WORD-BUILDING IN ENGLISH

Word-formation

process of creating new words from resources of a particular language according to certain semantic and structural patterns existing in the language

Word-formation

branch of Lexicology

studies the patterns on which the English language builds words

may be studied synchronically and diachronically

Main types of word-formation

word-formation

word-derivation word-composition

affixation

conversion

shortening andabbreviation

Minor types of word-formation

word-formation

sound- and stress interchange

back formation

sound imitation

lexicalization of grammatical forms

Derivational Pattern

is a meaningful combination of stems and affixes regularly reproduced indicates the grammatical part-of-speech meaning

e.g. verbal stem + -ee = noun (‘one who is V-ed’)

examine + -ee = examinee

addressee, employee, divorcee

Affixation

formation of words by adding derivational affixes to stems

one of the most productive ways of word-building

Types of Affixation

affixation

suffixation prefixationmixed

affixation

Affixation

Suffixation words are formed with the

help of suffixes changes a part-of-speech

meaning (e.g. work – worker)

transfers a word into a different semantic group (e.g. child – childhood)

is characteristic of noun and adjective formation

Prefixation words are formed with the

help of prefixes does not change a part-of-

speech meaning (e.g. usual – unusual)

about 25 prefixes form one part of speech from another (e.g. head – to behead)

is characteristic of verb formation

Mixed Affixation

formation by both prefixation and suffixation semantic structure becomes more limited the more affixes added the less polysemantic

the word becomes

e.g. speak – unspeakable

place – irreplaceable

Conversion

process of creating a new word in a different part of speech

with different distributional characteristic but without adding any affixes so that the basic form of the original and the

basic form of a derived word are homonymous

Conversion

A new word: has a meaning different from the original one has a new paradigm peculiar to its new

category as a part of speech the morphemic shape of the original word

remains unchanged

Conversion

face, noun

-s, pl.

-’s, poss. c., sg

-s’, poss. c., pl a front part of the

head from the forehead to the chin

to face, verb

-s, 3rd p. sg.

-ed, past ind., past part.

-ing, pres. part., gerund

to turn the face towards sb/smth

Reasons for the widespread development of conversion

absence of morphological elements which mark the part of speech of the word

e.g. back (noun) – If you use mirrors you can see the back of your head

to back – Their houses back onto the river.

back (adverb) – Put the book back on the shelf.

back (adjective) – a back garden, back teeth

Reasons for the widespread development of conversion

simplicity of paradigms of English parts of speech

a great number of one-syllable words that are more mobile and flexible

Conversion in Present-Day English

typical of one-syllable words not common to affixed words (e.g. a

commission – to commission) the predominant way of verb formation verbs are mainly formed from nouns and

rarely from other parts of speech highly productive

Conversion in Different Parts of Speech

noun verbe.g. an eye – to eye, a bag – to bag, a room – to room verb noune.g. to jump – a jump, to do – a do adjective verbe.g. pale – to pale adjective noune.g. private – a private, blind – the blind

Conversion in Different Parts of Speech

form word noune.g. He was familiar with ups and downs of life. I

shan’t go into whys and wherefores. affix noune.g. Freudism, existentialism and all other ‘isms’ of

modern life. interjection verbe.g. pooh – to pooh-pooh

Conversion and Other Types of Word-Formation

conversion and compositione.g. pin-point - to pin point, black-list – to blacklist

composition, conversion and shorteninge.g. to drive in – a drive-in theater – a drive-in

conversion and composition in phrases and sentences

e.g. Old man what-do-you-call-him’s book is on sale.

Traditional and Occasional Conversion

Traditional Conversion the use of a word is

recorded in the dictionary

e.g. to cook, to look, find, aim, etc.

Occasional Conversion the use of a word is not

registered by the dictionary occurs momentarily, through

the immediate need of the situation, brings out the meaning more vividly

e.g. If anybody oranges me again tonight, I’ll knock his face off!

Shortening

a way of word-formation when part of the original word or word group is taken away

Shortening

A new word: belongs to the same part of speech as a the

original word (e.g. demo – demonstration) has the same lexical meaning as the original

word capable of being used as a free form can take functional affixes (e.g. a bike -

bikes) mostly monosemantic

Shortening

A new word:

may serve as basis for further word-formation by derivation and composition

e.g. fancy (noun) fantasy (shortening)

fancy (noun) to fancy (conversion)

fancy (noun) fancier, fanciful (derivation)

fancy (noun) fancy-ball, fancy-dress (composition)

Shortening

A new word: differs from the original word stylistically or

emotionally, characteristic of colloquial speeche.g. Becky Rebecca (diminutive)

Japs the Japanese exam examination (college slang)

hanky handkerchief (nursery word)

o’er over (bookish, poetic style)

Shortening in Different Parts of Speech

nouns e.g. prof professor verbs e.g. to rev to revolve adjectives (very few) e.g. dilly

delightful (jargonism) interjection e.g. Shun! attention

Types of Shortening

final clipping (apocope) - a word is shortened at the end

e.g. ed editor, ref referee initial clipping (apheresis) – a word is

shortened at the beginning

e.g. phone telephone,

chute parachute

Types of Shortening

medial clipping (syncope) – some syllables or sounds are omitted from the middle of a word

e.g. maths mathematics

specs spectacles

fancy fantasy

Types of Shortening

a word is clipped both at the end and at the beginning

e.g. flu influenza

tec detective

fridge refridgerator

Abbreviation (graphical shortening)

shortening of word or word-groups in written speech

in speech the corresponding full forms are used

e.g. lb - pound e.g. – for example i.e. – that is Dr. – Doctor Oct. - October

Composition

is the way of word-building when a word is formed by joining two or more stems to form one word

one of the most productive ways of word-building in Modern English

Compound Words

consist of at least two stems which occur in the language as free forms

e.g. a brother-in-law, airbus, snow-white

Criteria for Distinguishing between a Compound and a Word-combination

Compound Word graphic criterion: solid

or hyphenated spelling e.g. sunbeam, war-ship

semantic criterion: conveys one concept e.g. a green-house

Word-Combination graphic criterion:

spelling with a break e.g. a tall boy

semantic criterion: conveys more than one concept

e.g. a green house

Criteria for Distinguishing between a Compound and a Word-combination

Compound Word phonetic criterion: a

single uniting stress

e.g. a ´greenhouse

Word-Combination phonetic criterion:

each word in a group has a stress

e.g. a ´green ´house

Criteria for Distinguishing between a Compound and a Word-combination

Compound Word morphological and

syntactic criteria:

- only one component changes grammatically e.g. a tallboy – tallboys, a passer-by – passers-by

Word-Combination morphological and

syntactic criteria:

- each constituent is independent and open to grammatical changes e.g. a tall boy – They were the tallest boys in their form.

Criteria for Distinguishing between a Compound and a Word-combination

Compound Word morphological and

syntactic criteria:

- no word can be inserted between the components

Word-Combination morphological and

syntactic criteria:

- other words may be inserted between the constituent parts

e.g. a tall handsome boy

Classifications of Compounds

according to the parts of speech according to the joining element according to the structure of compounds according to the degree of semantic

independence according to the order of components according to the motivation of the meaning of

compounds

Classification of compounds according to the part of speech

nouns and adjectives e.g. baby-sitter, power-hungry (энергоемкий)

adverbs and prepositions e.g. indoors, within, outside

verbs (formed by means of conversion or

backformation) e.g. to handcuff hand-cuffs,

to babysit baby-sitter

Classification according to the joining element

neutral compounds are formed by joining two stems together without any joining morpheme e.g. classroom, dancing-hall

syntactical compounds – components are joined by means of form-word stems e.g. here-and-now, free-for-all

Classification according to the joining element

morphological compounds – components are joined by a linking element:

- vowel “o”, “I” e.g. speedometer, handicraft

- consonant “s” e.g. sportsman

Classification according to the structure of compounds

compound words proper – formed by juxtaposition of two stems without any linking element e.g. top-notch (первоклассный), tip-top

compound-affixed words –

e.g. honeymooner

Classification according to the structure of compounds

compound words consisting of three or more stems - e.g. eggshell-thin, cornflower-blue

compound-shortened words – e.g. V-day, landsat

Classification according to the degree of semantic independence

Subordinative Compound

is a compound whose components are neither structurally nor semantically equal in importance, and one of them dominates the other

e.g. color-blind, evergreen

Coordinative Compound

is a compound whose components are structurally and semantically independent and constitutes two structural and semantic centers

e.g. actor-manager

Classification according to the order of components

Syntactic Compound is a compound that

conforms to grammatical patterns current in the language

e.g. northwest, for-free, maybe, killjoy, seashore

Asyntactic Compound is a compound that

does not conform to grammatical patterns current in the language

e.g. to babysit (to sit with a baby), rope-like (like a rope)

Classification according to the motivation of the meaning of compounds

Idiomatic Compound is a compound whose

meaning is not deducible from the meaning of its components

e.g. wallflower – Noun, a person, esp. a woman, who is not invited to dance at a party

fifty-fifty – Adv., being equally likely and unlikely

butter-fingers – noun, a clumsy person

Non-idiomatic Compound is a compound whose

meaning is deducible from the meaning of its components

e.g. mother-in-law, day-long

Ways of forming compound words

reduplication – e.g. too-too, hush-hush partial conversion from word-groups

e.g. can-do (исполнительный и энергичный)can do

backformation from compound nouns and word-groups e.g. to baby-sit baby-sitter

vowel interchange (ablaut compounds) e.g. chit-chat (сплетни), tip-top, riff-raff (сброд)

rhyme compounds – e.g. willy-nilly (волей-неволей), hoity-toity(надменный)

Peculiarities of English Compounds

all components of compound words are free forms, can be used independently with a distinct meaning of their own e.g. motherland, day-off, everybody

usually are two-stem compounds attributive compounds e.g. last-minute

changes, four-year course

Sound Interchange

way of forming new words with the help of change of sounds within a word

Types of Sound Interchange

vowel change – e.g. full – to fill, blood – to bleed

consonant interchange – e.g. to speak- speech, advice – to advise

the combination of vowel and consonant change – e.g. life – to live, strong - strength

Stress Interchange

e.g. ´import - to im´port, ´suspect – to sus´pect

Lexicalization of Grammatical Form

way of creating new words with the help of suffix “s”

e.g. glass – glasses, custom – customs, colour - colours

Backformation

way of creating new words by subtracting a real or supposed suffix from the original word

e.g. to beg beggar, to editeditor,

to burgle burgler

Sound Imitation (Onomatopoeia)

way of forming new words by imitating different kinds of sounds that may be produced by animals, birds, insects, human being and inanimate objects e.g. buzz, croak, moo, mew, purr, roar

e.g. clink, whip, splash, bubble

e.g. giggle, mutter, babble