1. No category

English Word Formation
Deny A. Kwary http://www.kwary.net
Airlanga University
Types of Word Formation
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Compounding
Prefixation
Suffixation
Conversion
Clipping
Blends
Backformation
Acronyms
Onomatopoeia
Eponyms
Toponyms
1. Compounding
 Definition: Two or more words joined together to
form a new word.
 Examples:
 Home + work  homework
 Pick + pocket  pickpocket
 The meaning of a compound is not always the
sum of the meanings of its parts.
 Types of compounds:
 Compound nouns
 Compound verbs
 Compound adjectives
Compound Nouns
1. Boyfriend, hatchback
1. Noun + Noun
2. Cut-throat, breakfast
2. Verb + Noun
3. Sunshine, birth control
3. Noun + Verb
4. Software, fast food
4. Adjective + Noun
5. In-crowd, overkill
5. Particle + Noun
6. Drop-out, put-on
6. Verb + Particle
Compound Verbs
1. Carbon-copy, sky-dive
1. Noun + Verb
2. Fine-tune
2. Adjective + Verb
3. Overbook
3. Particle + Verb
4. Bad-mouth
4. Adjective + Noun
Compound Adjectives
1. Capital-intensive
1. Noun + Adjective
2. Deaf-mute
2. Adjective + Adjective
3. Coffee-table
3. Noun + Noun
4. Roll-neck
4. Verb + Noun
5. White-collar
5. Adjective + Noun
6. Before-tax
6. Particle + Noun
7. Go-go
7. Verb-verb
2. Prefixation
 Class-changing prefixes:
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

abeen-



asleep
bewitch
enslave
 V to Adj
 N to V
 N to V
 Class-maintaining prefixes:



inforeEtc.


indefinite
foreman
 Adj to Adj
 N to N
3. Suffixation
 Suffixes forming Nouns
N from N: -dom  kingdom
 N from V: -ee  employee
 N from Adj: -ce  dependence
 Suffixes forming Verbs
 V from N: -ify  beautify
 V from Adj: -en  shorten
 Suffixes forming adjectives
 Adj from N: -al  educational
 Adj from V: -able  understandable
 Adj from Adj: -ish  greenish
 Suffixes forming Adverbs: -ly, -ward, and –wise.

4. Conversion
 Definition: Assigning an already existing word
to a new syntactic category.
 Types of Conversion
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


Verb to Noun: to hit  a hit
Adj to N: a final game  a final
N to V: a sign  to sign
Adj to V: an empty box  to empty
5. Clipping
 Definition: Shortening a polysyllabic word by
deleting one or more syllables
 Examples:
 Gasoline  Gas
 Hamburger  Burger
 delicatessen 
deli
 microphone  mike
6. Blends
 Definition: Similar to compounds, but
parts of the words are deleted.
 Examples:
 Motor + hotel  Motel
 Breakfast + lunch  Brunch
 Wireless + Fidelity  Wi-fi
 Sheep + goat  Shoat
7. Back-formations
 Definition: Creative reduction due to incorrect
morphological analysis.
 Examples:
 editor (1649)
 edit (1791)
 television (1907)
 televise (1927)
 Paramedical (1921)
 paramedic (1967)
8. Acronyms
 Definition: Words derived from the initial letters of
several words and use them as a new word
 Examples:
 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats
 SWOT
 Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
 SCUBA
9. Onomatopoeia
 Definition: Words created to sound like the thing
that they name.
English
Japanese
Tagalog
Indonesian
Cock-a-doo
Kokekokko
Kuk-kakauk
Kukuruyuk
Meow
Nya
Niyaw
Meong
10. Eponyms
 Definition: a person after whom a
discovery, invention, place, etc., is
named.
 Examples:
 Celcius (Anders Celcius)
 Cook Islands (James Cook)
11. Toponyms
 Definition: a place name, especially one
derived from a topographical feature.
 Examples:


Montana (‘mountains’ in Spanish)
Mississippi (‘big river’ in Chippewa)
Deny A. Kwary
http://www.kwary.net
Airlanga University