WORDS FORMATION PROCESS IN LANGUAGE

In linguistics, words formation processes are the creation of a new word. Words
formation process in language is evolution of new words and new uses of old words as a
reassuring sign of vitality and creativeness in the way a language is shaped by the needs of its
performers.
Affixation
Affixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme, an affix, is attached
to a morphological base.

Prefixes and Suffixes

We can see that some affixes have to be added to the beginning of the words (e.g.
un-, mis,-). These are called prefixes. Other affixes have to be added to the end of

the word (e.g. less, -ish). These are called suffixes.

Infixes
There is a third type of affix, not normally used in English, but found in some
other languages. This is called an infix and as the term suggests, it is an affix that
is incorporated inside another word. It is possible to see the general principle at

work in certain expressions. For example, unfuckinbelievable.

Reduplication
In linguistic terms, this kind of repetition is called reduplication. Reduplication is when a
word, an element of a word, or a phrase is repeated. This can often result in change of
meaning or tone. It happens in many languages. We can count reduplication, also referred
to as echoism, as a special kind of compounding, and this works through repeating a
syllable or the word as whole (sometimes a vowel is changed) and then putting it
together, as in bye-bye (exact reduplication), super-duper (rhyming reduplication), or
chit-chat (ablaut reduplication).
Morphemes Internal Changes
Morpheme-internal Changes a type of word formation process wherein a word changes
internally to indicate grammatical information.
ablaut: sing, sang, sung; swim, swam, swum
other changes: man, men; mouse, mice, goose, geese
Suppletion

Suppletion is the replacement of one stem with another, resulting in an allomorph of a

morpheme which has no phonological similarity to the other allomorphs. Suppletion can
be divided into (1) stem suppletion, (2) affixes suppletion.
The following table illustrates stem suppletion:
Morphological
process

Regular,
nonsuppletive
stem

Suppletive stem

Addition of past
tense suffix

walkwalked

gowent

Addition of
comparative or
superlative suffix

bigbigger
biggest

goodbetter
best

The following table illustrates affix suppletion:

Morphological
process

Regular,
nonsuppletive
affix

Addition of plural catcats

suffix

Suppletive affix

cherubcherubim
ox oxen

Compounding
Compounding is to combine two separate words to produce as a single form of a word.
Common English compounds are: bookcase, fingerprint, textbook, wallpaper, and
waterbed.
Noun-noun compound: note + book notebook
Adjective-noun compound: blue + berry blueberry
Verb-noun compound: work + room workroom
Noun-verb compound: breast + feed breastfeed
Verb-verb compound: stir + fry stir-fry

Adjective-verb compound: high + light highlight

Verb-preposition compound: break + up breakup
Preposition-verb compound: out + run outrun
Adjective-adjective compound: bitter + sweet bittersweet
Preposition-preposition compound: in + to into