Word Formation

INTRODUCTION Grammar and lexicology involve us in a large number of superficially different units. In the case of Grammar these are phrases, clauses and sentences. In the case of lexicology these are words, or, more precisely, lexical items.Grammar makes general abstract statements about the units concerned, and lexicology makes specific statements about individual units. However, they share a common ground in one case: generalities are necessary, but idiosyncrasies of individuals are also very important. This area is word-formation. The processes of word-formation are subjected to the idiosyncrasies inherent in the lexicon, whereas the rules of grammar trascend the individualities and unpredictibilities of the lexical items. It involves formal and semantic analogy BASE is a word to which the rules of word-formation are applied. It is different from the STEM. The STEM is the form of a word stripped of all the affixes thar are recognizable as such in English.

There are several devices to form words:

AFFIXATION :-PREFIXATION:putting a prefix in front of the base. It generally does not change the word-class, and the stress never falls on it.There are several classes: Negative prefixes: un-: it has two meanings: “the opposite of”/ “not” Added to a participle: undoubtedly (l. 171)

un + doubted (before adding -ly)

“to reverse action”/ “to deprive of” Added to verbs: unleashed (l.8)

un + leash (before adding -ed)

unerringly (l.39)

{(un + err + ing) + ly+}

(-un and -ing have to be added at the

same time; it is a double process) in-: it means “the opposite of”/ “not” invincibility (l.32) This word is very complex, since the stem does not exist in English. I think that vinci is the Latin word and it means “defeat” So the process of word-formation would be: in +vincible + ity

-the adding of -in and -ity is also a double process

Prefixes of degree: over- it means “too much” and is added to a verb or participle. overlooked (l. 42)

over + looked.

under- it means “too little” and is added to verbs and participles underdevelopment (l. 169)

under + develop.

Prefixes of attitude: co- it means “with, joint” and is added to verbs to form nouns.

co-production (l.90)

co + produce +...

Prefixes of time and order. pre- it means “before”and is added to nouns and adjectives. premature (l.77)

pre + mature

post- it means “after” and is added to nouns and adjectives. postwar (l. 79)

post + war.

re- it means “again” and is added to verbs to form abstract nouns. recreation (l. 86)

re + create +...

recalls (l.17)

re + call

recounts (l. 138)

re + count

Conversion prefixes. en- it means “to cause to become” and is added to nouns and adjectives enable (l.30) en + able. embittered(l. 68)

em (because it is followed by -b-) + bitter

There are some words which seem to be te result of compounding two different bases, since both elements of the word have lexical meaning. However. Iwill consider them the result of prefixation, since one of the elements has all the features of a prefix: 1. obligatory initial position. 2. not currence in separated words. 3. not strssed in a complex word. It is the case of : androgyny (l. 37) female”) + y.

andro (meanig “concerning male”) + gyn (meaning “concerning

paraplegic (l. 68) homosexuality (l.37)

para (meaning “beyond”) + plegic. homo(meaning “fond of male”) + sexuality.

SUFFIXATION. In opposition to prefixes, suffixes usually change the word-class.They are gathered depending on the class of the base they are tipically added to. NOUN TO NOUN SUFFIXES. Status, domain. -dom: it means “status” and is added to nouns to form abstract nouns. stardom (l.158)

star + dom.

NOUN/ADJECTIVE TO NOUN/ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES. -(i)an: it means “pertaining to...”and is added to proper nouns to form personal nouns. american (l. 78)

America + an

russian (l. 101)

Russia + an

-ist: it means “member of a party/occupation” and is added to nouns to form personal nouns. Dogmatists (l.60)

Dogma + (t) +ist.

VERB TO NOUN SUFFIXES. -er/-or: it means “agentive or instrumental” and is added to dynamic verbs to form personal nouns. designer (l. 41)

(to) design + er

director (l. 23)

(to) direct + or

actor (l. 26)

(to) act +or.

sniper (l.98)

(to)snip +er.

-ee: it means “passive” and is added to verb to form personal nouns. nominee (l. 154)

(to) nomin(e) + ee.

*The real verb is nominate, but the suffix -ate has been added tothe base of the word and it has been only the base word which has been taken to form the new word. -ation: it means “state/action” and is added to verbs to form abstract or collective words. sensational (l.4)

(to) sens(e) + ation +...

location (l. 110)

(to) locat(e) + ation.

meditation (l. 106)

(to) meditat(e) + ation.

flirtation (l. 21)

(to) flirt(e)r + ation.

adaptation (l.95)

(to) adapt + ation.

-ment: it means “state/action” and is added to verbs to form abstract nouns. underdevelopment (l. 169)

develop + ment.

-ence/ance. performance (l. 76)

perform + ance.

ADJECTIVE TO NOUN SUFFIXES. -ness: it means “state or quality” and is added to adjectives to form abstract nouns. recklessness (l.25)

reckless + ness.

-ity: it means “state or quality” and is added to adjectives to form abstract nouns. invincibility (l. 32)

invincibl(e) + ity.

iconicity (l.76)

iconic +ity.

VERB SUFFIXES. -en: it means “causative or become X” and is added to adjectives to form verbs. darkened (l. 7)

dark + en +...

deafening (l. 8)

deaf + en +...

NOUN TO ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES. -ful: it means “having... or giving...” and is added to abstract nouns to form gradable adjectives willful (l. 30)

will + ful.

-less: it means “without” and is added to nouns to form adjectives. recklessness (l. 25)

reck + less +...

carelessly (l. 73)

care + less +...

-y: it means “like” or “covered with” and is added to concrete nouns to form adjectives. dirty (l. 121) -ish:

dirt + y..

it means “belonging to” and is added to proper nouns to form non gradable

adjectives. British (l. 163)

Brit(ain) + ish.

ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES COMMON TO BORROWED AND NEOCLASSICAL WORDS: -al: it means “concerning something”. elemental

element + al

pivotal (l. 98)

pivot + al.

-ical / ic: it means “connected with a particular thing”. theatrically (l. 53) paradoxically (l. 77)

theat(e)r + ical +... paradox + ical +...

dramatic (l. 5)

drama + t + ic.

genetic (l. 70)

gene +t + ic

-ive: it means “something which does something”. transgressive (l. 37) reflective (l. 44)

(to) transgress + ive. (to) reflect + ive.

-ary: it means “containing things of a particular kind”. legendary (l. 11)

legend + ary.

-ate: it means “full of”. consummate (l. 41)

(to) consum +m (doubbling of m) + ate.

OTHER ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES. -able /-ible: it means “worthy to be V-ed” and is added to verbs to form adjectives. invincibility

vinci + ble +...

ADVERB SUFFIXES. -ly: it means “in a ... manner” and is added to adjectives to form adverbs of manner or point of view. shockingly (l. 36)

shocking + ly.

alternatelly (l.43)

alternate + ly

theatrically

theatrical + ly.

More:happily (l. 14), apparently (l. 15), certainly (l. 35), belatedly (l. 55), cheaply (l. 60), brilliantly (l. 65), carelessly (l. 73), effortlessly (l. 75), paradoxically (l. 78), unerringly (l. 39), undoubtedly (l. 170), finally (l. 99), seriously (l. 121), eventually (l. 129), assuredly (l.162),.

CONVERSION It is the process which makes an item ghange its word-class without changing its external form, that is, without adding affixes. VERB TO NOUN love (story) (line 103) ADJECTIVE TO NOUN

it comes from the verb to love.

epic (l. 93)

it is supposed to mean an epic film, but the noun has been removed.

NOUN TO VERB. 1) To give N, to provide with N. fashion (l. 31)

it comes from the noun fashion.

released (l. 53)

it comes from the noun release.

bathed (l. 122)

it comes from the noun bath.

milk

it comes from the noun milk.

2) To deprive of N. peel (l. 97)

it comes from the noun peel.

3) To ...with N as an instrument. unleashed

it comes from the noun leash.

hammered (l. 9)

it comes from the noun hammer.

4) To make/change...into N. glossed (l. 22)

it comes from the noun gloss.

ADJECTIVE TO VERB. (to) green (l.61) comes from the adjective green. PHRASE TO ADJECTIVE best-supporting-actor (nomination).(l.128) two-off-the-cuff (British improvs). (l. 57) eighty five-day (shot). (l. 85) seventy seven- million (onion) (l.95) OTHER CHANGES: soviet (l. 87)

COMPOUNDING:

adjective which comes from the proper noun Soviet Union.

We build new words by joing bases which already exists. The one placed in front usually subcategorizes the one which follows. NOUN COMPOUNDS Subject and verb compunds. leading man (l. 83)

verbal noun + noun.

Verb and object compounds. sharpshooters (l. 106) (the ones which shoot sharps) Verbless compounds. thunderclaps (l. 8) (claps of thunder) fireworks (l. 15) (work in which you use fire) screenplay (l. 135) (play performed on the screen) weekend (l. 147) (end of the week)

ADJECTIVE COMPOUNDS. Verbless compounds. bigbudget (production) (l.83)

CLIPPING. It is the process by which we remove one or more syllables from a word. It may happen at: 1) the beginning of the word: phone (l. 132)

tele- has been removed.

ACRONYMS: They are words made up by the initial letters of words. A.I (l. 134)

Artificial Intelligence.

CONCLUSION. This essay has made clear that English is a very fruitful language when we have to form words.There are plenty of resources, although some of them are more used than others. In general, it is noticeable that suffixes are more used that prefixes. I think that the reason is that with the former, words are not forced to keep its word-class, so there is more freedom to add all the suffixes you want, whereas the use of the latter very seldom implies the change of wordclass, so it is more restrained.Within the group of suffixes. -ly is the most used, since it can be added to nearly all the adjectives. Although the process of word formation looks very easy at the beginning, it is not as simple. I have found difficulties in some words such us imminent, fugitive, final, , oblivious, ludicrous, audience and mutable. There have been some gaps in the word-formation process impossible to fill in. since the base form does not exist in English. It is because English words have also Latin origin, and maybe the original form has changed, or has been lost. It also shows us the richness of English, which is able to make up new forms with words which are no longer in use.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, Svartvik. A Comprehensive Grammar of English Language. Bloomsbury. Dictionary of Word Origin. Longman group. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.