Word Formation

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Word Formation

• Deny A. Kwary
• http//www.kwary.net
• Airlanga University

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Types of Word Formation

• Compounding
• Conversion
• Clipping
• Blends
• Backformation
• Acronyms
• Onomatopoeia
• Eponyms

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1. Compounding

• Definition Two or more words joined together to
  form a new word.
• Examples
• Home work ? homework
• Pick pocket ? pickpocket

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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 ?
• cathouse ?
• blue-movies ?
• blue-chip ?

NOT oil made from babies
oil for babies
a house where men visit prostitutes
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2. Conversion

• Definition Assigning an already existing word to
  a new syntactic category.
• Examples
• butter (N) ? to butter the bread
• permit (V) ? an entry permit
• empty (A) ? to empty the litter-bin

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3. Clipping

• Definition Shortening a polysyllabic word by
  deleting one or more syllables
• Examples
• Facsimile ? fax
• Hamburger ? burger

• Gasoline ?
• Advertisement ?
• Omnibus ?

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4. Blends

• Definition Similar to compounds, but parts of
  the words are deleted.
• Examples
• Motor hotel ? Motel
• Breakfast lunch ? Brunch
• Wireless Fidelity ? Wi-Fi

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Is this a blend?
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Case Study Blends or Compunds

• Wild-haired revolutionaries like Che Guevara
  have been replaced by clean-cut metrosexual icons
  like soccer star David Beckham and musician Ricky
  Martin. (cbsnews.com, 25th November 2003).
• No botox for the Retrosexual. No 1,000
  haircuts. The retrosexual man eats red meat
  heartily and at times kills it himself. (The
  Washington Dispatch, 2nd May 2004).
• Another recent coinage borne out of the current
  preoccupation with male stereotyping is the noun
  and adjective technosexual. (Macmillan Online,
  January 2005).

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5. Back-formations

• Definition Creative reduction due to incorrect
  morphological analysis.
• Examples
• editor (1649)
• ? edit (1791)
• television (1907)
• ? televise (1927)

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6. Acronyms

• Definition Words derived from the initials of
  several words
• Examples
• severe acute respiratory syndrome
• ? SARS
• Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
• ? SCUBA

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Other examples of Acronyms

• Radio detecting and ranging
• For Your Information
• Thanks God Its Friday
• also known as
• Hypertext mark-up language
• World wide web
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

• Radar
• FYI
• TGIF
• a.k.a
• Html
• www
• SWOT

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7. Onomatopoeia

• Definition Words created to sound like the thing
  that they name.

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8. Eponyms

• Definition Words derived from proper names or
  things.
• Examples
• Kodak
• Sandwich
• Celcius

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Complete the process and Identify the type of
word formation

• 1. Return on Investment ?
• 2. information, entertainment ?
• 3. modulator, demodulator ?
• 4. love, seat ?
• 5. International, police ?
• 6. A comb ?
• 7. delicatessen ?
• 8. Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott ?

ROI ? Infotainment ? Modem ? Loveseat ?
Interpol ? To comb ? Deli ? Boycott ?
acronym blends blends compounding blends conversio
n clipping eponym