The Study of Language: Word Formation Chapter 5

Names for organizations are often designed to have their acronym represent an appropriate term, like what?

"mothers against drunk driving" (MADD) and "Women against rape" (WAR)

What is conversion?

A change in the function of a word, as for example when a noun comes to be used as a verb without any reduction

What is in this process of hypocorism?

A longer word is reduced to a single syllable, then -y or -ie is added to the end

What is a hypocorism?

A particular type of reduction, favored in Australian and British English

What is backformation?

A specialized type of reduction process

How does backformation work?

A word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another type (usually a verb)

What are the small bits described as?

Affixes

What are prefixes?

Affixes that are added to the beginning of the word

What are infixes?

An affix that is incorporated inside another word

What are some of the recent creations?

Automation-automate Choreography/choreograph syllabification/syllabify

What are common English compounds?

Bookcase, doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn, textbook, wallpaper, waterbasket and waterbed

What is the most common sources of new words in English?

Borrowing, the taking over of words from other languages

What are some examples of acronyms?

CD and SCPA where the pronunciation consists of saying each of separate letter

What can Verbs become?

Can also become adjectives, as in see-through material or a stand-up comedian

What are the other labels for this common process?

Category change and functional shift

What is one example of clipping?

Gasoline, most people use gas

Besides compounds being found in English and German, it can be found where?

Hmong, spoken in Laos and Vietnam, which has many recently created compounds

What is the assumption of this very regular source of backformed verbs?

If there is a noun ending in -er )or something close in sound), then we can create a verb for what the noun-er does

What does the conversion process do in the Modern English?

It can involve verbs becoming nouns, with guess, must and spy as the sources of a guess, a must, and a spy

How is derivation accomplished?

It is accomplished by means of a large number of small "bits" of the English language that are not usually given separate listing in dictionaries

What is the special type of borrowing called?

Loan-translation or calque

What is an analogy?

New words are formed that are similar in some ways to existing words

What are eponyms?

New words based on the name of a person or a place

What are acronyms?

New words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words

How do you describe the mixing of languages?

Some people talk about Franglais (Français/Anglais) and Spanglish (Spanish/English)

What are the other affixes called that are attached to the end of the word?

Suffixes

However, in blending, we typically take what?

Take only the beginning of one word and join it to the end of the other word

What is blending?

The combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term is also present

What is the very regular source of backformed verbs in English is based on what?

The common pattern work/worker

What is clipping?

The element of reduction that is noticeable in blending is even more apparent in the process

The ability to use different forms of a new word in the language must derive from where?

The fact that there is a lot of regularity in the word formation processes in a language.

What is coinage?

The invention and general use of totally new terms but is not very common in English

What is derivation?

The most common word formation to be found in the production of new words

What is a good example of backformation?

The noun television first came into use and then the verb televise was created from it

What is etymology?

The study of the origin and history of a word

What is the most salient contemporary example of coinage?

The word google, originally a misspelling for the word googol, in the creation of the word Googleplex

When we look closely at the etymologies of everyday words, we soon discover what?

There are many different ways in which new words can enter the language

What is within in this process of loan-translation or calque?

There is a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing language

What do Phrasal verbs become?

They also become nouns

What are some of the examples of a hypocorism?

This is the process that results in move ("moving pictures") and tell ("television").

How did the voiced fricative became part of the English Language?

Through borrowed French words such as measure and rouge

What are some typical sources?

Trade names for commercial products that come general terms (usually without capital letters), for any version of that product

What is compounding?

Very common in languages such as German and English, but much less common in languages such as French and Spanish

How do we use infixes in English?

We use them when we're emotionally aroused, "hallebloodylujah!"

When does clipping occur?

When a word of more than one syllable (facsimile) is reduced to a shorter form (fax), usually beginning in casual speech.

What is a neologism?

a new word

What are some examples of affixes?

un-, mis-, pre-, -ful

The English word superman is thought to be a loan-translation of what German word?

übermensch