Word Formation

Word Formation

by Carol Moe

Multiple Choice

True or False: Morphology is the study of word forms and word formation.

• True

• False

​Morphology is the study of word forms and word formation.

​Infection (analogía, flexión) - different forms of words such as the singular and plural forms of nouns or the present and past tenses of verbs. Related to the classification of words as different parts of speech. Some Spanish Grammarians limit "morphología" to this area (inflection and parts of speech) only.

​

​word formation - the study of the processes for creating new words.

​Roots

​Root (raíz) - the one principal meaningful part of a word

​

​Example: Dog cannot be reduced to smaller meaningful units.

​

​Dog has the word Do but the meaning of dog is not built from do.

​

​Roots may be more than one syllable.

Multiple Choice

Which one of these words is not a root by itself?

• dog

• crocodile

• storage

• disgust

​Affixes

​Affixes - meaningful elements joined to a root.

​

​Prefix - added to the beginning

​Infix - added to the middle (these don't exist in English and Spanish)

​Suffix - added to the end

Multiple Choice

Which word is a prefix plus a root?

• unkind

• unrenewable

• storage

• socialism

• renewal

Multiple Choice

Which word is a root plus a suffix?

• unkind

• unrenewable

• storage

• socialism

• renewal

Multiple Choice

Which word is two prefixes plus a root plus a suffix?

• unkind

• unrenewable

• storage

• socialism

• renewal

Multiple Choice

Which word is a root plus two suffixes?

• unkind

• unrenewable

• storage

• socialism

• renewal

Multiple Choice

Which word is one prefix plus a root plus a suffix?

• unkind

• unrenewable

• storage

• socialism

• renewal

​Word formation processes

​Derivation - adding prefixes or suffixes, modification in the stem (raise/rise), shifting the accent (perMIT - verb / PERmit - noun // conVICT - verb / CONvict - noun), change in part of speech without changing word (to walk/the walk).

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​Compounding - two roots or two words are joined in meaning, can be written together, separately, or with a hyphen (ice cream, grandmother, knee-jerk, ferrocarril, lavamanos)

Multiple Select

Words are considered as derivational in which cases? (choose all that apply)

• modification in the stem (raise/rise)

• two roots or separate words are joined together.

• adding prefixes or suffixes

• shifting the accent (perMIT - verb / PERmit - noun // conVICT - verb / CONvict - noun)

Multiple Choice

Words are considered as compound in which cases? (choose all that apply)

• modification in the stem (raise/rise)

• two roots or separate words are joined together.

• adding prefixes or suffixes

• shifting the accent (perMIT - verb / PERmit - noun // conVICT - verb / CONvict - noun)

Open Ended

Affirm or Contest with an example: English relies heavily on compounding, whereas Spanish is richer in affixes for that purpose. In both languages, suffixes are used more than prefixes.

​Other ways words are added to English

Open Ended

What are acronyms? Give an example of an acronym you like.

​Blending

​Joining the beginning of one word with the end of another.

​Smog = smoke + fog

​Brunch = breakfast + lunch

​chironja = china + toronja

​

​Also Puerto Rican names are sometimes made from blending.

​Clipping

​Shortening a word, usually by dropping the last part.

​Profesor - profe

​Professor - Prof.

​Okay - k

Pix - pictures

limo - limousine

​Doc - doctor

​Borrowing

​taking loanwords from another language

​

​English to Spanish:

​Parking

​Fast Food

​

​Spanish to English:

​tortillas

​chocolate

​Back-formation

​A word which appears to have a suffix is incorrectly identified as the root.

​Demonstration -- demonstrate (correct)

​Administration -- administrate (back-formation)

​

​Coinage or Invention

​Inventing a name out of the air.

Multiple Choice

Kindergarten, karaoke, and cliché can best be described as

• Acronym

  or

  Coinage

• Back-formation

• Blending

  or

  Clipping

• Borrowing

• Compounding

Multiple Choice

Baloncesto, Sabelotodo, and girasol can best be described as

• Acronym

  or

  Coinage

• Back-formation

• Blending

  or

  Clipping

• Borrowing

• Compounding

Multiple Choice

Gym, Bro, and veggie can best be described as

• Acronym

  or

  Coinage

• Back-formation

• Blending

  or

  Clipping

• Borrowing

• Compounding

Multiple Choice

FOMO, FEMA, and YOLO can best be described as

• Acronym

  or

  Coinage

• Back-formation

• Blending

  or

  Clipping

• Borrowing

• Compounding

Multiple Choice

Guestimate, mockumentary, and staycation can best be described as

• Acronym

  or

  Coinage

• Back-formation

• Blending

  or

  Clipping

• Borrowing

• Compounding

Open Ended

Think of any word and

then tell me a characterization you can make of it from this class.