Principal types of word formation

Derivation (affixation) is a very productive form of word building by means of adding a prefix or a suffix to the already existing base. Derivation is of two types:

      Inflectional is grammatical derivation but the word does not change its meaning, just takes inflection for noun-verb concord (write - writes)

      Derivational deals with lexical change, creating new words.

                                                                        prefix – stem – suffix

Infixes are rare in English, used mostly in swear taboo words to intensify.            ST – infix – EM

(unfuckingbeliveable!)

SUFFIXES (terminal affixes)

Suffixed are more common than prefixes. A suffix can change the lexical meaning, grammatical meaning and even the word class.

Noun suffixes

Noun + suffix

STER, EER                             occupational                     gangster, engineer

ER                                          occupational                     teenager, Londoner

IST                                         occupational                     novelist, archaeologist

LET                                         diminutive                        booklet, piglet, leaflet

Y, IE                                       diminutive                         daddy, auntie                     

ETTE                                      small, female                    cigarette

LING                                      small                                   duckling

ESS, STRE                             female                                 waitress, lioness, tigress

HOOD                                   status                                   brotherhood, boyhood

SHIP                                      status                                   friendship, membership

DOM                                     domain                                kingdom

CY                                          status                                   democracy

FUL                                        amount                                mouthful, spoonful

Verb + suffix

ER                          agential                           worker, writer, thriller, cooker

OR                         agential                            actor, inspector, survivor

AR                          agential                            liar, beggar

ANT                       agential                            inhabitant, contestant

EE                          agential                             trainee, employee

ATION                   state, action                     exploration, foundation, organization

MENT                    action                                arrangement, amazement

AL                           action                                refusal, revival

ING                         action                                driving, writing

Adjective suffixes

Verb + suffix

able                        worthy                                acceptable, readable, drinkable

ible                         worthy (neo-classical)      edible

Noun, adjective, number + suffix

Y                           quality of                                 bushy, dirty, hairy

ISH                        somewhat (informal)           reddish, tallish, poorish

ED                         having…                                  pointed, blue-eyed, simple-minded

AL, AIL                  agential                                  criminal, cultural

ESQUE                                                                   picturesque

IC, ICAL                                                                  heroic, problematic

IVE, ATIVE, ITIVE       having quality                  attractive, talkative, sensitive, imaginative

LESS                         not having quality               restless

LIKE                         similarity                                birdlike    

LY                                                                             friendly

OUS                                                                         ambitious, courageous, virtuous

SOME                                                                      bothersome

WORTHY                                                                 praiseworthy

                                                   

Adjectives with IC and ICAL

There’s no general rule how to recognize them, we must remember them by heart. ICAL words came from old English, new adjectives take IC.

IC                 academic, artistic, catholic, domestic, dramatic, energetic, fantastic

ICAL            biological, chemical, critical, grammatical, logical, musical, medical

Both forms, no difference in meaning: arithmetric/al, egoistic/al, fanatic/al, strategic/al

Differences in meaning

CLASSIC = famous, supreme, traditional (a classic performance, wine, car)

CLASSICAL = refers to ancient Rome and Greece and 18^th century neo-classicism (classical languages, classical music)

COMIC = adjective for artistic comedy (comic performance, comic opera)

COMICAL = old fashioned word meaning funny (comical behaviour)

ECONOMIC = referring to science of economy (economic theory, crisis)

ECONOMICAL = money-saving (economical car)

ELECTRIC = specific machines powered by electricity (electric light, motor, shock, blanket)

ELECTRICAL = more general about electricity (electrical engineering)

HISTORIC = for important places and events making history (historic date, castle, agreement)

HISTORICAL = connected with history (historical research, novel)

POLITIC = tactful, wise (I don’t think it would be politic to ask him.)

POLITICAL = connected with politics (political parties)

Verb suffixes

IFY                       causative                     identify, simplify, purify

IZE, ISE                causative                     symbolize, publicise, legalise, popularise, modernise

EN                        resultative                   widen, sadden, quicken

Adverb suffixes

LY                                          in a manner                               happily, strangely, comically

WARDS, WARD (AmE)      direction                                     onwards, backwards, eastwards          

WISE                                    in a manner, concerning          clockwise, crabwise, education-wise

PREXIFES (initial affixes)

Prefixes change the lexical meaning but only seldom the part of speech.

Negative prefixes

NON                                          non-smoker, non-conformist

IN                                               insane, incomplete

IL (before l)                              illegal

IM (before labials)                  immortal, improper

IR (before r)                             irregular

DIS                                             disobey, disloyal, disorder

A                                                 amoral, asexual, anarchy

Reversative and privative prefixes (binary opposition)

 UN                                             undo, untie, unzip, unpack, unwrap, unmask

DE                                               decentralize, decode, defrost, decapitate

DIS                                              disconnect, discoloured            

Degree and size

ARCH                                                           archbishop, arch-enemy, archangel  

 SUPER             superior                            superman, supermarket

MEGA               extremely big                   megastore

OUT                   surpass                             outrun, outlive, outnumber

OVER                 excessive                          overestimate, overreact

HYPER                extreme                            hyperactive

ULTRA                extreme                            ultraviolet, ultra-modern

MINI                   small                                  minibus, miniskirt, minidisc

MAXI                   (rare)                                maxi-length

MIDI, MID                                                     midnight, midday

SUB                     under                                 substandard

UNDER                                                           undercooked

Attitude

CO                        jointly                               co-operate, co-pilot, coexist

ANTI                    against                              anti-war, anti-social

CONTRA             opposite                            contraproductive

COUNTER           against                              counteract

PRO                     in favour                           pro-American, pro-war, pro-Communist

Locative prefixes

FORE                   front part of                      foreground, foreshore

INTER                  between                            international, intercontinental

SUB                      under                                 subway

SUPER                 above                                  superstructure

INTRA                  inside (Latin words)          intra-uterine      

EXTRA                  outside                              extraterrestrial, extrasolar

Time and order

EX                        former                              ex-president, ex-husband

FORE                   before                               foretell, foreplay

POST                   after                                   post-war, post-classical

PRE                     before                                pre-war, pre-school, pre-cook

RE                        again                                  rebuild, reclaim, recycle

Number

UNI, MONO                 one                     unisex, monogamy, monologue

BI, DI                             two                     bicycle, bilingual, dichotomy, diode

TRI                                 three                  tripod, trimester

MULTI, POLY                many                  polygamy, polygon, polysemy, multiracial, multi-storey

Neo-classical prefixes

AUTO                             self                      autosuggestion, autobiography, atomatic

NEO                               revived               neo-classicism, neo-Gothic    

PALEO                           old                       Palaeolithic

PAN                               universal             pan-European

PROTO                          original                prototype

TELE                              distant                  telegram, telephone, telescope

SEMI                              half                       semi-detached      

VICE                              deputy                   vice-president, viceroy 

      

COMPOUNDING

Compound word is a unit of at least two bases with one primary stress. More common form is modifier + head (school-boy). Less common is head + modifier (mother-in-law).

Recursion is a very productive process of repeating items to name something.

bath -> bathroom -> bathroom towel -> bathroom towel designer

Orwelian compounds whose "newspeak" uses vocabulary consisting of everyday items and ideological vocabulary made of only compound words like goodthink, oldthink, crimethink, oldspeak, sexcrime.

Orthography of compounds is not fixed and often influenced by a geographical variant of stance of speaker (flowerpot – flower-pot, flower pot).

      Solid close form (bedroom)

      Hyphenated form (tax-free)

      Open spaced form (reading material)

Phonology - the compounds are distinguished by stress.

First element adjectival, stress on second element (loudspeaker, bad-tempered, first-class)

First element nominal, stress on first element (sunrise, tea-cup, suitcase)

black bird (bird that is of black colour) x blackbird (kos)

dancing shoes (shoes for dancing) x dancing shoes (those shoes dance, funny meaning)

Classification

      Subject + verb (sunrise, earthquake, rainfall)

      Verb + object (flashlight, playboy, popcorn)

      Adjective + noun (washing machine)

      Noun + verb (bloodtest, haircut, handshake)

      Noun + verb (story-telling, air-conditioning)

      Verbal noun + object (chewing gum, drinking water, reading material)

      Verbal noun + noun (swimming pool, living room, waiting room)

      Noun + noun (steam engine, tear gas, bloodstain, hay fever, girlfriend)

      Adjective + noun (blackboard, madman, madhouse)

      Noun + adjective (fireproof, carsick, waterproof)

      Adjective + adjective (bitter-sweet, deaf-mute, Anglo-American)

CONVERSION

Process of forming new words of a different part of speech without affixation = zero derivation. The form remains the same but the word class changes.

Primary word class conversion

Verb -> Noun (must, desire, doubt, love, smell, taste, fall, attempt, search, answer, catch, cheat)

Adjective -> Noun ( final, daily, comic, regulars)

Noun -> Verb (bottle, corner, mask, nurse, skin, glue)

Adjective -> Verb (calm, dirty, dry, empty)

Secondary word class conversion

Mass noun -> Count noun (two coffees, a difficulty, two cheeses)

Count noun -> Mass noun (an inch of pencil)

Proper noun -> common noun (A Rolls-Royce – specific car, Rolls-Royce – brand)

Stative -> Dynamic (He is a hero. He is being a hero.)

Intransitive verb -> Transitive verb (run the business, march the prisoners)

Transitive verb -> Intransitive verb (Your book reads well.)

Non-gradable adjective -> Gradable adjective (He’s more English than the English.)

Change in pronunciation

Shift of stress - stress on the second syllable if it is a verb, stress the first syllable if it is a noun or adjective.

N: import / V: import     N: ´abstract (výtah) / V: to ab´stract (vytáhnout)

N: desert (poušť) / V: de´sert (dezertovat)

Vowel change   

                          Noun                       Verb

e -> i:                breath                      breathe

i -> ai                emphasis                 emphasise

a -> i:                blood                        bleed

u -> i:                food                          feed