Word Formation

Where do new words come from?

 English

words.

old

vocabulary is not a stable, finite collection of

words often take on new meanings

mouse, virus, window in computing

older

meanings can simply die out

the original meaning of computer was a person whose

job was to make calculations or do accounts

words

are very rarely invented entirely from scratch

one example of a completely made-up word is blurb

this

process of fashioning new words out of old ones

is called derivation, and here are six of the most
common types of English word formation.

 Over

half the words in our language have been

formed by adding prefixes and suffixes to root
words.
Recent coinages of this type include
semi-celebrity
subprime
awesomeness
facebookable

1. Affixation

blend is a combination of parts of two words,

usually the beginning of one and the end of
another
glocalization (global + localization)
guesstimate (guess + estimate)
netiquette (net + etiquette)
Frankenfood (Frankenstein + food)
pixel (picture + element)

2. Blending

 Many

English words are loanwords from other

languages
paparazzi (Italian)
tsunami (Japanese)
Many

are so familiar that we no longer think of

them as borrowings
bungalow (Hindi)
ombudsman (Swedish)

3. Borrowing

Clippings

are shortened forms of words

blog (short for web log)

zoo (from zoological garden)
flu (from influenza)

4. Clipping

compound is a fresh word or expression made

up of two or more independent words:
office ghost
tramp stamp
breakup buddy
backseat surfer

5. Compounding

 Conversion

is the process of changing the

grammatical class of a word without changing its
form.

Conversion

of nouns to verbs is particularly

common in English
to word a message carefully
More

recently, nouns such as Google, email,

text, and Skype are also being used as verbs.

6. Conversion

Affixation

Many words are formed by adding affixes (prefixes and

suffixes) to existing (root) words.

If you know the meanings of the original word and the

affix, you can often guess the meaning of the new word.

Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word, and suffixes

to the end.

A prefix is something that we can put at the beginning of

a word to change the meaning.

Compare these two sentences.

I calculated the amount I would need.
I miscalculated the amount I would need.
= I wrongly calculated the amount I would need
the prefix mis- (= wrongly) changes the meaning

anti- (= against)
auto- ( = self)
co- (= together)
ex- (= previously)
inter- (= between)
mini- (= small)
mis- (= badly/wrongly)
mono- (= one)
multi- (= many)
out- (= more/better)
over- (= too much)
post- (= after)
pre- (= before)
pro- (= in favour of)
re- (= again)
semi- (= half)
sub- (= under/less)
super- (= big/more)
trans- (= across)
under- (= too little)

anti-nuclear, anti-social
autobiography, auto-suggestion
co-exist, co-production, co-driver
ex-wife, ex-footballer
intercity, international
minibus, minicab
misuse, misbehave, miscount, misprint
monorail, monolingual. monotone
multinational, multi-storey,
outnumber, outplay
overweight, overgrown, overwork
post-war, post-dated
pre-war, preheat
pro-government, pro-European
re-write, remarry, resale
semi-precious, semi-final
subway, sub-zero
superstar, superhuman, supersonic
transatlantic, transplant
undercooked, underused, underpopulation

There are some negative prefixes meaning not

uninil- (+ l)
im- (+ b/m/p)
ir- (+r)
disnonde-

Note:

unhappy, unfair, unhealthy, unemployment, unplug, unpack

independent, inoffensive, invisible, incurable, injustice
illegal, illogical
imbalance, immoral, immature, impossible, impractical
irrational, irresponsible
dishonest, disagreement, disappearing, dislike
non-alcoholic, non-stop, non-smoking
defront, depopulation, decentralization

We do not use in- before b, l, m, p, or r.

We use il-, im-, and ir- instead.

suffix comes at the end of a word.

For

example, we can add the suffix -ness to the

adjective kind to form the noun kindness.

Compare these two sentences,

We wont forget how kind youve been.
We wont forget your kindness.

Here, the use of the suffix to form a noun makes the

sentence shorted and neater.
Sometimes

the addition of a suffix involves other

changes in the form or pronunciation of the
word:
apply application
possible possibility
courage courageous

Suffix
able, ible

Meaning

Example

able, capable

capable, agreeable, edible, visible

act of, state of, result of

storage, wreckage, damage

relating to

gradual, manual, natural

ance, ancy

action, process, state

assistance, allowance, defiance

ary, ery, ory

relating to, quality, place

aviary, bravery, dormitory

cian

possessing a specific skill

magician, physician

action, function

hesitancy, prophecy, normalcy

quality, realm

freedom, kingdom, wisdom

ee

one who receives the action

refugee, nominee, lessee

en

made of, to make

silken, frozen, wooden

action, state of, quality

difference, confidence, urgency, agency

er, or

one who, that which

baker, miller, professor

escent

in the process of

adolescent, senescence

ess

female

goddess, lioness, actress

fic

making, causing

scientific, specific

ful

full of

frightful, careful, helpful

fy

make

beautify, fortify, simplify

order, condition, quality

manhood, adulthood

age
al

cy
dom

ence, ency

hood

ic

nature of, like

metallic, acidic, bucolic, simplistic

act, result, or state of

cancellation, contagion, infection

ish

origin, nature, resembling

foolish, Irish, clownish, impish

ism

manner, condition

alcoholism, communism, capitalism,

ite

nature of, quality of

Mennonite, dynamite, graphite, Israelite

ity, ty

state of, quality

celebrity, captivity, clarity, poverty

ive

causing, making

abusive, exhaustive, abortive

make

emphasize, exercise, bastardize, idolize

study, science, theory

biology, anthropology, neurology

like, manner of

carelessly, fearlessly, hopelessly

ment

act of, state or, result

containment, contentment, amendment

ness

state of

carelessness, restlessness

nomy

law

autonomy, economy, taxonomy

ous

full of, having

gracious, nervous, pompous,

ship

state of, office, quality

assistantship, friendship, authorship

some

like, apt, tending to

lonesome, threesome, gruesome

ward

in the direction of

eastward, downward, backward

inclined to, tend to

cheery, crafty, faulty

ion, sion, tion

ize, ise
logy
ly

Task 1

Question IV (5 marks)
Instructions: Complete the sentences by using the correct form of the word in
parentheses, which are taken from the passage. Use AFFIXES to form
the correct form of the word. The first one has been done for you.
Example: (0) Those mean doctors were really unhelpful. (HELP)
1.

We were __________ that the party was only for ticket holders and we
were turned away by the doorman. (AWARE)

2.

He remained __________ to the companys offer. (DIFFERENT)

3.

The residents have been __________ dumping rubbish along the road and
this has turned out to be an eye sore. (DISCRIMINATE)

4.

Cyber bullying uses technology to spread rumours and __________

messages. (HATE)

5.

The behaviour of the students during the football match was found
__________ so they had to be suspended. (ACCEPT)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

unaware
indifferent
indiscriminately
hateful
unacceptable

Answer Key: Task 1