Word Formatin Process

A. Definiton.
Word as a part of language has important rule in forming a language.
People always use it to build a sentence, but they don’t know where do actually
those millions words come from. People as the user of language sometimes don’t
think about how a language is formed. There are millions words now used by
people. Everytime people get more and more new words unless they know the
way it happens. The meaning of the new word form is influenced by the process
of forming a word. This process is usually called word formation process.
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. Word-formation process is a way of forming new words or terms from
the use of old words.
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.
B. Types of Word Formation
1. Word – Building
In this section we shall deal with vocabulary extension by building up in
various ways from a free form.
a). Derivation
This is a process (sometimes called affixation) of word
extension by adding prefixes or suffixes and so increasing the
power of the word root.
They are very easy to recognise and examples of prefixes
and suffixes abound in number and variety in normal everyday use.
1). Prefixes
Prefixes are affixes before.
Example : un- usual, mis – pronounce, dis – respect.
2). Suffixes.

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 Suffixes are affixes after.
Example : care – less, child – ish, faith – ful
3). Prefixes and Suffixes.
Affixes in before and after word.
Example : dis – loyal – ty, un – erring – ly.
b). Compounding
The process of putting words together to build a new one
that ‘does not denote two things, but one’ and that is ‘pronounced
as one unit.
Example :
Wallpaper = wall + paper (Noun and Noun)
Homesick = home + sick (Noun and Adjective)
Skydiving = sky + diving (Noun and Verb)
c). Blending.
A blending is a combination of two or more words to create
a new one, usually by taking the beginning of the other word and
the end of the other one.
Example :
Brunch = breakfast + lunch
Motel = motor + hotel
Smog = smoke + fog
2. Abbreviated Forms
A shortened form of a word or phrase.
a). Simple shortenings (Clipping)
Clipping is the word formation process which consists in
the reduction of a word to one of its parts (Marchand: 1969).
Clippings are, also, known as "shortenings."Clipping mainly
consists of the following types:
1). Back clipping : Gas (Gasoline)
2). Fore-clipping : Phone (Telephone)
3). Middle clipping : Flu (Influenza)

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 4). Complex clipping : Cablegram (Cable telegram)
b). Acronyms
Word from initials of a set of words
Example :
SCUBA : Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
RADAR : Radio Detection And Ranging
LASER : Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation.
3. Other Methods of Word Creation
a). Onomatopoeia
This special type of word that depicts ‘ the sound associated
with what is named’.
Example : buzz, hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, crash, bang, hush, ticktack,
etc.
b). Coinage
The word formation process of inventing entirely new
words.
Example : robotics (1941), genocide (1943), black hole (1968),
blog, internet, google, aspirine.
Some more examples :
e-cruitment : online recruitment of employees; online submission
of resumes and cover letters.
Netbook : small laptop computer which weighs less than 3 pounds
and has a 7 to 10 inch screen.
Eponym
New words based on names of person / place.
Volt (Allessandro Volta, Italian)
Watt (James Watt, Scot scientist)
Boycott (Charles Boycott, Irish)
Fahrenheit (Gabriel Farenheit,German Scientist)
c). Borrowing

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 Borrowing is the process of actually borrowing words from
foreign languages.
Latin : interim, memorandum, agenda, p.m and a.m, sponsor
Greek : pneumonia, panorama, psychoanalysis, psychology,
phyton.
French : bureau, cafe, chauffeur, abattoir, attache, a la carte.
Sanskrit : chakra, mahatma, nirvana, musk
Hindi – avatar, bungalow, jungle, pajamas, verandah, shampoo,
yoga, pundit, cheetah.
4. Modification of Existing Words
a). Conversion
Conversion is the word formation process in which a word
of one grammatical form becomes a word of another grammatical
form without any changes to spelling or pronounciation.
Noun – Verb : access – to access
Verb – Noun : to alert – alert
Adjective – Verb : green – to green.
b). Back formation
Nouns > verbs : reduction of nouns to form verbs.
Example :
Television = televise
Donation = donate
Option = opt
Emotion = emote
Enthusiasm = enthuse
Editor = edit.

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 Conclusion.

Word formation is the creation of a new word. Word formation is

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