Morphology: word formation processes

MORPHOLOGY AND
SYNTAX
Dr. Monira I. Al-Mohizea

Consider the following:
Find examples:
 V=> N
 N=>V
 Adj=> V
 Adj=> N
 Adj=> Adv
(2) Conversion
 Conversion is a widely used method of forming
words in English.
 When conversion occurs, the syntactic context is
the only indicator that word class has changed.
 Conversion of N => V and to a lesser extent
V=>N, is very productive.
 E.g. deriving a verb from the noun floor works,
but with ceiling, it doesn't.
 Sometimes, we are unsure which way the
derivation went historically, i.e. is plan a noun
derived form a verb or a verb derived form a
noun?
 Schoolboy
 Gundog
 Undrsell
 Razorsharp
 Greenhouse
 Taxpayer
(3) Compounding
 Compounds arc complex words containing at least two
bases that are themselves words.
 It has always been a highly productive process in English.
 Compounds are classified on the basis of the word class of
their constituents and the class of the entire resulting
word.
 As is the case with affixes, the concept of head is
important in morphology in general, and in compounds
too.
 Compounds always have a headword which assigns its
syntactic properties to the entire word, based on the
right-hand head rule, it is normally the right-hand-most
word.
 But this is not always the case, (phrasal verbs??)
 When the right-hand head rule applies and
the last word in the compound assigns its
class to the entire word as you can see in
the tree in Figure 5.4 and 5.8 on page 102.
 Compounds can also include other
compounds, some of which may have
affixes, causing complexity (e.g. armchair,
sportsman)
 It is very common for words formed by
affixation to be part of a compound.
Compounds including affixed
compounds
Compounds including affix words
Consider the following
 Blackberry
 Blueberry
 Strawberry
 Raspberry
 Gooseberry
 Cranberry
 Huckleberry
 Mulberry
 Should we recognize them as bound morphemes?
 Should we do so even if the meaning is totally
obscure?
Issues..
 The words in RED are clearly compounds; they are
made of the words black, blue and berry. Similarly, the
words in BLACK also appear to be compounds.
 The problem is that most Present-day speakers of
English do not comprehend the meaning and relevance
of (straw, rasp and goose) in these words and view them
simply as mono-morpheme words.
 The problem in the words in BLUE, as the bound morphs
cran-, mul- and huckle- occur only in these words in the
entire language. Their specific meaning is elusive, and it
is not clear whether they are root morphemes or
prefixes.
 If they are root morphemes, the words in BLUE are
Cranberry Words- Conclusion..
 The difference between compounding and

affixation is not always clear-cut.
 Reality is more complex, as the norm is to
recognize affix morphemes as word-
building elements that recur in many
words for example, re-, -er, -ing, non-
 But sometimes the evidence is
indeterminate. If a form appears in only
one word as is the case with cranberry
words.
Further Sources of
English Words
 Coinage
 Eponyms
 Backformation
 Blending
 Clipping
 Hypocorisms
 Acronyms and abbreviations
 Borrowing
 Nylon
(Rayon??, cotton??)
Haagen Dazs??
Coinage
 Definition: Word manufacturing without recycling
existing words and morphemes is called coinage.
 This process is rare in English- Compare to that of
Arabic?
 It is mostly found in names of companies and
corporations and their commercial products.
 Nylon was coined in 1938 by the DuPont
pharmaceutical company.
 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the
fabricated stem (nyl- with the pseudo-suffix –on)
found in the names of textile fibers (e.g. rayon,
cotton)
 Boeing
 Dell
 Seattle
 Victoria
 Pasteurization
Eponyms
 Definition: Eponyms are created by
widening the meaning of a personal
name or product associated with that
person.
 This makes this process very productive
as new companies are created all the
time.
Original word ????
Beggar Beg
Peddlar Peddle
Hawker Hawk
Scavenger Scavenge
Editor Edit
Backformation
 Normally word formation involves addition rather
than subtraction. Affixes are added to a base, or
two words are combined to form a word.
 Definition: it is the process of taking something
away from the input. It arises from a
reinterpretation of the structure of a word, so that
a chunk that is reanalyzed as an affix is removed,
leaving behind the assumed root
 There are interesting developments in the use of
backformation in current journalistic writing,
extending the process in an innovative way. E.g. in
performance-enhancing drugs.
 Insanity + mania =>
 Smoke + fog=>
 Adolf Dassler
 Adidas
Blending
Definition: Chunks of words may be blended to
form new words.
 Less commonly and mainly in the field of IT, it is
the initial chunks of two words that are combined

(e.g. (modulator + demodulator) => modem)
 (Wireless+ Fidelity) =>Wi Fi.
 More commonly, the initial chunk of the first word
is combined with the final part of the second word.

 (e.g. brunch => breakfast+ lunch), (insania =>
insanity + mania).

 fab (from ?? )
 Brill (from ?? ) => slang
 Bus (from ?? )
 Gym (from ?? )
Clipping
 Definition: Shortening long words by dropping a part is
called clipping.
 Some clipped forms (e.g. fab- from fabulous) (bus from-
omnibus), and (gym from- gymnasium) are part of the
standard language.
 Three types of clipping with regard to structure:
1. First: ‘fore clipping’, that is, deleting the the final part (e.g.
varsity ‘from university’), and (phone ‘from telephone’).
2. Second: ‘middle clipping’, that is, deleting last part and
keeping the middle part, which is rare, (e.g. flu - from
influenza).
3. Finally, ‘back clipping’ that is deleting the second part and
keeping the first part. (e.g. ad (from ‘advertisment’).
 Clipping may interact with compounding,& compounds can
 Johnnie (from ??),
 Mandy (from ??)
 Kiddy
 Bikkie
 Brownie
 bookie
Hypocorisms
 Definition: Hypocorism is used to refer to words formed by
suffixing a vowel, (usually —y or –ie [i] ) to a monosyllabic
root or by suffixing (-y or–ie [i] ) after clipping has reduced a
longer simplex or compound word to one syllable.
 It is used to create the familiar forms of names, (e.g. Johnnie -
from John).
 It is also used for common nouns, (e.g. cbippy, mom, kiddy,
bikkie. brownie).
 These contractions are usually referred to as diminutives. But
this label is not always appropriate, especially in Australian
English where this type of word-formation is most widely used.
 As well as being used in a diminutive sense, hypocorisms are
used in Australian English for word play and for indicating
empathy (e.g. bagie(large school bag).
 EU (European Union)
 BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
 RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland)
 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization),
 NICE (National institute for Clinical
Excellence),
 laser (light amplification by the stimulated
emission of radiation)
 radar (radio detection and ranging),
 sim (card) (Subscriber Identity Module (card
Acronyms and
abbreviations
 Acronyms and Abbreviations (also called ‘initialisms’).
 Definition: ln this type of word-formation, a group of
words representing a concept or the name of an
organization is reduced to their initial letters which
are then treated as a word.
 ln the case of abbreviation, the reduced form does
not result in well-formed syllables and so cannot be
pronounced as a word. Rather, the letters are
sounded out independently.
 ln the case of acronyms, contraction delivers initial
letters that constitute well-formed syllables and the
string forms a perfectly normal word.
Thank you 

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MORPHOLOGY AND

Dr. Monira I. Al-Mohizea

 The difference between compounding and

the initial chunks of two words that are combined

 More commonly, the initial chunk of the first word

is combined with the final part of the second word.

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