Wordformation

Time School

Word Formation

Nouns

Start

What is a word formation?

1. Every word have a root or a stem. This is, like in catalan, the part of the word that never changes.

Friendly, Unfriendly, friend, friendship, friendzone, friend, Friendless...

2. There are 3 processes by which the stem may be modified:

Adding Prefix or suffix with or without change of word-class (Drive (v) - Driver (n)

Affixation - Conversion- Compounding-

A type of word formation process in which a word is assigned to a new word class or part of speech without any change in form.Host (noun) – a person who receives or entertains another To host (verb) – the act of receiving or entertaining another

Adding one base to anotherTea (n) + Pot (n) - Teapot/ Heart + Break - Heartbreaking.

Nouns

Nouns are one of the four major word classes, along with verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Nouns are the largest word class.

Suffixes to build a Noun

-Tion

-Ment

-ance / -Ence

-Ity

-Ness

From Adjectives

From adjectives

From Verbs

From adjectives or verbs

From adjectives or verbs

Adjectives

They give us more information about people, animals or things represented by nouns and pronouns.

Suffixes to build an adjective

From Nouns

Suffixes to build an adjective

From Verbs

Verbs

A verb refers to an action, event or state.

Suffixes to build a verb

adverbs

We use adverbs to add more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a clause or a whole sentence and, less commonly, about a noun phrase.

Suffix to build an Adverb

-LY

Negative prefixes

Prefix to build negative forms

-NESS

The suffix –ness forms nouns from adjectives. Not all adjectives can have –ness added to them, but it is a common form – especially with adjectives ending in y. ready – They questioned her readiness for the test. happy – It is important to create happiness for everyone. weak – Eating too much cake was a major weakness of his. sad – The closure of the post office brought sadness to the community. mad – The decision to drive in the snow was pure madness.

-ITY

This is only for certain adjectives, though it is common adjectives ending in –ble or with soft ­–s sounds. To form nouns with –ity, changes in spelling often occur, such as replacing the last few letters of the adjective

Responsible – Your children are not my responsibility. Possible – Nuclear war seemed like a real possibility. Scarce – The scarcity of drinks became problematic during the party. Hilarious – They reacted to the joke with much hilarity. Probable – It’s hard to guess the probability of her passing the test.

-TION

Used to form abstract nouns from verbs or stems not identical with verbs, whether as expressing action (revolution; commendation), or a state (contrition; starvation), or associated meanings

Declarate - declarationCelebrate - celebration, Inform - informationImmigrate - immigrationEducate - educationEliminate - eliminationCombine - combination

-MENT

The suffix –ment can be added to either adjectives or verbs to form nouns. It is mostly used with verbs, of many kinds, but occasionally also with adjectives with soft endings (such as y endings).

Appoint – I need to make an appointment with my doctor.Assign – The final essay was a very big assignment. Enjoy – Don’t let the rain affect your enjoyment of this walk. Merry – The children found a lot of merriment in the clown’s antics.

-ANCE / -ENCE

The suffix –ance (or –ence) can be added to either adjectives or verbs to form nouns. This is particularly used for adjectives ending in –ent or –ant and various verbs.

Independent – Having a car has improved my independence.Important – Never underestimate the importance of studying. Silent – Enjoy the silence while the children are away. Appear – The appearance of a second singer improved the concert. Resist – The home team put up a strong resistance against their opponents