English

Word Formation

To this point, we have looked at affixation There are other, less rule governed, methods of creating new words

Shortening Many ways to shorten a phrase that sometimes will become a word Acronym Using the first letter of each word to create a new word Abbreviation Pronouncing the first letter of each word

Acronyms constable on patrolcop radar detection and ranging radar aquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS

Abbreviations televisionTV compact diskCD very important personVIP unidentified flying objectUFO

Backformation Another example of shortening A word with a recognizable structure is stripped of an affix television > televise These argue that the rules that we have explored are real

Backformation burglarburgle beggarbeg enthusiasmenthuse hamburgerburger

Clipping The converse of backformation Clipping does not assume a rule but deletes material while obeying the phonological rules of the language

Clipping professorprof disrespectdiss gymnasiumgym mathematicsmath memorandummemo attitudetude

Blends Blends are the compression of two words into one smoke + fog = smog They will obey the phonological rules of the language smoke + fog ≠ sfog

Blends televisionmarathontelethon breakfastlunchbrunch motorhotelmotel frozencappacinofrappacino situationcomedysitcom cranberrymartinicrantini

Blends Some blending patterns become so common that they seem to create new morphemes Watergate Nannygate Monicagate -gate looks like a suffix meaning ‘scandal’

Zero Derivation In English, it is possible to change grammatical category without a suffix Is ‘love’ a verb or a noun? Formally, there are two lexemes But, practically, it is not possible to tell until it is used

Ambiguity Sentences can be ambiguous for two reasons Structural ambiguity Lexical ambiguity

Structural Ambiguity Recall ‘unfoldable’ ‘John watched the boy with the telescope’

Lexical Ambiguity Because words can have more than 1 meaning or grammatical category, they can make a sentence ambiguous in surprising ways ‘Time flies like an arrow’

Zero Derivation Consider ‘impact’ It is a past participle, so it must originally have been a verb But it is often used as a noun Lex N V ⇒ + ∅

Brand Names Every product needs a name A patent restricts who can produce that product So, the name becomes associated with the product e.g. Kleenex This is an example of generization

Brand Names Some products are so successful that their name becomes generic In the 2005 report to stockholders, Google predicted that it would lose its trademark “google” is now a verb Other search engines are just search engines

Examples granola spandex zipper nylon escalator

Brand Names Companies are required to protect brand names Listen to Johnson & Johnson band-aid ads “I’m stuck on band-aid brand because band-aid’s stuck on me” Emphasizes the difference between bandage and band-aid

Quality Inn vs McDonalds Quality Inn proposed to establish a franchise of hotels called McSleep McDonalds sued claiming that it had the trademark of “Mc + noun” McMuffin, McNuggets

Mc + noun McJob low paying, short term employment McNewsdigested news stories McArt low cost, mass produced art

What does Mc mean? Two linguists “basic, convenient, inexpensive and standardized” “That’s McDonalds!” McDonalds wins