1. LING507 Linguistics The Nature of Language LECTURE 6: WORD FORMATION 1 Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü

2. A Joke c 2

3. Word Formation Though the Dutch were only a passing political presence in America, their linguistic legacy is immense. From their earliest days of contact, Americans freely appropriated Dutch terms – blunderbuss (literally “thunder gun”) as early as 1654, scow in 1660, sleigh in 1703. By the mid-eighteenth century Dutch words flooded into American English: stoop, span, coleslaw, boss, pit in the sense of the stone of a fruit, bedpan, bedspread (previously known as a counterpane), cookie, waffle, the distinctive American interrogative how come ? (a literal translation of the Dutch hoekom)… Bryson (1994) 3

4. Word Formation (cont’d) Around 1900, in New Berlin, Ohio, a department-store worker named J. Murray Spangler invented a device which he called an electric suction sweeper. This device eventually became very popular and could have been known as a spangler. People could have been spanglering their floors or they might even have spanglered their rugs and curtains…. However, none of that happened. Instead, Mr. Spangler sold his new invention to a local businessman called William H. Hoover, whose Hoover Suction Sweeper Company produced the first machine called a “Hoover.” Not only did the word hoover become as familiar as vacuum cleaner all over the world, but in Britain, people still talk about hoovering (and not spanglering). 4

5. Word Formation (cont’d) Etymology  The study of the origin and history of a word is known as its etymology. Etymology is a term which, like many of the technical words, comes to us through Latin, but has its origins in Greek.  (e´tymon “original form” + logia “study of”).  When we look closely at the etymologies of words, we discover that there are many different ways in which new words can enter the language.  A lot of words in daily use today were, at one time, considered barbaric misuses of the language: aviation and handbag 5

6. Word Formation (cont’d)  Rather than act as if the language is being debased, we might prefer to view the constant evolution of new words and new uses of old words as a sign of vitality and creativeness of a language.  One of the distinctive properties of language is creativity  Vast amount of new inventions made in the 20th and 21st century  Language is dynamic  Language is not a static thing. It is always changing from generation to generation, situation to situation. 6

7. Word Formation (cont’d) Coinage  The least common processes of word-formation in English is coinage. Coinage is the invention of totally new terms.  The most typical sources are invented trade names for commercial products that become general terms for any version of that product.  Kleenex, Teflon, Xerox, Robotics, nylon, aspirin, zipper, Internet…  The most salient contemporary example of coinage is: google.  Originally a misspelling for the word googol (= the number 1 followed by 100 zeros). The term google has become a widely used expression meaning “to use the internet to find information”. The name of a company (Google) 7

8. Word Formation (cont’d) Borrowing  One of the most common sources of new words in English is the process simply labeled borrowing, that is, the taking over of words from other languages.  alcohol (Arabic), croissant (French), robot (Czech), bass (Dutch), piano (Italian), yogurt (Turkish), tattoo (Tahitian), tycoon (Japanese)…  Other languages have taken many English words into their dictionaries:  okay, Internet  suupaa, suupaamaaketto, taipuraitaa (Japanese)  le stress, le whisky, le weekend (French) 8

9. Word Formation (cont’d) Borrowing  A special type of borrowing is described as loan-translation or calque. In this process, there is a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing language.  English: the flea market / French: marché aux puces "market of fleas«  English: moment of truth / Spanish: el memento de la verdad  English: skyscraper  French: gratte-ciel that literally translates as ‘scrape-sky’  Dutch: wolkenkrabber ‘cloud-scratcher’  German: Wolkenkratzer ‘cloud scraper’ 9

10. Word Formation (cont’d) Compounding  The joining of two seperate words to produce a single form is called compounding. It is very common in English and German but less common in French, Spanish.  bookcase = book + case, fingerprint, sunburn, wallpaper…  good-looking, low-paid  fast-food, full-time  Hmong (spoken in South East Asia)  hwj ‘pot’ + kais ‘spout’ = hwjkais ‘kettle’  paj flower + kws ‘corn’ = pajkws ‘popcorn’  hnab ‘bag’ + rau ‘put’ + ntawv ‘book’ = __________ 10

11. Word Formation (cont’d) Blending  Blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word.  smoke + fog  smog  emotion + icon  emoticon  breakfast + lunch  brunch  web + seminar  webinar  In a few blends, we combine the beginnings of both words.  teleprinter + exchange  telex  modulator + demodulator  modem 11

12. Word Formation (cont’d) Clipping  Clipping is a process in which a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form, often in casual speech.  gasoline  gas  advertisement  ad, advert  mathematics  math  examination  exam  gymnastics  gym  Hypocorisms: In this process, a longer word is reduced to a single syllable, then -y or -ie is added to the end.  movie (moving pictures), telly (television), brekky (breakfast), barbie 12

13. Word Formation (cont’d) Backformation  A word of one type of (usually a noun) is reduced to form another word of a different type (usually a verb).  editor  edit  television  televise  donation  donate  option  opt 13

14. Word Formation (cont’d) Conversion  A change in the function of a word, as for example, when a noun comes to be used as a verb (without any reduction), is generally known as conversion.  This process can also be called as category change and functional shift.  butter (n)  Will you butter (v) the toast please?  paper (n)  He is papering (v) the bedroom walls.  bottle (n)  Have they bottled (v) the water yet?  chair (n)  The professor will chair the conference. 14

15. Word Formation (cont’d) Conversion (cont’d)  Conversion can involve verbs becoming nouns.  guess (v)  a guess  spy (v)  a spy  must (v)  a must  print out (v)  print out  take over (v)  a take over  Conversion can involve verbs becoming adjectives.  see through (v)  a see through dress  stand up (v)  a stand up comedian 15

16. Word Formation (cont’d) Acronyms  Acronyms are formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.  Compact Dick: CD  Video Cassette Recorder: VCR  Federal Bureau of Investigation: FBI  Automatic Teller Machine: ATM  Radio Detecting and Ranging: RADAR  Personal Identification Number: PIN  North Atlantic Treaty Organization: NATO  Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: AIDS 16

17. Word Formation (cont’d) Derivation  Derivation is a widely used word formation process and it is accomplished by means of a large number of small bits of English. These small bits are generally described as affixes.  Prefixes: They are added to the beginning of a word: prefix + root.  un-, mis-, dis, ir-, pre-, non-, re-. Ex. unhappy, misrepresent, disagree, redo  Suffixes: They are added to the end of a word: root + suffix.  -ish, -ism, -less, ful, -ness, -ity. Ex. boyish, terrorism, careless, tactful, clarity  Infixes: They are inserted inside the word itself: r + infix + oot.  see ‘to drill’  srnee ‘a drill’ (Kamhmu, a language of Sout East Asia)  toh ‘to chisel’  trnoh ‘a chisel’ 17

18. Word Formation (cont’d) Derivation  Circumfixes: They are added to the beginning and end of a word: circumfix + root + circumfix.  chokma ‘he is good’ (Chickasaw, language of Oklahoma) ik-chokm-o ‘he is not good’  lakna ‘it is yellow’ ik-lakn-o ‘it is not yellow’  palli ‘it is hot’ ________ ‘it is not hot’ 18