How new words are structured
How new words are structured Loanwords and metaphorical extension New words can be borrowed from existing word stock by semantic shifts, which create a new unit of meaning within the word reference. The shifts in meaning are often metaphoric.
How new words are structured Loanwords and metaphorical extension Word origins can reveal the significant underlying powers in a culture. Some linguists have raised concerns about new technology leading to a cultural imperialism which privileges English and especially American English over other languages.
How new words are structured Word formation or MORPHOLOGY There are a number of common processes for word formation and their classification system is commonly based on four factors: whether the word has an etymon (word element) based on earlier words whether the word omits any part of an etymon whether a word combines two etyma whether any of the etyma are from another language
How new words are structured Word formation or MORPHOLOGY The result is six groupings: composites shifts shortenings loans blends coinage
How new words are structured Schema for word formation types Composites Words made from combinations of words or parts of other words: . compounding . combining of words . affixation combining of words and parts of words Shifts Shifts of meaning: . amelioration . pejoration . widening . narrowing Shifts of word class or ‘functional shift’: . noun to verb . noun to adjective Shortenings Parts of the word left out for economy: . clippings . acronyms . initialisms . backformation Loans Words ‘borrowed’ from other languages May not follow the usual patterns of sound and spelling in the borrower language Blends Combine . Shortening and compounding Coinages No links with previous words
How new words are structured Affixation or Derivation A word is joined by a morpheme, which alters its sense. This morpheme can be a prefix or a suffix: un-, mis-, re-, -ful, -less, -ish, -ism, -ness, etc. Ex.: unhappy, misunderstanding, reset, joyful, careless, boyish, terrorism. > disrespectful or foolishness >Megadrive.
How new words are structured Compounding It refers to the process where two words are placed to make a compound word: ex: bookcase, textbook, wastebasket, handbook Combination of words It refers to the process where two or more words, or free morphemes, are placed to make a compound word: ex: hard disk drive, cordless mouse.
How new words are structured Functional shift or Conversion Functional shift, or grammatical conversion, occurs when a word changes its word class. Ex: butter> to butter vacation> to vacation to guess> a guess to spy> a spy to print out > a printout dirty, empty > to dirty, to empty
How new words are structured Backformation Backformation is where a word loses part of itself to create a related word in a different word class. ex.: Word processor (noun) > word process (verb) worker (noun) > work (verb)
How new words are structured Acronomy It takes the first letter of each word in a compound word and use these to make a word. It is governed by the phonological rules of a language It can be spoken as a word: NATO, PIN, FAQ
How new words are structured Initialism It takes the first letter of each word in a compound word and use these to make a word. It is sounded as the letters in sequence and is usually written with full stops between letters: W.W.W., IRC, BBC. Both initialisms and acronyms are associated with formal technological processes and jargon.
How new words are structured Clipping Clipping refers to the way in which words are clipped down to shortened forms. ex.: gasoline>gas, advertisement>ad This is a very common process partly because the original technology words are very long. Ex: Floppy portable magnetic disk > floppy disk >FLOPPY or DISK
How new words are structured Blending Blends are words which combine morphemes from two words and imply a blend of meanings of those two words. ex.: smoke+fog> smog; motor+hotel>motel; English+Spanish> Spanglish Netiquette = (inter)Net + (et)iquette