Conversion
Back-formation
Shortening or clipping
Blending
Reduplication
Borrowing
Acronymy
Voicing
1. Conversion is a process by means of which a
word belonging to one class of word is converted
to another class of word whereby the structure of
the word itself does not change. Thus one and the
same word may be used as a verb, noun,
adjective, etc. by just fitting it into its new context.
 The new book is a must! V - N
 We could go and have a swim in the sea early in the
morning. V – N
 Could you please mail this letter for me? N – V
 Please, calm down. There’s no need to be upset. Adj – V
2. Back-formation is a process by means of which
a word is formed out of another by reduction, that
is by removing or changing the beginning or end
of a word that already exists.
 cheeseburger from hamburger
 to baby-sit from baby-sitter
 to televise from television
 to type-write form type-writer
3. Shortening or clipping is a process by means of
which a word is shortened by omitting one part of
it. Sometimes even the middle part of a word may
be omitted. Depending on which part of a word is
omitted, clipping may be:
- fore-clipping
- back-clipping
- clipping in the middle
 fore-clipping: plane from aeroplane, bus from omnibus, van from
caravan
 back-clipping: ammo from ammunition, info from information, limo
from limousine, lab from laboratory, bike from bicycle, pram from
perambulator
 in the middle: vegan from vetarian, flu from influenza,
In colloquial speech, clipping is very common with names, that is
nicknames are formed by means of this process.
 Gerry from Gerald, Lizzie form Elizabeth, Monty from Montgomery,
Trish from Patricia
 4. Blending is in fact the fusion of two
words by means of which a new word is
formed. These words are also called
hybrid words which are actually compound
words formed in an unusual way. Only
parts of words are taken and put together.
smog motel brunch -
smoke + fog
motor + hotel
breakfast + lunch
5. Reduplication is the repetition of one and the
same word or two words sounding and looking
similar.
Reduplication may be:
- repetitive and
- non-repetitive
 repetitive: bye-bye, chop-chop
 non-repetitive: zig-zag, chit-chat, hankypanky (first clipping, then reduplication),
honky-tonk, ding-dong, tick-tock
6. Borrowing is an avoidable process in every
language by means of which words are taken from
other languages and incorporated into the mother
tongue. Many words in English are of Fench, Latin
or Greek origin. However, those words entered the
English language a long while ago and have
adapted to the English language. Today words
referring to foreign cultures, especially cuisine, are
borrowed and incorporated into the English
language. What happens more often is that other
languages borrow words from the English
language.
 kebab, spaghetti, pasta, tortilla
7. Acronymy is a process by means of which a
new word is formed out of the initial letters of the
words which the acronym consists of. There are
two types of acronyms:
- alphabetisms and
- wordlike.
 - alphabetisms: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization), FBI, CIA, BBC, an MP, UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization)
 - wordlike: radar (radio detection and reading),
sonar (sound navigation and ranging), laser
(light amplification by stimulated emission of
radioation)
8. Voicing is a process by means of which
verbs are transformed into nouns whereby
certain phonemes change. Voiced
consonants change into their unvoiced pairs.
 breathe – breath
 believe – belief
 use – use
 bathe – bath