Page 321 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 24: Word-Formation: Derivation, Inflection

Writing Convention of Compounds: There are compounds which are written as single words, Notes
there are some written with a hyphen in between and there also are some which are written as two
separate words like cleaning woman. These types are called solid, hyphenated, and open compound
respectively.
Self-Assessment
Form compounds of the following manner:
(i) Adverb + Verb (ii) Verbstem + Noun
(iii) Verbstem + Adverb (iv) Para-synthetic
(v) Poetical Compounds
(a) Shakespeare’s (b) Spenser’s
24.5 Summary

• In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word. Word formation is sometimes
contrasted with semantic change, which is a change in a single word's meaning. The boundary
between word formation and semantic change can be difficult to define: a new use of an old
word can be seen as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form (see
conversion). Word formation can also be contrasted with the formation of idiomatic
expressions, although words can be formed from multi-word phrases (see compound and
incorporation).
• One of the distinctive properties of human language is creativity, by which we mean the
ability of native speakers of a language to produce and understand new forms in their
language. Even though creativity is most apparent when it comes to sentence formation, it is
also manifest in our lexical knowledge, where new words are added to our mental lexicon
regularly. In this paper the most comprehensive expositions of word formation processes
that speakers of a language use regularly (and unconsciously too) to create new words in
their language are presented.
• Nowadays, the terms 'word formation' does not have a clear cut, universally accepted usage.
It is sometimes referred to all processes connected with changing the form of the word by,
for example, affixation, which is a matter of morphology. In its wider sense word formation
denotes the processes of creation of new lexical units. Although it seems that the difference
between morphological change of a word and creation of a new term is quite easy to perceive,
there is sometimes a dispute as to whether blending is still a morphological change or
making a new word. There are, of course, numerous word formation processes that do not
arouse any controversies and are very similar in the majority of languages.
• Clipping is the word formation process which consists in the reduction of a word to one of
its parts. Clippings are, also, known as "shortenings."Clipping mainly consists of the following
types:
• Back clipping or apocopation is the most common type, in which the beginning is retained.
The unclipped original may be either a simple or a composite. Examples are: ad
(advertisement), cable (cablegram), doc (doctor), exam (examination), gas (gasoline), math
(mathematics), memo (memorandum), gym (gymnastics, gymnasium) mutt (muttonhead),
pub (public house), pop (popular concert), trad (traditional jazz), fax (facsimile).
• Fore-clipping or aphaeresis retains the final part. Examples are: phone (telephone), varsity
(university), chute (parachute), coon (racoon), gator (alligator), pike (turnpike).
• In middle clipping or syncope, the middle of the word is retained. Examples are: flu
(influenza), tec (detective), polly (apollinaris), jams (pyjamas), shrink (head-shrinker).

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