WORD FORMATION
PROCESSES IN
ENGLISH
What is a word?
A word is a speech sound or a combination of
sounds, or its representation in writing, that
symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may
consist of a single morpheme or a combination of
morphemes.
Generally, in English, word formation is the process or result of forming new words,
which are derived from words or group of words with the same root.
Hence, word formation is defined as the ways in which new words are made on the
basis of other words or morphemes.
Coinage/Invention
Invention of totally new terms/names
It is the least common process of word formation
Trade names of commercial products that become general terms/
(Eponyms) Words formed based on someone’s name or place
Examples: asprin, Kleenex, xerox
sandwich, volt, watt, boycott, jeans
Taking words from another language
eg
Leak (Dutch) Barbecue (Spanish)
Piano (Italian) Sofa (Arabic)
BORROW Yogurt (Turkish)
ING: Alcohol (Arabic)
mayonnaise (French)
hamburger (German)
Etc etc…………..
Joining two or more words to form a new word that “does not
denote two things, but one” that is pronounced as one unit
Home + work - homework
Pick + pocket –pickpocket
Hand + bag – handbag
COMPOUN Finger + print - fingerprint
DING:
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
Motor + hotel - Motel
Breakfast + lunch- Brunch
Smoke + fog- smog
BLENDIN
G
Shortening a word by removing some syllables/when a
word of more than one syllable is reduced to one word.
Laboratory- lab
Hamburger -burger
Gasoline -gas
Advertisement -ad /advert
Professor -prof
CLIPPING
A hypocorism is an altered, usually shortened version of a
word or name that is usually used in informal or familiar
situations. Forms such as "y" or "ie" are added to the end of
the shortened form
The word is reduced to a single syllable, y or ie is added to
the end
HYPOCO telly (television)
movie (moving pictures)
RISM bookie (book maker)
Grandmother (granny)
Chocolate (chockie)
A new word is created typically when a word of
one type, usually noun, is reduced to form
another word of a different type, usually a verb.
edit from editor
Televise from television
Babysit from babysitter
BACKFORM administrate from administer
ATION cohabitate from cohabit
Babysit from babysitter
Assigning an existing word to a
new category/a change in the
function of a word without any
reduction
CONVERS Empty the bin (empty
ION Adjective to verb)
Butter the bread (butter Noun
to verb)
Dirty your clothes (dirty
Adjective to Verb)
Verbs as nouns:
a must/ a guess/ a spy
Phrasal verbs as nouns:
A print out/ a take over
Verbs as adjectives:
See-through material/ a stand-up comedian
Adjectives as verbs:
to dirty/ to empty
Prepositions as verbs:
They’re going to up the price of oil./ We downed the prices.
Deriving words from the initials of several words
United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund –
UNICEF
Personal Identification Number - PIN
Human Immunodeficiency Virus - HIV
ACRONY Initialisms:
MY Personal Computer → PC
Asian Development Bank → ADB
Liquid Crystal Display → LCD
The most common word formation process through affixation-
affixes attach to the base to create a new word
Linking affixes to words. Affixes are prefixes & suffixes
Happy- unhappy, happiness
Preserve – preservation
DERIVATI
ON:
A word or phrase is shortened by removing some
letters.
Examples:
Centimeter – cm
Department – dept
Doctor - Dr
ABBREVIAT
IONS
Reduplication is the formation of a new word by
doubling a word, either with
REDUPLIC 1. change of initial consonants (teenie-weenie,
ATION walkie-talkie),
2. with change of vowel (chit-chat, zig-zag, flip-flop,
ping-pong, dilly-dally, wishy-washy, )
3. without change (night-night, so-so, bye-bye, tick-
tick, and win-win).
EXERCISE
Identify the word-formation process involved in the production of the following words.
a) bookworm____________
b) Eurovision _________
c) chicken burger
d) televise _____
e) ohm ___________ i) radar _________
f)UCLA ______________ j) e.g. __________
g) gas _____________
H)arena ____________
Identify the word-formation process involved in the production of the following
words.
a) bookworm __COMPOUNDING __ h arena BORROWING
b) Eurovision _BLENDING __
c) chicken burger COMPOUNDING
d) televise ____BACKFORMATION _
e) ohm __EPONYM _________ i) radar ___ACRONYM _______
f)UCLA __ACRONYM____________ j) e.g. ___ACRONYM _______
g) gas __CLIPPING ___________
Derive other words from the words given below. Identify the word-formation process used.
Note: The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of other words you are expected to
derive. PROCESS: derivation
1. manage (5)
2. govern (5)
3. administer (5)
4. correct (4)
5. predict (5)
6. simple (5)
7. favor (5)
derive other words from the words given below. identify the word-formation process used.
note: the numbers in parentheses indicate the number of other words you are expected to
derive. process: derivation
1. manage (5) manager, management, manageable, mismanage, mismanagement
2. govern (5) governor, governess, government, governorship, governing
3. administer (5) administrator, administration, administrative, administered, administering
4. correct (4) correction, correctional, corrective, corrector, incorrect_
5. predict (5) prediction, predictive, predictable, unpredictable, predicted
6. simple (4) simply, simplify, simplicity, simplistic,
7. favor (5) fovourable, unfavorable, favorit, favoritism, favored_
