like its derivative.

EXAMPLE : sculpt - sculptor
burgle - burglar

Echoism

- Echoism is the formation of words by the echoing or imitation of
natural sounds, as those caused by the motion of objects, or the
characteristic cries of animals.

EXAMPLE : buzz, whizz, cuckoo

Proper Name

- A proper name is a noun or noun phrase that designates a
particular person, place or object, such as George
Washington, Valley Forge, and the Washington Monument.
Proper names are uppercase in English.The process that the
product’s name and the founder’s name are same.

EXAMPLE : Christian Louboutin, Tom Ford

Exercise 1

Match the word with the correct word formation.

1. Unicom a.) Acronyms

2. Fax b.) Invention

3. Donation – Donate c.) Blending

4. NSA d.) Compounding

5. NASA e.) Reduplication

6. Tick-Tick. f.) Proper Name

7. Happiness. g.) Clipping

8. Doghouse. h.) Antonomasia

9. Burberry. i.) Echoism

10. Casanova - a philanderer j.) Back-formation

11. Bridegroom k.) Initialism

12. Kleenex l.) Derivation

13. Roar, Clang, hiss m.) Folk – Etymology

Exercise2
Identify types of the given words.

No. Words. types of word formation

1. Disco
2. Talkathon
3. Waterbed
4. FAQ
5. LASER

Exercise3
Give the original words from the following clipped words.

No. Clipped Words. Original Words

1. Prof
2. Gym
3. Memo
4. Photo
5. Café

Answer

Exercise 1

1. c.) 2. g.) 3. j) 4. k 5. a.) 6. e.) 7. l.)
10. h.)
8. d.) 9. f.) 11. m.) 12. b.) 13 i.)

Exercise2

1.Cliping 2. Blending 3. Compounding

4. Initialism 5. Acronymy

Exercise 2

1. Professor 2. Gymnasium 3.Memorandum

4. Photograph 5. Cafeteria