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What Is Word? What is Word Formation?

—Word is a single distinct meaningful element of —word formation refers to the ways in which new
speech or writing used with others (or sometimes
words are made on the basis of other words .
alone) to form a sentence and typically shown with a
space on either side when written or printed.

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The following word formation processes result in the creation of new words in
English :
q Abbreviations Abbreviation
q Acronyms
Abbreviation is the word formation process in which a
q Borrowing
word or phrase is shortened.
q Blending
q Back-formation
q Compounding Initialisms are a type of abbreviation formed by the initial
q Clipping letters of a word or phrase.
q Conversion
q Eponyms
Although abbreviation is largely a convention
q Coinages
q Calquing of written language , sometimes abbreviations
q Derivation carry over into spoken language.
q Nonce Words

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Written Abbreviation Spoken – Written Abbreviation

For example:
For example: A.M. – ante meridiem
Apr. – April (it’s an adjective , means in the morning)
cm – centimeter(s) B.C.E. – Before Common Era
dept. – department
GOP – Grand Old Party (Republican Party)
HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Dr. – Doctor
i.e – id est (it’s a Latin phrase ,means that is)
Jr. – Junior
PMS – premenstrual syndrome
Mr. – Mister OJ – orange juice
VIP – very important person
RSPV – repondez s’il vous plait
(it’s a French phrase ,means please reply )

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ACRONYMS WHAT IS ACRONYM?

NEVER LET YOU DOWN
u An abbreviation formed from
MEDICINE the initial letters of other words
and pronounced as a word .
THROUGH
TIME u Acronym is a special type of
blends.

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NASA - National Aeronautics Example of acronym

and Space Administration
u IEEE: (I triple-E) Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers
PIN number - personal u NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

identification number u Laser: light amplification

by stimulated emission of radiation
u GIF: Graphics Interchange Format
ASAP - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE u AIDS: acquired immune deficiency syndrome
u Radar: radio detection and ranging
u FAQ: frequently asked question

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CHINA - Come Home I Need CD-ROM: Compact Disc read-only memory

Affection
JPEG : Joint Photographic Experts Group
ITALY - I Trust And Love You YAHOO : Yet Another Hierarchical Official
Oracle.
NEPAL - Never Ever Part As Lovers
TIME :The International Magazine of Events.
TTGA - Told To Go Away
TOYOTA: Too Often Yankees Overprice This
FUN- Finally Understand Nothing Auto.

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NOTES:
u Initialisms and acronyms functions
as noun and adjectives.
u Why acronyms should be avoided
in some cases is a mystery.
u When an acronym becomes fully
accepted as a word, it often
comes to be spelled with lower
case letter just like other
words.e.g:radar,aids and so on.

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MORE EXAMPLE:

u Alcohol : is actually an Arabic word.

u Very: The blandest adjective ever comes to us
from the Old French “verai.”
u Science comes to English directly from Old
French. French, in turn, borrowed the word from
the Latin “scientia,” meaning “knowledge.”
u Person: “Person” is another English word with
both Latin and French origins. It comes from the
Old French “persone.”

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Blender
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Smoke + Fog Smog • Advertisement + entertainment advertainment

• prim+sissy prissy
• biographical+picture biopic

+ • breakfast+lunch brunch
•

•
simultaneous+broadcast simulcast

smok+fog smog
• cybernetic+organism cyborg
Breakfast + lunch Brunch • guss+estimate guesstimate
• Spanish+English Spanglish

• spoon+fork spork

+ • hazardous+material hazmat
• telephone+marathon telethon
• motor+hotel motel • web+seminar webinar

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Original―Back-formation
• babysitter―babysit
• donation―donate
• gambler―gamble
• hazy―haze
• moonlighter―moonlight
• obsessive―obsess
• procession―process
• resurrection―resurrect
• sassy―sass
• television―televise

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Compound words may be written as

} A word formation process
one word
} Two or more lexemes combine into a
or
single new word
as two words joined with a hyphen

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Note-Book
Noun Noun

Blue-Berry

Adjective Noun

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Work-room Stir-fry

Verb Noun verb verb

Breast-Feed High-light

Noun verb
Adjective Verb

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break-up Bitter-sweet
verb preposition adjective adjective

Out-run In-to
Preposition Verb
Preposition Preposition

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} noun-noun compound
} adjective-noun compound
} verb-noun compound
} noun-verb compound
} verb-verb compound
} adjective-verb compound
} verb-preposition compound
} preposition-verb compound
} adjective-adjective compound
} preposition-preposition compound

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Examples of clipping
• Advertisement Ad
} A word formation process
• Aligator Gator
} A word is reduced without changing
• Examination Exam
the meaning of the word • Gasoline Gas
• Gymnasium Gym
• Influenza Flu
• Laboratory Lab
• Mathematics Math

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• Memorandum Memo
• Photograph Photo
• Public house Pub Clipping
• Raccoon Coon
• Reputation Rep
• Situation comedy sitcom Back clipping Fore clipping Middle clipping Complex
Example: Example: clipping
• Telephone Phone Gasoline = Gas Aligator = Gator Example: Example:
Influenza=Flue Situation comedy=sitecom

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Questions may arise: Conversion

— What is CONVERSION?
— What is the necessity of it?
— How many types of CONVERSIONS may belong?
— How to imply it?
And so on…….

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What is Conversion?
— Conversion is the word formation process in which a word of
one grammatical form becomes a word from another The noun email appeared in English
grammatical form without any changes of spelling or before the verb : A decade ago I would
pronunciation. have sent u an email (noun) whereas
— Conversion is also referred to a zero derivation or null now I can either sent u an email(noun)
derivation with the assumption that the formal change between
words results in addition of an invisible morpheme .However , or simply email(verb) you.
many linguistics argue for a clear distinction between the word The original noun email experienced conversion , thus
formation process of derivation and conversion. resulting in the new verb email.

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Types of Conversion Noun to Verb conversion

The most productive form of conversion in
—Noun to verb conversion English is noun to verb conversion. The
—Verb to noun conversion following list provides examples of verbs
—Adjective to verb conversion converted from nouns:
— Noun-Verb
—Preposition to noun conversion
— access – to access
—Conjunction to noun conversion — bottle – to bottle
—Interjection to noun conversion — closet – to closet

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— email – to email — knife – to knife

—My grandmother bottled (verb) the juice and canned (verb) the
— can – to can — microwave – to microwave pickles.
— eye – to eye — pocket – to pocket —My grandmother put the juice in a bottle (noun) and the
— fiddle – to fiddle — salt – to salt pickles in a can (noun).
— fool – to fool — host – to host —She microwaved (verb) her lunch.
— Google – to google — shape – to shape —She heated her lunch in the microwave (noun).
—The doctor eyed (verb) my swollen eye (noun).

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Verb to Noun conversation — to clone – clone — to feel – feel

—Another productive form of conversion in English is — to command – command — to hope – hope
verb to noun conversion. The following list provides — to cover – cover — to increase – increase
examples of nouns converted from verbs: — to cry – cry — to judge – judge
— Verb – Noun — to experience – experience — to laugh – laugh
— to alert – alert
— to fear – fear — to feel – feel
— to attack – attack
— to call – call

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— The guard alerted (verb) the general to the attack (noun).

— The enemy attacked (verb) before an alert (noun) could be
sounded.
— Sometimes one just needs a good cry (noun)
— The baby cried (verb) all night.
— We need to increase (verb) our productivity to see an
increase (noun) in profits.
“Verb to noun conversion is also referred
to as nominalization.”
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Types of Other Conversion :

Conversion also occurs, although less frequently,
to and from other grammatical forms.

1. Adjective to Verb : green - to green, black - blacken… Example :

You have a black(Adjective) man accused of killing a white woman

The excited faces of the soldiers were blackened(Verb) with it.
2. Preposition to Noun : up, down - the ups and downs… Example :

He climbed up(Preposition) the steps./ He was walking down(Preposition) the

street.
Holy people are those who, having experienced the ups and downs of life(Noun),
emerge with deep, loving maturity.
3. Conjunction to Noun : if, ,and, but – no ifs, ands, or buts… Example :

She’d like to go but(Conjunction) she can’t.

His mother told him to clean it before dinner, no ifs ands or buts(Noun).
4. Interjection to Noun : ho ho ho… I love the ho ho hos of Christmastime.

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Eponyms :
Eponyms are a word form by the word formation process in which a new word is
formed from the name of a real or fictitious person .

WORD FORMATION 1. Atlas(A book of maps or charts) from ‘Atlas’ ; Example : You will need an atlas to use for
your geography homework.

PROCESS 2. Boycott(Ban or refuse to do activities) from ‘Charles C. Boycott’ ; Example : Our plan is to
boycott the class.
3. Cardigan(A type of dress for upper part of body) from ‘James Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of
Cardigan’ ; Example: He changed and put on a white cardigan sweater.
4. Cereal(A type of food made from grain) from ‘Ceres’ ; Example : Tom is eating cereal.
5. Dunce(A person who is stupid and slow) from ‘John Duns Scotus’ ; Example : His uncle
treated him like dunce infront of everyone.

Eponyms 6. Guillotine(A machine for execution by beheading people) from ‘Joseph Ignace Guillotin’ ;
Example : She was condemned to death by guillotine.
7. Jacuzzi(A large bath with a system of underwater jet) from ‘Candido jacuzzi’ ; Example :
She sat on the edge of a jacuzzi tub, staring into space.
8. Luddite(A person against a new working methode) from ‘Ned Ludd’ ; Example : The majority
have a built-in Luddite mentality and they are resistant to change.

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9.Malapropism(Unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase) from ‘Mrs.

Malaprop’ ; Word Form
Example: As everyone laughed at the funny sentence, the president apologized for the
malapropism made by his twisted tongue.
10.Mesmerize(Capture the complete attention of (someone)) from ‘Franz Anton Mesmer’ ;
Example: The fire mesmerized him as he thought.
11.Mirandize(Inform (a person who has been arrested) of their legal rights, in accordance with
the Miranda ruling.) from ‘Ernesto A. Miranda’ ; Example: But FBI Director Freeh said it was his
decision to " mirandize“.
12.Narcissistic(A person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish) from
‘Narcissus’ ; Example: I think being a parent makes you less narcissistic and selfish. Eponym
13.Nicotine(A poisonous chemical, found in tobacco) from ‘Jean Nicot’ ; Example: Publicly, the
tobacco industry still disputes that nicotine is addictive. From the
14.Pasteurization(To heat something, especially milk, at a controlled temperature for a fixed
period of time) from ‘Louis Pasteur’ ; Example: For juices and cider, pasteurization will take New name of a
care of it.
real fictitious
15.Poinsettia(A plant with red flower like leaves) from ‘Noel Roberts Poinsett’ ; Example: Last word
year I was given my first Christmas poinsettia. person
Some other Eponyms are Praline , Sadistic , Salmonella , Sandwich , Vulcan etc.

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1 2.
Examples make it easier to .
understand

3
.
Nicotine

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Atlas from Atlas

Pasteurization from Louis Pasteur Boycott from Charles B.
Sandwich from John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich Boycott
Nicotine from Jean Nicot

Louis Pasteur John Montagu Jean Nicot

An sculpture of Atlas Charles B. Boycott

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Cardigan from Thomas Brudnell, 7th Earl of Cardigan WORD FORMATION

Malapropism from Franz Anton Mesmer PROCESS
Derivation

Thomas Brudnell, 7 th Earl of Cardigan Franz Anton Mesmer

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Prefix Meaning
Affix BASE FORM Example
(Prefix/Suffix)
OF WORD
— a- without shore ashore
— co-together operate cooperate
— de- opposite merit demerit

New
— dis- opposite, negative like dislike
— en- cause to be black blacken
— ex- formar, previous, from presedent expresedent

word
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Suffix Meaning
Example NEW WORD
WORD Derivation
(Of same
— -able : sense of being
— -ful : characterized by
Suit Suitable
Beauty Beautiful
grammatical
— -ism : action or practice, condition Terror Terrorism form
— -ology : study, science
— -ship : condition, character, skill
Bio Biology
Friend Friendship
or different)

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Example
Example
Grammatical form changing
derivation
Grammatical form changing Verb to noun- preserve to preservation
derivation Verb to adjective-
Noun to verb-
bore to boring
code to codify
Verb to verb- disappear Noun to adjective- nature to natural
Noun to noun- friendship Adjective to noun- ugly to ugliness
Adjective to adjective- impractical Adjective to verb- sweet to sweeten
Adjective to adverb- quick to quickly

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qCoinage is the word formation process in

which a new word is created either
deliberately or accidentally without using
the other word formation process and
often from seemingly nothing.

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EXAMPLES qGOOGLE

— GOOGLE — LAUNDROMAT Exp: Google it for more details.

— ASPIRIN — LINOLEUM
— HEROIN — MUGGLE Google=search for information about someone or
— ESCALATOR — PSYCHEDELIC something.
— FRISBEE — QUARK
— KEROSENE — XEROX GOOGLE a search engine
— FACTOID — KLEENEX

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DOMESTIC EXAMPLE
qFRISBEE N.B: NOT OFFICIAL ENGLISH

qPARACHUTE COCONUT OIL

FRISBEE= generally means a “disc”

— A coconut oil company in Bangladesh

“FRISBEE” a brand of plastic concave disc
— Maximum people call all coconut oil as ‘PARACHUTE’. But
it’s a brand name.

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qCoinage is the word formation process of

N.B: NOT OFFICIAL ENGLISH inventing entirely new words.

— ROBOTICS (1941)
qHARPIC
— GENOCIDE (1943)
— A toilet cleaner company — BLACK HOLE(1968)
— BLOG
— NYLON
• Maximum people call all toilet cleaner as
‘HARPIC’ though it is a product name only.
qNotice that many coinages start out as brand names for
everyday items such as Kleenex for a facial tissue.

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qCalquing is the word formation process in

which a borrowed word or phrase is translated
from one language to another. It is direct
translation of the element of a word into the
borrowing language.

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EXAMPLE EXAMPLE
q Biergarten q Biergarten German
q Sangre azul q Sangre azul Spanish
q Locus commūnis q Locus commūnis Latin
q Marché aux puces q Marché aux puces French
q Vers libre q Vers libre French
q Lehnwort q Lehnwort German
q Hăo jiŭ bu jiàn q Hăo jiŭ bu jiàn Chinese
q Pijnappel q Pijnappel Dutch
q Ez ozel q Ez ozel Hebrew
q Dēns sapientiae q Dēns sapientiae Latin

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EXAMPLE
q Biergarten German beer garden q"Calque" itself is a loanword from the
q Sangre azul Spanish blue-blood French noun calque ("tracing; imitation; close copy").
q Locus commūnis Latin commonplace qProving that a word is a calque sometimes requires
q Marché aux puces French flea market more documentation than does an untranslated
q Vers libre French free verse loanword because, in some cases, a similar phrase
q Lehnwort German loanword might have arisen in both languages independently.
q Hăo jiŭ bu jiàn Chinese long time no see qCalques are also referred to as root-for-root or word-
q Pijnappel Dutch pineapple for-word translations.
q Ez ozel Hebrew scapegoat
q Dēns sapientiae Latin wisdom tooth

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Thank You
Any questions ?

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