Lecture 4 - Word formation

Question 1

Word-formation: Basics

What can we do to add new words to a language?

Answer 1

• Invent from scratch, root creation, coinage
  e. g. Google, Hobbit
• Borrow from another language -> language contact
  e. g. Sushi, Kindergarten
• Give a new meaning to an existing word -> semantic change
  e. g. mouse (animal, computer), mothership
• Create a new word from already existing elements -> word-formation
  e. g. Facebook, hangry, dadbod, catfish

Question 2

Word-formation processes:

What are productive word formation processes?

Answer 2

• Compounding

- Affixation

Question 3

Word-formation processes:

What are less productive word formation processes?

Answer 3

• Conversion

- Shortenings (blending, acronyms, clipping, backformation)

Question 4

Word-formation processes:

Rank them from high to low productivity

Answer 4

compounding
derivation
conversion
shortenings

Question 5

Compounding

What is compunding?

Answer 5

Putting lexemes (i.e. content words, free morphemes) together to create something new

Question 6

Compounding

Give examples for compounds

Answer 6

• English students, lecture hall
• handout, flashlight, headset, textbook
• word-formation, word-class

alternative spellings – variation:
word-formation vs. word formation
Wastebin vs. waste bin vs. waste-bin

Question 7

Compounding

Name the features of English compounds

Answer 7

• Spelling
• Stress
• Complexity and constituency
• Word-classes

Question 8

Compounding: Stress

English noun compounds are usually stressed on their …

Answer 8

left-hand member

e.g. English students
ENGlish students = students who study English
English STUdents = students from England

ENGlish teacher → a teacher of English
(could be from Germany)
English TEAcher → a teacher who happens to be English (could be a history teacher)

Question 9

Compounding:

Give examples for the difference between a NP with Adjective (left) and compound [NP] without Adjective

Answer 9

a green house - a greenhouse

a black board - a blackboard

Question 10

Compounding:

Name the different compound types

Answer 10

modifier = lefthand element + head = righthand element

nominal, adjectival and verbal compounds

Question 11

Give examples for nominal, adjectival and verbal compound-combinations

Answer 11

N + N - newspaper
N + A - color-blind
N + V - to housekeep, to babysit

A + N - fast-food
A + A - dark-blue
dark-blue
to deep-fry
V
playground
---------
to crash-land
Preposition
overweight
---------
to overhear

Question 12

Compounding:

Give examples for Complexity & Constituency

Answer 12

wildlife sanctuary = wild + life + sanctuary

Question 13

Compounding:

What does the right-hand member do?

Answer 13

The right-hand element contributes the main elements of meaning, determines word-class and carries inflection

e. g.: plant house = “a kind of house“
vs. house plant =“a kind of plant“

Chair lift - chair lifts - (w) chairs lift
windmill - windmills - (w) windsmill
to crash-land - crash-landed - (w) crashed-land

Question 14

Compounding:

Over time compounds and other collocations can become …

Answer 14

opaque

Question 15

Affixation:

Describe Derivational Morphology

Answer 15

new words are created by adding an affix sometimes a change in word class is involved

Question 16

Affixation:

The two types of affixes are … + give examples

Answer 16

Prefix: prefix + base
unfold, malfunction, preview, reread

Suffix: base + suffix
notify, baker, coldness, nursery

Question 17

Affixation:

How do the prefixes and suffixes change the word-class?

Answer 17

Prefixes rarely change word-class of the derivative
obey (V) - disobey (V)
legal (A) - illegal (A)
member (N) - non-member (N) 
witch (N) - bewitch (V)
frost (N) - defrost (V)
large (A) - enlarge (V)

Suffixes often change word-class of the derivative, create derivatives of a certain word class, attach to bases of a certain word-class

Question 18

Affixation:

In English prefixes may inform about …

Answer 18

• quantity: mono, poly, bi (monogamous, polygraph)
• kind of involvement: co, contra (cooperate, contradiction)
• evaluations: mis, pseudo (mislead, pseudoartist)
• place/direction: ad, sub (adjoin, subtitle)
• measurement: hyper, hypo (hyperactive, hypothermia)
• negation/opposite: dis, un (dislike, unsubscribe)
• time/duration: post, re (postcolonial, renew)

Question 19

Affixation:

In English derivational suffixes may form …

Answer 19

agentive nouns from verbs/adj.:

• er: teacher, baker
• ist: artist, cyclist

abstract nouns from V/A:

• al: renewal, revival
• ness: bitterness, fairness

V from A/N:

• en: darken, lighten, deafen
• ify: purify, verify, modify

A from V/N:

• able: notable, understandable, agreeable
• less: fearless, faultless, homeless

A from names:

• (i)(a)n: Victorian, Shakespearean
• ist: Marxist, Buddhist

Question 20

Affixation:

Suffixes create derivatives of a certain word-class. Give examples

Answer 20

• ee: employer, employee, mentor, mentee
• -> nouns
• al: fiction/-al, tradition/-al
• -> adjectives
• en: light/-en, sick/-en, wide/-n
• -> verbs
• wise: length/-wise, clock/-wise
• -> adverbs

Question 21

Affixation:

One suffix can render a range of different meanings. Give examples

Answer 21

-er:
1) commander, preacher, teacher
“person who Xs” > Agent Nouns
2) mixer, toaster, slicer, dishwasher
“instrument that Xs” > Instrumental Nouns

-ise
hospitalize, computerize “put in to X”
modernize, regularize “make (more) X”

Question 22

Conversion:

Describe conversion

Answer 22

Creation of a new word belonging to a new word class without any overt marking, also called ‘zero-derivation‘
• Same form – different word-classes / meanings
• minimal effort

a gesture - to gesture
water (N) - to water
to flirt - a flirt
Google - to google
empty (A) - to empty

Question 23

Shortenings:

Describe shortenings

Answer 23

linguistic material is deleted rather than added; 
no change of word-class or meaning (exception: back-formation)

Question 24

Shortenings:

Name the four types of shortenings

Answer 24

• Clippings
• Blends
• Abbreviations
• Back-formation

Question 25

Shortenings:

Describe and give examples for clippings

Answer 25

• words are ‘chopped down’
• also called truncation

–> Names - nicknames:
Liz, Pat, Trish, …

--> other (usually) nouns
• Exam (ination)
• Uni (versity)
• fridge (refrigerator)
• flu (influenza)
• (air) plane

Question 26

Shortenings:

Describe and give examples for blends

Answer 26

Are formed by combining parts of two words

• motorway + hotel = motel
• Breakfast + lunch = Brunch
• Situation + comedy = Sitcom
• smoke + fog = smog
• hungry + angry = hangry

Question 27

Shortenings:

Describe and give examples for abbreviations

Answer 27

Are formed from initial letters/sounds of several words

Acronym:
• pronounced like a word
• e.g. UNESCO, YOLO, NASA, OPEC, RAM, laser

Initialism:
• pronounced letter by letter
• e.g. TV, DVD, UCLA, UK, DJ, PC

Question 28

Shortenings:

Name abbreviations that made it into the general vocabulary

Answer 28

They are then spelled as regular words:
• laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)
• radar (radio detection and ranging)
• scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)

Question 29

Shortenings:

Describe and give examples for back-formation

Answer 29

Part of a word that appears to be a suffix is taken away → this changes the word-class

Examples:
Editor → Edit
Babysitter → Babysit 
Intuition → Intuit 
Sleepwalking → Sleepwalk
enthusiasm → enthuse
commentator → commentate

Question 30

Shortenings:

Give an overview over the different types

Answer 30

one word:

• back formations
• clippings

more than one word:

• blends
• abbreviations (acronyms, initialisms)