Lecture 5. Word-formation

and the process of creating new words from the material

available in the language after certain structural and semantic formulas and patterns.

word by adding a derivational affix to the root stem

of a word
(ex., object - objection).
Derivative: (ex., dis+continue)
Compound derivative: (ex., un+selfconscious)

(unkind, hopeful)
derived (childishly)
compound (nightmarish)
compound-derived (absentmindedness)
abbreviated (hubby = husband - муженек)
phrase

stems (out-of-towner)

words (man, berry, like, proof, land) have been very frequently

used as second elements of words.
“man”
(ex., gentleman, seaman, fireman)

word by changing the paradigm and distribution of the original

word without transforming its morphemic shape.

they are formed from nouns denoting parts of a human

body (e.g. to eye, to finger, to shoulder), from nouns denoting tools, machines, instruments, weapons, (e.g. to hammer, to machine-gun, to nail),
b) verbs can denote an action characteristic of the living being, e.g. to crowd, to wolf,

fish, to dust, to peel, to paper,
d) verbs can denote

an action performed at the place,
e.g. to park, to garage, to bottle, to corner, to pocket,
e) verbs can denote an action performed at the time,
e.g. to winter, to week-end.

a jump, a move,
b) process or state, e.g. sleep, walk,
c)

agent of the action, e.g. a help, a flirt, a scold,
d) object or result of the action, e.g. a burn, a find, a purchase,
e) place of the action, e.g. a drive, a stop, a walk.

a word is formed by joining two or more stems

to form one word.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF ENGLISH COMPOUNDS
1. According to the way components are joined together compounds are divided into:
a) neutral, e.g. ball-point, to windowshop,
b) morphological, e.g. («astrospace», «handicraft», «sportsman»),
c) syntactical, e.g. here-and-now, free-for-all., do-or-die.

proper, e.g. to job-hunt, train-sick, go-go, tip-top,
b) derivational compounds, e.g.

ear-minded, hydro-skimmer,
c) compound words, e.g. cornflower-blue, eggshell-thin, singer-songwriter,
d) compound-shortened words, e.g. boatel, tourmobile, VJ-day, motocross, intervision, Eurodollar, Camford.

one or several syllables as a result of which the

new form acquires some linguistic value of its own.
According to whether it is initial, middle or final part of the word that is cut off we distinguish:
initial clipping or aphaeresis
(phone – telephone, cello from violoncello)
medial clipping or syncope
(maths from mathematics, specs from spectacles)
final clipping or apocope
(ad from advertisement, coke from Coca-cola)
words that have been clipped both at the beginning and at the end (flu from influenza, fridge from refrigerator).

word out of the initial elements of a word-combination.
Types:

acronyms (ex., laser - light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation),
initial abbreviation (ex., SOS – save our souls, BBC _ British Broadcast Corporation),
a shortened form of a written word (ex., smth, sb, adj.),
Latin abbreviations (a.m. – lat. Ante Meridiem, до полудня, i.e. – lat. Id est – that is),
initial abbreviation combined with a whole word (ex., A-bomb – atomic bomb).

one new word.

types of blends:
additive blend which is transformable

into a phrase consisting of the respective non-clipped stems combined by the conjunction “and” (ex., brunch – breakfast and lunch, smaze – smoke and haze),
restrictive blend which is transformable into an attributive phrase with the 1st element serving as modifier of the second (ex., telecast – television broadcast).

Blends may be formed by:
combining non-clipped stems (ex., cinemactress: cinema + actress),
combining clipped stems (ex., spam: spiced ham),
overlapping clipped stems (ex., smog: smoke + fog).