Topic 1: WORD FORMATION

WORD FORMATION

- The creation of a new word

- It is a branch of science of language, which studies the patterns on which a language forms new
lexical items (new unities, new words)

- It’s a process of formingwords by combining root and affixal morphemes

DIFFERENT TYPES OF WORD

FORMATION

1. PRODUCTIVE

2. NON-PRODUCTIVE WAYS

PRODUCTIVE WAYS INCLUDE AFFIXATION, WORD COMPOSITION, CONVERSION AND ABBREVIATION.

NON-PRODUCTIVE WAY INCLUDES

SOUND INTERCHANGE, STRESS

INTERCHANGE, SOUND IMITATION, BLENDING, BACK FORMATION.

AFFIXATION:

- IT CONSISTS OF ADDING AN AFFIX TO THE STEM OF A DEFINITE PART OF SPEECH. THE MAIN
FUNCTION OF SUFFIXATION IS TO FORM ONE PART OF SPEECH FROM ANOTHER.

- THE SECONDARY FUNCTION IS TO CHANGE THE LEXICAL MEANING OF THE SAME PART OF
SPEECH.

- AFFIXATION IS DEVIDED INTO SUFFIXATION AND

PREFIXATION.

PREFIXATION

-A prefix is an affixation process that includes adding a morpheme at the beginning of the word.

SUFFIXATION

- It is a formation of new words by adding suffixes to the stem.

5 GROUPS OF SUFFIXATION:

1. Noun-forming = -er, -dom, -ism

2. Adjective-forming = -able, -less, -ous

3. Verb-forming = -ize, -ify, -en

4. Adverb-forming = =ly, -ward, -wise

5. Numeral-forming = -teen, -ty

COMPOUNDING

- It refers to the joining of two separate words to produce a single word. The two words don’t lose
their individual sounds.

Ex: bookcase

Fingerprint

Sunburn basketball

CONVERSION
- This is the change of the function of the word. For example when a noun comes to be used as a
verb.

Ex: bag – to bag, back –to back bottle-to bottle

ABBREVIATION

- Word groups can be shortened

Ex: professor – Prof as soon as possible – asap

- Abbreviation of words consists in clipping a part of a word.

CLIPPING

- Clipping a synonym of reduction. In this process a word that has more than one syllable is
reduces to a shorter form.

Ex: Brassiere (bra)

Fanatic (fan)

Situation Comedy (sitcom)

NON-PRODUCTIVE WAY OF BLENDING:

- New words are forms from a word group or two synonym by clipping the end of the first
component and the beginning of the second component.

Ex: medical + care = medicare Spanish + English = Spanglish modulator + demodulator = modem

BACKFORMATION

- Or negative derivation

- A complex word exists first, the nonaffixed form is derived later.

Ex: baby-sitter = baby-sit editor = edit

SOUND IMITATION

- Other terms of sound imitation are onomatopoeia and echoism.

- Words coined by this type of word building are made by imitating different kinds of sound that
may be produces by animals, birds, human beings and inanimate objects.

Ex: dogs – bark cocks – cock-a-doodle-doo ducks – quack cats – meow cows - moo

STRESS INTERCHANGE

- Is one of the ways of the word building, based on a shift of stress.

Ex: ‘conduct – to con’duct

‘present – to pre’sent

‘frequent – to fre’quent

Topic 2: Denotation and Connotation

DENOTATION
- The exact, literal meaning of a word. - The dictionary definition.
Ex: “The Family sat together in front of a warm fire”
The denotative or warm is = nearly hot
CONNOTATION
- The unspoken, hidden meaning that gives a word more emotional impact.
- All meanings, associations, or emotions that have come to be attached to some words,
in addition to their literal dictionary definition.
Ex: “The family sat together in front of a warm fire” The connotative meaning or figurative
interpretation of warm is comforting or friendly (mood/tone)

Topic 3: Synonyms and Antonyms

SYNONYMS:

Synonyms are words which are related to each other or simply have the same meaning.
Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called
synonymy.

Synonyms can be any part of speech such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions,
as long as both words are the same part of speech.
Here are some example of English synonyms:
Verb – “buy” and “purchase”
Adjective – “big” and “large”
Adverb – “quickly” and “speedily” Preposition – “on” and “upon”
Note that synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words;
For instance, pupil is not synonymous with student.
Likewise, he expired means the same as he died, yet my passport has expired cannot be
replaced by my passport has died.
GIVE EXAMPLES:
Beautiful:
Fair:
Funny:
Happy:
Hardworking:
Honest:
Intelligent:
Introverted:
Kind:
ANTONYM:
[Antonyms are words which are opposite in their meanings.
Antonyms are not related to each other.
 CATEGORIES OF ANTONYM:
1. Graded Antonyms – a word pairs whose meanings are opposite and which lie on a
continuous spectrum
Ex: hot - cold
EXAMPLES:

Fat – skinny Joy - grief

Young – old Dark - sight
Happy – sad Dangerous - safe
Hard – soft Early - late
Last – first Empty - full
Foolish – wise Pretty - ugly
Fast – slow Bad - good
Warm – cool Soft - hard
Wide – narrow Worried - calm
Abundant – scarce Smart - dumb
CATEGORIES OF ANTONYM:

2. Complementary Antonyms – words have a relationship where there are no middle

ground. There are only two possibilities, either one or the other.
Ex: push - pull
EXAMPLES:
Man – woman sink - float
Push – pull true - false
Dead – alive left - right
Off – on pass - fail
Day – night exit - entrance
CATEGORIES OF ANTONYM:
3. Relational Antonyms – are sometimes considered a subcategory of complementary
antonyms. With these pairs, for there to be a relationship, both must exist.
Ex: husband – wife

Topic 4: Homonyms and Homophones

EN110
HOMONYMS
- Are words that sound like one another and have same spellings but have different
meanings.
Homo + Nym = Homonym
(same) (name) (same name)
In linguistics, a homonym is one of a group of words that share the same spelling and the same
pronunciation but have different meanings, usually a result of the two words having different
origins.
bat bat
quiver quiver
spring spring

HOMOPHONES
- A word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning and differ in
spelling.
Home + Phone = Homophone
(same) (sound) (same sound)
The term “homophone” may apply to units longer or shorter than words, such as phrases,
letters or groups pf letters that are pronounced the same as another phrase, letter or group of
letters. Homophones are often used to create puns and deceive the reader or to suggest
multiple meanings.
sea see
flower flour
hair hare

Topic 5: Idiomatic
Expression
Idiomatic Expressions:
An idiom is an expression that has become acceptable in the English language even if it is
peculiar in meaning and construction. When on uses idiom, he may be conversing figuratively.
Examples:
1. “lend a hand”
- To give help or assistance
2. “to catch a cold”- To be sick with a cold
3. “to break the ice”
- To be able to put people at ease or to relax them
Examples:
4. “to drop in”- To pay a casual visit
5. “to face the music”- To face trouble or punishment
6. “to beat around the bush”
- To talk around the point or the topic
Examples:
7. “A picture is worth a thousand words”
- A picture tells a story just as well as a large amount of descriptive text.
8. “It is raining cats and dogs”
- It is raining very heavily.
9. “like a fish out of water”
- Appears to be completely out of place; very awkward
Examples:
10. “caught red handed”
- Was seen doing something illegal
11. “my lips are sealed”
- You will not talk about something
12. “a bird in the hand is worth in the bush”
- It is better to keep what you have than to risk it by trying to get something better
Examples:
13. “She has butterflies in her stomach”
- She feels very nervous
14. “He drinks like a fish”
- He drinks alcohol excessively
15. “A little bird told me”
- A way of indicating that you do not want to reveal who told you something

Topic 6: Figurative Language

1. SIMILE
- Comparing two (2) unlike things using like or as. Ex:
- She sways like a pearl.
- She hangs like a star.
- His temper was as explosive as a volcano.
Patterns in Simile:
Verb + like + noun
As + Adjective + as + Noun
2. METAPHOR
- Comparison between two (2) unlike things that actually have something important in
common. Ex:
- Life is one big roller coaster ride.
- The boy is a fish in the water.
- He is my knight in shining armor.
3. PERSONIFICATION
- Representing an inanimate object or an abstract idea as a person and endowing it with
human traits. Ex:
- The sun stretched his golden arms and greeted everyone with his kind smile.
- The trees were fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
4. HYPRBOLE
- It is a major exaggeration or overstatement. Authors use this figures of speech to
emphasize a point or humor. Ex:
- I nearly dies laughing.
- I’ve told you a million times.
- My backpack weighs a tom.
5. OXYMORON
- A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side. Ex:
- Act naturally.
- Original copy.
- Alone together.
- Pretty ugly
- Found missing
6. PARADOX
- A statement that appears to contradict itself. Ex:
- War is peace.
- Freedom is slavery.
- Ignorance is strength.
- Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.
7. APOSTROPHE
- The addressing of a usually absent person therefore the subject is not present or
inanimate.
Ex:
- Alarm clock, pleas don’t fail me.
- Oh rose, how sweet you sell and how bright you look!
8. ONOMATOPOEIA
- A word that sounds like its meaning. It can also be described as the use of the word
which imitates a sound such as screech, whirr, crunch, bang, roar, growl, click, snap and pop. Ex:
- A snap of a finger.
- The camera clicks smoothly.
- The wild bang of a rockstar.
9. ALLITERATION
- The repetition of beginning consonant sounds and frequent recurrence of the same
initial letter or sound.
Ex:
- Don’t drink and drive.
- Six silly swans went swimming in the sea.
- Coca cola, Mickey Mouse, Dunking Donut, Kitkat, Spongebob Squarepants.

10. IRONY
- A situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems to be the
opposite of what you expected. Ex:
- He is as smart as a soap dish.
- The titanic was said to be unsinkable but sank on its first voyage.
- I lost my wallet. This is my lucky day.
10. IRONY
- A situation that is strange or funny because things happen in a way that seems to be the
opposite of what you expected. Ex:
- He is as smart as a soap dish.