ENGL 157:

COMMUNICATION
SKILLS (I)
Lecture 2: Parts of Speech – Usage

-Word classes
-Word Formation Processes
 Assignment
• Writing: Research paper
Task: Write a research paper that seeks to establish the roles that the internet and new
technologies play in enhancing your area of study. Use the processes of note making and
note taking to gather information for the research paper.
You may realise that this task is broad and undefined. As part of the writing process, you
will have to think clearly through the task and establish what the boundaries of your paper
will be.
• Great tips can be found here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/01/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/02/
• Drafts and final paper must be presented in a professional manner
• APA Style for presenting research papers:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• Word limit: 1,500 words (excluding references)
 Assignment con’t

An approach to writing the paper:

• Step One: Beginning Your Paper

• Step Two: Locating Information - "Doing the Research"
• Step Three: Structure and Development
• Step Four: Writing your Paper (the First Draft)
• Step Five: Proofreading and Revision
• Step Six: Writing your Final Draft
 Assignment con’t

General structure of the research paper:

1. Introduction
2. Body of the research
3. Discussions
4. Conclusions
5. References
 Aims of the lecture
The aims of the lecture are as follows:

• To discuss some of the word formation processes

• To introduce students to the various parts of speech in the English

language.

• To demonstrate with examples the use of the parts of speech.

• To enable students to develop writing and speaking skills.

 Word

What is a word?
 Word Classes 1/1
• A general assumption about what a language is consisted of is likely to be ‘words’,
therefore, words are considered to be the building blocks of language.
• A word can be defined as a linguistic item which is written with a space on either side.
Though this definition is applicable to written language, there are word forms that with
more than one word that express and function as a single unit.
Examples include:
- compound words (e.g. world-class, world-war),
- multi-word verbs which consist of more than one element and they can
normally be defined with a single alternative word (e.g. put off – ‘deter or
postpone’, run up – ‘incur or make’, take on – ‘employ or challenge’.
• A word can typically occur as a minimal free form. That is, a word in isolation can be
a complete utterance. (e.g. Stop!, Here!, No, Possibly, Never, etc.) –They are often
uttered in response to a question or other comments.
• A word is typically a minimal free-standing unit which cannot be interrupted. (e.g.
word-class a world truly class, world-war another world terrible war)
 Word Classes 1/2
• Word classes are the full range of categories into which words can be subdivided.
• There are nine (9) major word classes and two (2) minor word classes.
-The major word classes are useful because they group words together according to
particular characteristics which they share and give us more precise labels to use when
referring to certain words or lexemes. They include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
pronouns, determiners, auxiliaries, prepositions and conjunctions.
- The minor word classes interjections, which include exclamations such as ouch, wow or
mmm, usually with spoken language. The reason why interjections are only a minor word
class is that they do not enter into grammatical structures like the major word classes. They
are often uttered in isolation as a response to a comment, question or event.
The other minor word class is the group of particles. This class consists of just a handful of
words, which include particle to (e.g. to be or not to be, and negative particle not).
NB: Classification of numerals (major word class or minor word class) – Cardinal numerals: one,
two, three, etc.; and Ordinal numerals: first, second, third, etc.; Fractions: quarter, two-thirds,
one-quarter, etc.
 Word Classes 1/4
• Word classes have been grouped into two main categories: The Open Word Classes and
The Closed Word Classes
-The open word classes: These word classes are so called because they are
indefinitely extendable by the creation of new members. That is, their membership can be
added to. They include nouns, verbs. adjectives and adverbs.
-The closed word classes: Members of these word classes are normally limited and
normally cannot be extended by the creation of new members. They include pronouns,
determiners, prepositions and interjections. (Very few and they can be listed. e.g. English
articles – a, an and the).

NB: In English, the part of speech to which a word belongs cannot be identified just by
merely looking at it in isolation, except that the word is used within a context. Therefore,
there is the need to discuss word classes based on their forms, positions and functions.
 Word Formation Processes
• Word Formation Processes look at the internal structure of words in a language, in this case
the English Language.
• The area of linguistics which is concerned with the internal structure of words is
morphology. That is, morphology is the study of the internal structure of words.
• There are two main types:
1. Lexical morphology (also known as derivational morphology):This deals with the
means by which existing words have been constructed and by which new
words might be constructed.
2. Inflectional morphology: This deals with the way words are adapted in different
grammatical contexts (e.g. making a noun plural).

• Some of the word formation processes include affixation, compounding, conversion, coinage,
borrowing, blending, clipping, back formation, derivation, abbreviations, Acronyms, Eponyms.
 Coinage, Borrowing & Calquing
• Coinage: It refers to the creation of new words either deliberately or accidentally. Many coinages
start out as brand names. They are also referred to as neologisms, thus meaning ‘new words’.
Examples include Google, computer, aspirin, band-aid, etc.
• Borrowing: It refers to the process of taking over words from other languages. Borrowed words are
also referred to as loanwords. English language, for instance, has borrowed words from
other languages over the years. Examples
boss – Dutch
tycoon – Japanese
pizza – Italian
algebra – Arabic
yoghurt – Turkish
• Calquing: It refers to the process in which a borrowed word or phrase is translated from one language
to another. Calques are also referred to as root-to-root or word-for-word translation. Examples
Latin – locus commūnis – commonplace
French – vers libre – free verse
German – lehnwort – loanword
Chinese – hăo jiŭ bu jiàn – long time no see
 Affixation & Compounding
• Affixation: It is the process by which bound morphemes (other than roots) are added to
bases, either word-initially or word-finally, to form new word. A bound morpheme
which is added in this way is an affix. Prefix – word-initially (e.g. disappear, untidy);
Suffix – word finally (e.g. joyful, employee); infix – within a word (e.g. hoo-bloody-
ray).

• Compounding: This involves the process of joining two or more lexemes or words to form
single new words. They can be written as one word or two words joined with a
hyphen. Examples

note + book = notebook

cup + board = cupboard
work + room = workroom
break + up = breakup
 Clipping & Blending
• Clipping: This is when a word with more than one syllable is shortened or reduced without
changing the meaning of the word. Such short form of words are often adopted in casual
conversations. Examples

examination – exam
celebrity – celebs
telephone – phone
gymnasium – gym
doctor – doc
• Blending: This involves taking parts of two or more words combine them to create new words. The
parts of the words can be the beginning of one word and the end of another word; and the meaning
of the blend word or new word is often the meaning of the original words. Examples
education + entertainment = edutainment
motor + hotel = motel
Spanish + English = Spanglish
breakfast + lunch = brunch
 Conversion & Backformation
• Conversion: This involves the process of creating new words by which a word of one
grammatical form changes its word class without any alteration to the form/spelling or
pronunciation. Examples
-The students gained access to the classroom (Noun)
To access information online (Verb)
-Google (Verb or Noun)

• Backformation: It is a process that results in a change of word class, which is similar to

conversion. However, backformation involves the modification of a word usually through
the removal of a suffix (or suffix-like ending) but occasionally a prefix. Most typically,
suffixes are removed from nouns to create new verbs. Examples
Noun Verb derived
television to televise
emotion to emote
reminiscence to reminisce
 Acronym, Eponymy & Abbreviation
• Acronym: It refers to an economical way of expressing a phrase since the first letter
(letters) usually of each word in the phrase is placed in sequence to from a new word.
Examples: CID – Criminal Investigation Department
Scuba – Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

• Eponymy: It is the use of a proper name to refer to an object or action. The resulting
word is an eponym. Often, the object in question is an invention of the person
after whom it is named. Examples: sandwish, wellington, hoover, boycott

• Abbreviation: It is the word formation process in which a word or phrase is shortened.

Initialisms are a type of abbreviation formed by the initial letters of a word or phrase.
Examples: Sun. – Sunday, Thurs. – Thursday, dept. – department, etc.
 References
• Adolinama, P. P. (2005). Communication Skills for University Students. Accra:
ANEST Company Ltd.
• Afreh, E.S. (2006). Grammar and usage for tertiary students. Kumasi: C & C.
• Sekyi-Baidoo, Y. (2003). Learning and communicating (2nd Ed.). Accra: Infinity Graphics
Ltd.