WORD FORMATION AND CHANGE WORD CHANGE THE STUDY OF WORDS

WORD FORMATION Word formation processes are variably productive but constantly in operation to expand the lexicon as new meanings emerge, social and technological change takes place, and individuals create new forms.

ETYMOLOGY -THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF A WORD  Etymology – late 14c., (Greek – ‘etimon, ‘-original form’ + ‘logia’ –study, Latin – etymologia, old French - etimologie), ‘analysis of a word to find its true origin’. As a modern branch of linguistic science treating the origin and evolution of words, from on-line Etymology dictionary e=0&search=etymology e=0&search=etymology

COINAGE AND EPONYM Coinage - the invention of totally new words: very typically invented trade names: nylon, aspirin, google, xerox, etc; Eponym – a proper noun that becomes commonized, as Charles Boycott is the eponym of the verb boycott. Eponyms are new words based on the names of a person or a place: sandwich ( Lord Sandwich), jeans (Italian town Genoa); Some eponyms are technical terms (by the name of a discoverer or an inventor – farehheit, volt, watt);

BORROWING The English nation has very agressively explored the world and traded around the world. This contact with foreign cultures has resulted in the importation or borrowing of thousands of words from those languages into English. Borrowing- the adoption of words or expressions from other languages: Croissant (French); Lilac (Persian); Piano (Italian); Sofa (Arabic); Tattoo (Tahitian); Tycoon (Japanese); Yougourt (Turkish); Zebra (Bantu), troika, tsar, sputnik (Russian) Other languages borrow from English: weekend, whisky, football Special type of borrowing- loan translation or calque; direct translation: gratte-ciel – skyscraper – небоскреб

COMPOUNDING AND BLENDING Compounding (composition) – the process of forming new words (compound words) by combining existing words (called the components). Compound word – a word composed of two or more words, the combination of which constitutes a single word with a meaning often distinct from the meanings of the individual components; Blend – a word formed as a result of linguistic contamination. Blends – type of formation, where normally initial and terminal segments of two words are joined to create a new word: brunch (breakfast+lunch), etc. They are popular but often short-lived.

CLIPPING AND BACKFORMATION Clipping – involves deletion of initial morphemes or final word-segments: lab(oratory), (aero)plane Backformation: the analogical creation of one word from another that appears to be derived or inflected from the first by dropping the apparent affix or by modulation, e.g. ‘televise’ from television, ‘edit’ from editor. Backformation is different from clipping – it can change the part of speech or meaning of the word.

CONVERSION, ACRONYM AND DERIVATION Conversion – a word changes word class without any affixation: a service –to service Acronyms –words formed from initial letters of a fixed phrase or title: NATO, a.k.a. (also known as), ATM (automatic Teller Machine) Derivation – the process of adding bound morphs to create new words of the same or different word classes: location, locative, dislocate;

PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND INFIXES Affix – is a bound morpheme that is joined before, after or within a root or stem. Prefix - is an affix that is joined before a root or stem: (un)biased, (re)write, re(set), (en)force Suffix – is an affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem: happiness, mainly Infix - is an affix that is inserted within a root or stem: bumili (buy from Tagalog Philippines)

MULTIPLE PROCESSES Numerous word formation processes can be traced in a creation of a particular word: Deli (AE) – delicatessen borrowed from German) and clipping of the borrowed word.

STUDY QUESTIONS AND TASKS G. Yule The Study of Language Study Questions P.61-62