WORD and WORD
FORMATION
Instructor:

Phan Thanh Tuấn, M.A

Group 6:

Nguyễn Thị Bích Phượng
Ngô Thúy Trinh

Definition


A "word" is a unit of language that
carries meaning and consists of one or
more morphemes which are linked to
and
recognized
with
a
given
interpretation.



Each morpheme in a word engages in a
different relationship to the others,
thus contributing to the interpretation
of the word as a whole.



Word is the smallest linguistic unit that
can be used in communication
(speaking & writing).



A word is a free form which forms a
sentence by itself.

Classification

1. Simple word: is composed of a
single free morpheme.
Ex: high, table, Argentina

3 types
of
words

2. Complex word: include either two bound
morphemes, or a bound and a free form.
Ex:
- Two bound forms: televise, sentiment,
consent
- A bound and a free form: telephone,
telekiss, happiness, dishonest, nonsense

3. Compound word: have two or more
free morphemes.
Ex: Sweetheart, time-table, forget-menot

Classification according to the wordformation processes
1. Affixation: Adding a derivational affix to
a word
definition
Example
Suffix (an affix attached to abuser,
able, -ize, the end its base
refusal,
and -ful)
inspectio
n
Prefix (in-, an affix attached to pre-cook,
un-, pre-, the front of its base disand mis-)
agree,
unite
Infix:

a type of affix that
occurs
within
a
base. They are far

2. Compounding: joining two or
more words ( nouns, adjectives,
verbs, or prepositions) to create
a large word. examples
types
Noun + Noun

Boyfriend, Streetlight

Adjective + Noun

Bluebird, fast-food

Verb + Noun

Breakfast, washcloth

Verb + Preposition

Drop-out, put-on

3. Zero derivation
When a word changes its part of
speech without altering its form,
essentially creating a new word from
an existing one.
Ex: 'a walk' as a noun; yet 'walk'
comes from the verb 'to walk'
=> This means 'walk' was converted
from a verb to make the noun 'a
walk', and this is called a conversion
or zero derivation because no change
was necessary to the form of the
word.

4. Strees shilft
No prefix or suffix is attached to
the base word; instead, the
emphasis moves from one
syllable to another. This shift in
stress often results in a change
in the word's grammatical
category.

* Examples of strees shilft
noun

verb

Noun  

verb

Cómbine

cóncrete  

concréte

Ímplant

Combíne
/kəmˈbaɪn/ 
implánt 

ábstract  

abstráct

Réwrite

rewríte 

/ˈkɒm.baɪn/
/ˈɪm.plɑːnt/
/ˈriː.raɪt/

/ɪmˈplɑːnt/
/ˌriːˈraɪt/

tránsport    transpórt
 
Prógress
progréss

/ˈkɒŋ.kriːt/

/ˈæb.strækt/

/æbˈstrækt/

5.Clipping
Shortening a polysyllabic word by deleting
one or more syllables

Ex:
laboratory  lab
dormitory 
dorm
brother  bro
professional  pro
caravan  van
parachute  chute
Influenza  flu

6. Acronym formation
Creating

new words by combining
initials or initial segments of a series
of words is called acronym formation.
Acrony
ms

Words/ phrases

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
Test of English as a foreign
language
radio detecting and ranging

TOEFL
radar
ASEAN

Association of South East Asian
Nations

7. Blending

New words are formed by mixing
the first part of one word and
the final part of the other.
Words
breakfast + lunch

Blending
brunch

smoke + fog

smog

motor + hotel

motel

Spanish + English

Spanglish

modulator +
demodulator

modem

8. Backformation
The process of creating new words
based on ones that appear to be
derivatives.
Base forms
Back formation
beggar

to beg

pre-cook

cook

untie

tie

hamburger

burger

enthusiasm

to enthuse

9. Adoption of brand names as common words

It involves forming completely new
words through:
Inventing names for new products
Ex: nylon; aspirin
Employing specific brand names
as the generic term for various
brands in a category
Ex: Vaseline; Frigidaire
Transforming proper names of
individuals or places into common
nouns
Ex: sandwich; robot

10. Onomatopoeia
Words created to sound like
the thing that they name
Examples:
hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, cock-adoodle-doo, buzz, beep, dingdong

11. Borrowing
A word borrowed from one language
can be changed to better suit the
sounds of the language it's borrowed
into, to different extents
Words

Borrowed from

leak, yacht

from Dutch

barbecue, cockroach from Spanish
 piano, concerto

from Italian

Paradigms
A

paradigm is a set of related
forms having the same stem
but different affixes.
Ex: The derivational paradigms
with the stem head: ahead,
behead,
header,
headlong,
headship, heady, subhead

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Inflectional Paradigms


Inflectional paradigms are formed
by the words to which inflectional
affixes are attached.
 There are some kinds of them,
including noun paradigm, pronoun
paradigm,
verb
paradigm,
adjective paradigm

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1. Noun paradigm
Stem

Plural

possessiv Plural +
e
Poss.

woman

women

woman's

{-s pl}

{-s ps}

women's
{-s pl ps}

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Meaning of Noun Possessive Morpheme:
 Possessive:
Lan's dress (belongs to)
 Characterization or description:
men's coat(for)
 Origin:
Michelle's novels
America's products
 Measure (time, value, space): an hour's wait,
a dollar's worth, a stone's throw
 Subject of act: John's flight
 Object of action: The boy's punishment

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2. Pronoun paradigm
Singular

1st
2nd
3rd
Male
Female
N

Subjec Object Prenomin
t
al
possessiv
e

Substitutio
nal
possessive

I
You
He

me
you
him

my
your
his

mine
yours
his

She
It

her
it

her
its

hers
its

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2. Pronoun paradigm
Plural
Subje
ct

1st
2nd
3rd
Relativ
e

We
You
They
Who

objec Prenomi
t
nal
possessi
ve
us
our
you
your
them their
Who
Whose
m

Substitutio
nal
possessive
ours
yours
theirs
Whose

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3. Verb Paradigm

Forms:

Ste
m

Third
Present
person

Past

Past

Inflectiona
l

Singula
r

participle

tense

participl
e

Suffixes

{s 3rd}

{-ing vb}

{-ed pt}

{-ed pp}

shows

showing

showed

showed

ring

rings

ringing

rang

rung

put

puts

putting

put

put

sho
w

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4. Adjective
Paradigm
Forms:

Ste
m

Inflection
al
Suffixes
Models:

Comparative Superlative

tall
lively

{-er cp}

{-est sp}

taller

tallest

livelier

liveliest

In paradigms the meaning of the
soon sooner
stem remains
constant; soonest
the suffixes
produce the differences in meaning
among the forms of each paradigm
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