ENGLISH LEXICOLOGY

PART V: WORD-FORMATION

 

Word-formation is the process of coining new words from existing ones. Each word-formation process will result in the production of a specific type of word. If we know these word-forming devices, it will be easier to study the different types of words that exist in the English language. In the discussion of word-formation processes, we shall use the terms which were already introduced in the previous chapters, e.g., free forms which can stand alone; bound forms which cannot occur alone; stems which carry the basic meaning of the word; affixes which add the meaning to the word. If a stem consists of a single morpheme, it is called a root or a base. Roots constitute the core of words and carry their basic meaning. Stems and roots may be bound or free; however, affixes are always bound. Georgious Tserdanelis and Wai Yi Peggy Wong define the word-formation process as “the systematic relationships between roots and words derived from them, on the one hand, and between a word and its varied inflected, i.e., grammatical forms, on the other” (2004, p.156). The most important word-formation processes are derivation, compounding, conversion, blending, backformation, clipping, acronyms, and stress and tone placement.