Lexicology - Word Formation Processes Flashcards
What is a neologism?
A newly coined word, expression, or meaning that has recently entered a language.
Examples include terms like ‘selfie’ and ‘blog’.
What are borrowings in linguistics?
Words that are taken from one language and incorporated into another.
An example of a borrowing is the word ‘café’ from French.
Define commonisation.
The process by which a brand name or a specific term becomes a general term used to refer to any product or item of that type.
For example, ‘google’ is often used to mean searching online.
What is nominalisation?
The process of turning a word, often a verb or adjective, into a noun.
An example is ‘decide’ becoming ‘decision’.
What are function words?
Words that have little lexical meaning but serve to express grammatical relationships between other words in a sentence.
Examples include articles like ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘an’.
What are content words?
Words that carry the primary meaning in a sentence.
Examples include nouns like ‘cat’, ‘house’, ‘happiness’, ‘car’.
Fill in the blank: A _______ is a newly coined word, expression, or meaning that has recently entered a language.
[neologism]
Fill in the blank: Borrowings, or _______ , are words that are taken from one language and incorporated into another.
[loanwords]
True or False: Commonisation refers to the process where a specific term remains associated with a particular brand.
False
Fill in the blank: The word ‘decide’ undergoes _______ to become ‘decision’.
[nominalisation]
Fill in the blank: Articles such as ‘the’, ‘a’, and ‘an’ are examples of _______ words.
[function]
