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1. Affixation:
un- as the most productive word-formation process
others: de-, anti-, dis-, -ize.
When a compound becomes much used, it might undergo some phonetic changes. For
example, -MAN, which has even become an affix. In some cases, the pronunciation can
change so much that it is no longer recognized as the single word it has been.
e.g. –ly which originates from the OE word “lic” – similar, equal.
Over a long period of time, the stressed element of a compound may also change in
pronunciation, so that the origin of the word becomes obscured.
e.g. breakfast (break + fast);
holiday (holy + day);
woman (wife + man [OE: wifmann]
3. Conversion (the derivation of one word from another without any change of form)
e.g. market, which was first a noun (from Norman French)
Conversion has been highly productive in the later Modern English period. e.g. to audition, to
pinpoint, to service. Others: a handout, a walkout.
4. Others:
word-shortening (cab, photo, pub);
blending (brunch, smog, motel);
back-formation (beggar – from beg).