Word Formation Part 1

Word formation Both inflectional (or grammatical) e.g. plural suffix, genitive suffix, present or past participle etc. and derivational (or lexical) affixes e.g.un-, mis-, -ness, -ship, -hood are attached to roots. Another kind of word formation is where more than one root is joined together (e.g. baby-sit). This is called compounding. Conversion word formation is when a change of word class occurs without any affixation (e.g. skin, a verb derived from a noun, or input, a noun derived from a verb)

Word Coinage

English Word Coinage Compounds Acronyms Back-formations Abbreviations Eponyms Blends

1. Compounds Definition: Two or more words joined together to form a new word. Examples: Home + work  homework Pick + pocket  pickpocket

Note: The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts. Coconut oil  oil made from coconuts. Olive oil  oil made from olives. Baby oil  oil for babies NOT oil made from babies cathouse  a house where men visit prostitutes blue-movies  blue-chip  go-go 

2. Compounding (1) Compounding (compounds): combine two or more free morphemes to form new words N N N N ADJ N N N N ADJ N V N V fire engine green house jump suit P wall paper blue bird kill joy book case N text book P N after thought out patient

2. Compounding (2) N ADJ ADJ ADJ P ADJ ADJ ADJ N ADJ ADJ ADJ P ADJ nation-wide red - hot over ripe sky blue far - fetched in grown pitch black out spoken out standing

2. Compounding (3) N ADJ V V P V V V V V N V ADJ V P V V V Spoon-feed white wash out live blow dry Steam-roller dry clean underestinate breakdance

2. Compounding (4) N N N N N N N N N N N N dog food box stone age cave man