PROCESSES OF WORD FORMATION A.

Compounding Compounding is simply the joining of two or more words into a single word, as in hang glider, airstrip, cornflakes, busybody, downpour, cutoff, skywarn, alongside, breakfast, long-haired, devil-may-care, high school. B. Derivation Derivation is the forming of new words by combining derivational affixes or bound bases with existing words, as in disadvise, emplane, deplane, teleplay, ecosystem, coachdom, counsellorship, re-ask. C. Invention Now and then new words are totally invented, like Kodak, nylon, dingbat, goof, quark and blurb, but few of these find their way into the common vocabulary. D. Echoism (root creation) Echoism is the formation of words whose sound suggests their meaning, like hiss and peewee. But the meaning may also be the creature that produces the sound, like bobwhite. Examples: moan, click, murmur, quack, thunder, whisper, lisp, chickadee, bobolink. I Indicate by the first letter the process of formation represented by each of the words below. Compounding derivation Invention Echoism 1. roughneck _ 6. pop _ 2. codgerhood _ 7. cream puff _ 3. clink (of glasses) _ 8. wheeze _ 4. doodad _ 9. weirdoism _ 5. dacron _ 10. exflux _ E. Clipping Clipping means cutting off the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole: lab, dorm, prof, exam, gym, prom, math, psych, mike II Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. porno disco taxi cab deli vibes gin hype __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ 9. curio 10. memo 11. Fred 12. Al 13. Tom 14. Joe 15. Phil __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

III Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed. 1. sport (game) __________ 6. wig __________ 2. pike (road) __________ 7. cute __________ 3. bus __________ 8. Gene __________ 4. van __________ 9. Beth __________ 5. chute __________ 10. Tony __________ Clipped words are formed not only from individual words but from grammatical units, such as modifier plus noun. Paratrooper, for example, is a clipped form of parachutist trooper. IV Give the originals of these clipped words. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Amerindian matre d contrail taxicab moped comsat agribusiness F. Acronymy Acronymy is the process whereby a word is formed from the initials or beginning segments of a succession of words. In some cases the initials are pronounced, as in MP (military police, or Member of Parliament). In others the initials and/or beginning segments are pronounced as the spelled word would be. For example, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and radar (radio detecting and ranging). V Pronounce these acronyms and give their originals. 1. RV 2. NOW 3. UNESCO 4. OK 5. scuba 6. OPEC 7. WASP 8. ICBM 9. jeep 10. laser G. Blending Blending is the fusion of two words into one, usually the first part of one word with the last part of another, as in gasohol, from gasoline and alcohol. ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

VI Give the originals of these blends: 1. flunk 2. happenstance 3. stagflation 4. simulcast 5. gelignite 6. smog 7. dumbfound 8. telecast 9. dandle 10. splatter _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________

VII Give the blends that result from fusing these words. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. transfer automobile escalade blare or blow squall + resistor + omnibus + elevator + spurt + squeak = _________________ = _________________ = _________________ = _________________ = _________________

H. Back-formation Centuries ago, after the introduction of the nouns peddler, beggar, swindler, and editor into our language, speakers followed the analogy of such word-pairs as tell-teller, reap-reaper, writewriter, and created the verbs peddle, beg, swindle, and edit. This process is the reverse of customary method of word formation, whereby we begin with a verb like speak and, by adding the agent morpheme {-ER n}, form the noun speaker. The process is called back-formation. An example is hedgehop, from the noun hedgehopper. VIII 1. The noun greed is a back-formation from the adjective greedy. Write four pairs of words that constitute an analogy for the creation of greed. _____________ ____________ _____________ ____________ _____________ ____________ _____________ ____________ 2. The pairs revise-revision and supervise-supervision are in common use in English. From this analogy what verb is back-formed from television? ______________ 3. English has many pairs on the pattern of create-creation, separate-separation, and deviatedeviation. On this analogy what back-formations would you expect from donation and oration? _______________ and ______________ IX These verbs are back-formations. Write the words from which they are back-formed. 1. housekeep ____________ 9. escalate ____________ 2. typewrite ____________ 10. reminisce ____________ 3. administrate ____________ 11. snap-judge ____________

4. resurrect 5. baby-sit 6. advance-register 7. laze 8. sidle I. Folk Etymology

____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________

12. deficit-spend 13. emote 14. reluct 15. party-poop 16. back-seat-drive 17. hang glide

____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________

A process of changing a word, in part or in whole, to make it more understandable and more like familiar words, is known as folk etymology. X Look up in your dictionary the following examples of folk etymology and write the source of each in the blanks. Usually the reason for the change will be apparent. 1. female ____________ 5. Welsh rarebit ____________ 2. carryall ____________ 6. coleslaw ____________ 3. cockroach ____________ 7. bridegroom ____________ 4. hangnail ____________ 8. helpmate ____________ J. Antonomasia Antonomasia means the formation of a common noun, a verb, or an adjective from the name of a person or place. For example, the verb frisbee comes from the Frisbie Bakery in Bridgewater, Connecticut, whose pie tins were used for a throwing game. A lover, for instance, may be called a romeo, a don juan, a casanova, or a lothario. If he is too quixotic, he may meet his waterloo at the hands of some sheba or jezebel. XI Look up in your dictionary the following instances of antonomasia and write the original of each in the blanks. 1. sandwich ____________ 6. denim ____________ 2. hamburger ____________ 7. cashmere ____________ 3. frankfurter ____________ 8. jeans ____________ 4. wiener ____________ 9. leotard ____________ 5. baloney, bologna ____________ 10. guy ____________ K. Reduplication Reduplication is the process of forming a new word by doubling a morpheme, usually with a change of vowel or initial consonant, as in pooh-pooh, tiptop, and hanky-panky. The basic, originating morpheme is most frequently the second half, like dilly-dally, but it may be the first half, like ticktock, or both halves, like singsong, or neither half, like boogie-woogie. XII Underline the originating morpheme in each of these twin-words: 1. wiggle-waggle 4. super-duper 2. pitter-patter 5. hugger-mugger 3. nitwit 6. lovey-dovey

Twin-words can be divided into three classes, leaving only a small residue of irregular forms. 1. The base morpheme is repeated without change. Examples: clop-clop, tick-tick 2. The base morpheme is repeated with a change of initial consonant. Examples: fuddy-duddy, tootsie-wootsie, razzle-dazzle, roly-poly, teeny-weeny, heebiejeebies, hootchy-kootchy. 3. The base morpheme is repeated with a change of vowel. Examples: chitchat, tiptop, criss-cross XIII Identify the class of twin-word by one of these numbers: 1. Repetition without change 2. Repetition with change of initial consonant 3. Repetition with change of vowel _ 1. knick-knack _ 2. ding-dong _ 3. wishy-washy _ 4. quack-quack _ 5. rowdy-dowdy _ 6. hotsy-totsy _ 7. hocus-pocus _ 8. flipflop _ 9. humdrum _ 10. nitty-gritty