*Compounding
- The joining of two separate words to produce a single form
Compounds: the same category
N – N: textbook, bookstore, nightlife
Double bed, headphones, airplane
A – A: good-looking, low-paid
Open-minded, hardworking, fast-faced, slow-moving
V – V: sleepwalk
Compounds: The different categories
N + A: sky-high, Greenhouse, Hotdog
N + V: hand-wash, haircut, homework
A + N: blackboard, full-time
Exercise: notebook, bookstore, bus stop, long-term,
*Bending
- The combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term
The beginning of one word + the end of the other word
Motor + hotel => motel
Breakfast + lunch => brunch
Smoke + fog => smog
Gasoline + alcohol => gasohol
Information + entertainment => infotainment
iPod + broadcast => podcast
friend + enemy => frenemy
The beginning of both words
Teleprinter + exchange => telex
Modulator + demodulator => modem
*Clipping
- a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form
- usually beginning in casual speech
Some common nouns clipped at the end of a word
Gas => gasoline
Ad => advertisement
Auto => automobile
Fan => fanatic
Some common nouns clipped at the beginning of a word
Phone => telephone
Burger => hamburger
Bus => omnibus
Equake => earthquake
Come common nouns clipped both
Flu => influenza
Fridge => refrigerator
Some proper nouns
Al => Albert
Mike => Michale
Tom => Thomas
Liz => Elizabeth
Hypocorisms
a longer word is reduced to a single syllable, then -y or -ie is added to the end
Moving picture => movie
Television => telly
Barbecue => barbie
Breakfast => brekky
*Backformation
A word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another type (usually a
verb)
Teach => teacher
Dance => dancer
Sing => singer
Swindle => swindler
Editor => edit
Babtsitter => babysit
Peddler => peddle
Television => televise
Emotion => emote
Option => opt
Backformation => backform
*Conversion
*Coinage
*Acronyms
*Derivation
Prefixes and suffisex
Infixes
Multiple processes
Identify the formation processes of the underlined words in each sentence.
1. [conversion] She buttered four thick slices of bread.
2. [backformation] They swindled hundreds of dollars out of him.
3. [borrowing] He got married to a famous opera singer.
4. [compounding] It’s heartbreaking to see him wasting his life like this.
5. [derivation] This story has an unhappy ending.
6. [blending] I wonder if English native speakers can understand Singlish.
7. [coinage/conversion] I was sandwiched between two fat men on the bus.
8. [compounding] He was taken to hospital suffering from severe sunburn.
9. [clipping] I want to see a doc when I'm ill.
10.[acronym]How much RAM do you have?
