Word - Formation Processes
One of the distinctive properties of human language that we have
already discussed in the introductory chapter is creativity, by
which we mean the ability of native speakers of a language to
produce and understand new forms in their language. Even though
creativity is most apparent when it comes to sentence formation,
where new words are added to our mental. In this part of Chapter 3
we discuss the processes that speakers of a language use regularly
(and unconsciously too) to create new words in their language.
(1) Derivation ‫اإلشتقاق‬
The most productive process of word formation in a language is
the use of derivational morphemes to form new words from
already existing forms, as we discussed in the previous handout.
So, for example, from arrange we can derive rearrange, from
which we can still derive rearrangement. Can you think of other
examples?
Derivation is the formation of a new word or inflectable stem from
another word or stem. It typically occurs by the addition of an affix
. An affix is a bound morpheme that is joined before, after, or
within a root or stem
* A prefix is an affix that is joined before a root or stem.(un- , pre, mis- ) e.g ) The prefix un- attaches to the front of the stem selfish
to form the word unselfish
* A suffix is an affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem
(-ful , -less , -ism) . e.g) The past tense suffix -ed attaches to the
end of the stem walk to form the past tense verb walked.
* An infix is an affix that is inserted within a root. or stem .
Philippines (Tagalog) The focus marker -um- is a infix which is added after the first
consonant of the root
 bili: root ‘buy’
 -um-: infix ‘AGT’
 bumili: word ‘bought’
(2) Coinage ‫ابتكار‬
Coinage is the invention of totally new words. The typical process
of coinage usually involves the extension of a product a name from
a specific reference to a more general one. For example, think of
Kleenex, Xerox, and Kodak. These started as names of specific
products, but now they are used as the generic names for different
brands of these types of products.
(3) Conversion ‫التحويل‬
Conversion is the extension of the use of one word from its
original grammatical category to another category as well. For
example, the word must is a verb (e.g.
1 “You must attend classes regularly”), but it can also be used as a
noun as in “Class attendance is a must”. Conversion from one
category to another is very common in natural language
morphology and it’s one way of enriching the lexicon of a
language.
(4) Borrowing
New words also enter a language through borrowing from other
languages. English, for example, borrowed a lot of French words
as a result of the Norman invasion in 1066, and that’s why the
English lexicon has a Latinate flavor to it, even though English did
not descend from Latin. Here are some examples of foreign words
that found their way into English:
(a) leak, yacht (from Dutch)
(b) barbecue, cockroach (from Spanish)
(c) piano, concerto (from Italian)
(5) Compounding
New words are also created through the common process of
compounding, i.e. combining two or more words together to form
a new complex word. Here are some examples of compounding:
(a) post + card → postcard
(b) post + office → post office
(c) book + case → bookcase
We may also combine more than two words, e.g. mother-in-law,
sergeant-at-arms.
(6) Acronyms‫المختصرات‬
Acronyms are words created from the initial letters of several
words. Typical examples are NATO, FBI, CIA, UN, UNICEF,
FAQ, WYSIWYG, radar, laser.
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(7) Back-formation ) Back-formation
Back-formation of words results when a word is formed from
another word by taking off what looks like a typical affix in the
language. For example, one of the very productive derivational
morphemes in English is –er, which may be added to a verb to
create a noun meaning “a person who performs the action of the
verb”, e.g. teacher, writer. Sometimes, however, the reverse
happens. A noun enters the language first and then a verb is “backformed” from it. This is the case with the verbs edit and televise,
for example, which entered English as back-formations from editor
and television.
(8) Clipping ‫القصاصة‬
Another process of word-formation is clipping, which is the
shortening of a longer word. Clipping in English gave rise to words
such as fax from facsimile, gym from gymnasium, and lab from
laboratory.
(9) Blending ‫ال َم ْزج‬
Blending is another way of combining two words to form a new
word. The difference between blending and compounding,
however, is that in blending only parts of the words, not the whole
words, are combined. Here are some examples:
(a) smoke + fog → smog
(b) motor + hotel → motel