Word formation
In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term[1] that can refer to either:
- the processes through which words can change[2] (i.e. morphology), or
- the creation of new lexemes in a particular language
Morphological
A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivational affixes.
Derivation
Examples include:
- the words governor, government, governable, misgovern, ex-governor, and ungovernable are all derived from the base word (to) govern[3]
Inflection
Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence.[4] For example:
Nonmorphological
Abbreviation
Examples includes:
- etc. from et caetera
Acronyms & Initialisms
An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words.[5] For example:
- NASA is the acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- IJAL (pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym for International Journal of American Linguistics
Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, like radar, are now treated as common nouns.[6]
Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example:
Back-formation
In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base.[3] Examples include:
- the verb headhunt is a back-formation of headhunter
- the verb edit is formed from the noun editor[3]
- the word televise is a back-formation of television
The process is motivated by analogy: edit is to editor as act is to actor. This process leads to a lot of denominal verbs.
The productivity of back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation being hypocoristics.[3]
Blending
A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments. For example:
- smog is a blend of smoke and fog
- brunch is a blend of breakfast and lunch.[5]
- stagflation is a blend of stagnation and inflation[1]
- chunnel is a blend of channel and tunnel,[1] referring to the Channel Tunnel
Although blending is listed under the Nonmorphological heading, there are debates as to how far blending is a matter of morphology.[1]
Compounding
Compounding is the processing of combining two bases, where each base may be a fully-fledged word. For example:
- desktop is formed by combining desk and top
- railway is formed by combining rail and way
- firefighter is formed by combining fire and fighter[3]
Compounding is a topic relevant to syntax, semantics, and morphology.[2]
Word formation vs. Semantic change
There are processes for forming new dictionary items which are not considered under the umbrella of word formation.[1] One specific example is 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 as 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.
References
- Bauer, L. (1 January 2006). "Word Formation". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier: 632–633. doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/04235-8. ISBN 9780080448541. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- Baker, Anne; Hengeveld, Kees (2012). Linguistics. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 978-0631230366.
- Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition): 642–645. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5. ISBN 9780080448541.
- Linguistics : the basics. Anne, July 8- Baker, Kees Hengeveld. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-631-23035-9. OCLC 748812931.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - Aronoff, Mark (1983). "A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation". Annual Review of Anthropology. 12: 360. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.12.100183.002035.
- Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2018). An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure (2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4744-2896-5.