Word Formation Ling 201

"Alternations" or Base modification

a historical process wherein the morphology of an existing word is interpreted to be complex and deconstructed go -> went bad -> worse flee -> flight

onomatopoeia

a long word is cut short -- often ignoring morpheme boundaries pre- + sequel -> prequel true + companion -> Trupanion

Stress Placement

bound morphemes are affixed to a root or base word récord (n)<- -> recórd (v) présent <- -> presént cóntest <- -> contést

Acronym

first letters of the words in a phrase are pronounced like a spelled word NATO, asap, scuba, radar, laser

Loanwords (Borrowing)

first letters of the words in a phrase are read off as letters and used as a word oomph, phony

Alphabetisms

morphemes that are simply made up and then become part of the language/popular usage CD, DVD, ASAP

clipping

morphemes whose phonetic form mimics the sound of the referent; (iconic) professor prof sci-fi

Suppletion

some phonetic portion of a base is copied and affixed to the base goose -> geese take <- took descent<- ->descend

Reduplication

sounds in the root or stem change to mark a morphemic difference Chamorro: adda -> aadda mimic mimicker kanno -> kakanno eat eater English: wishy-washy hoity-toity

Conversion (or, Zero Derivation)

the entire sound of a morpheme or base is replaced by another to mark morphological change/ diff. editor >> to edit burglar >> to burgle intuition ->to intuit something

Affixation

the louder, or emphasized, syllable is different inequality, undo, redo, transformationalizability microaggression

Backformation (Reanalysis)

two or more roots are combined to form a new larger word a skate -> to skate drink milk ->to milk (it) to drive -> a drive

polysemy

two or more words/ morphemes are shortened and combined into one form with a new meaning grass (as in lawns) >> grass (as marijuana) blackberry (as a phone/...)

Compounding

with no phonetic alteration, the grammatical function of a word is changed bedhead, mic drop, stir-fry

blending

without change in form or POS, innovative usage of an existing word; new related meaning tweet whoosh bam

Eponyms

words adopted from another language sandwich, kleenex, coke, sign your John Hancock, ottoman (foot stool), davenport (sofa)

Coinage

words that stem from a proper name (become common nouns, verbs, etc.) sushi, debonair, schmuck, descend