WORD FORMATION

PROCESSES
COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR 1

Etymology
By studying their origins, it can be possible to

get the meaning of words, especially those

presenting Greek or Latin roots.
E.g. Etymology
etymon (Greek= original form)
+ logia (Greek= study of)

Coinage
It is basically the invention of totally new

words.
One of the most common refers to those Ns
that are originated in famous trademarks that
become so popular that people identify those
products with such a name. E.g. vaseline,
aspirin, kleenex, teflon, etc.
Eponyms refer to those words based on the
name of people or places. E.g. sandwich;
bikini; Volt; Farenheit, etc.
Examples in Spanish?

Borrowing
It refers to the taking over of words coming

from a given language and incorporating them

to a different one.
E.g. croissant; piano; lilac; zebra, etc.
Loan translation or calque refers to the
direct translation of the elements of a word
into the borrowing language.
e.g. skyscraper; hot dogs; honey
moon; technical support.

Compounding
It refers to the joining of two separate words to

produce a single form.

E.g. doorknob; bookcase; wallpaper, etc.
In our country?

Blending
Its typically accomplished by taking the beginning

of a word and joining it to the end of another word.

E.g. smoke + fog = smog

television + marathon = telethon.

Clipping
A word of more than one syllable is reduced to a

shorter form, ususally in casual speech.

E.g. fanatic = fan

influenza = flu

telephone = phone.
Hypocorisms refer to those reductions that take
y or ie in their endings. Typically in British and
Australian casual language.
e.g. moving picture = movie; television = telly

Australian = Aussie

Backformation
A word of one type (usually a noun) is

reduced to form a word of another type

(usually a verb).
E.g. television = televise

donation = donate

edition = edit

Conversion
It refers to the change in the function of a word;

for example when a N becomes a V wihout any

reduction.
E.g. Bottle = to bottle

e-mail = to e-mail

Acronyms
It refers to new words formed from the initial

letters of a set of other words.

E.g. CD; VCR

laser; radar; scuba

Multiple Proceses
More than one process can be involved in the

creation of new words.

E.g. deli = borrowing and clipping
snowball (V) = compounding and conversion