Word Formation Processes in English: A Comprehensive Guide

Etymology

The origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning:

Example: ‘the etymology of the word ‘devil’’

Coinage

Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or accidentally.

Examples: Kleenex, Aspirin, Xerox

Borrowing

Process by which a word from one language is adapted for use in another.

Examples: croissant (French), yogurt (Turkish), piano (Italian)

Blending

Join two words together by taking parts of both words and combining them into a new whole.

Examples: Breakfast + lunch = brunch, Smoke + fog = smog, Motor + hotel = motel

Clipping

The process of cutting the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole.

Examples: Prof (professor), Photo (photograph), Math (mathematics), Lab (laboratory)

Backformation

The process of creating new forms by removing affixes from existing words.

Examples: Edit (editor), Act (action), Sing (singer), Typewrite (typewriter)

Conversion

The most productive conversion in English is Noun to Verb conversion.

Examples: Access (to access), Closet (to closet), Eye (to eye)

Acronyms

A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term.

Examples: FBI, CIA, PNC

Derivation

The most common word formation process.

Examples: Happy (unhappy), drink (drinkable), Flex (flexible)

Prefixes

A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word.

Examples: Appear (disappear), Happy (unhappy), Legal (illegal), Visible (invisible)

Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters placed after the root of a word.

Examples: Comfort (comfortable), Comic (comical), Beauty (beautiful), Strong (strongest), Big (bigger)

Morphemes

The smallest meaningful unit in a language.

Free Morphemes

Can stand alone and carry basic meaning.

Lexical Morphemes

Carry the content or meaning of the message, such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs.

Functional Morphemes

Do not carry the content of a message but help with the grammar of the sentence, such as conjunctions, prepositions, articles, and pronouns.

Bound Morphemes

Cannot stand alone and include prefixes and suffixes. They are added to the root word.

Derivational Morphemes

Change the meaning of the root word.

Inflectional Morphemes

Do not change the meaning but change some aspects of the grammatical function (e.g., -s, -es, -ing, -ed).

Syllabic Structure

Onset

The beginning sound of the syllable, consisting of one or more consonants.

Rhyme

The rest of the syllable after the onset. The rhyme can also be divided into nucleus and coda.

Nucleus

The core, essential part of a syllable. Most nuclei are vowels, with some exceptions (e.g., r, l, m, n).

Sonority

1. Vowel
2. Approximant: /w/, /j/, /ɹ/
3. Lateral: /l/, /h/
4. Nasal: /n/, /m/, /ŋ/
5. Nasal stop
6. Fricative: /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/
7. Affricate: /tʃ/, /dʒ/
8. Stop: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/