Didactic Sequence (Midterm Exam)

Unit 5: Word Formation

Topics:

1-Neologisms2- Etymology 3-Borrowing 4-Loan-Translation 5-Compounding 6-Blending 7-Clipping 8-Hypocorisms 9- Backformation

10-Conversion 11-Coinage 12-Acronyms 13-Derivation 14 Prefixes and Suffixes 15-Infixes 16- Multiple Processes

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J. Murray Spangler created the electric suction sweeper in New Berlin, Ohio, during the beginning of the 20th century. It might have been referred to as a "spangler," and individuals may have been "spanglering" their floors. But William H. Hoover, whose business manufactured the original "Hoover" vacuum cleaner, purchased the technology from Spangler. The word "hoover" gained international recognition, particularly in Britain, where vacuuming is still referred to as "hoovering." This story demonstrates how quickly we incorporate new words—even neologisms—into our vocabulary. Word-formation processes are regular, which helps us swiftly comprehend and accept variants of new words.

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The exploration of a word's roots and development is known as etymology, stemming from Greek origins (étymon meaning "original form" + logia meaning "study of"). It is distinct from entomology, which focuses on insects. English incorporates elements from Greek, Latin, and Germanic languages, allowing for a rich array of descriptive terms, like "mono-" from Greek and "uni-" from Latin. Analyzing the etymology of everyday words illuminates the various pathways by which new vocabulary enters the lexicon. Many terms once considered crude have now become standard usage, showcasing the language's dynamic nature and its ability to evolve according to the needs of its speakers.

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Borrowing

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Through borrowing, or appropriating terms from other languages without necessarily giving them back, English frequently gains new vocabulary. Over time, English has absorbed a vast vocabulary from a variety of sources, such as:

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With the introduction of new words comes the introduction of new sounds into English, such as the voiced fricative /ʒ/ from French in terms like "rouge" and "measure." Other languages also take cues from English, such as Japanese, where "supermarket" is represented by "suupaa" and "typewriter" by "taipuraitaa." "šekki" is the Finnish word for "check," Hungarians speak of "sport," "klub," and "futbal," while French people talk about "le whisky" and "le stress" over "le weekend." The verbs "up" and "nerd," which mean "to upload" and "to browse the internet," respectively, have been borrowed into Brazilian Portuguese. The expression "im Partnerlook" refers to people dressed similarly in German and combines the words "partner" and "look".

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Loan-translation

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Loan-translation, also called calque, entails translating parts of a word directly into the borrowing language. For instance, French "gratte-ciel" ("scrape-sky"), Dutch "wolkenkrabber" ("cloud scratcher"), and German "Wolkenkratzer" ("cloud scraper") all correspond to English "skyscraper." "Superman" is thought to be a loan translation of German "Übermensch," and "loanword" possibly stems from German "Lehnwort." "Moment of truth" is considered a calque from Spanish "el momento de la verdad." Spanish speakers now say "perros calientes" for "hot dogs." In Japanese, "boyfriend" became "boyifurendo," while in Chinese, it's rendered as a calque meaning "male friend."

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Compounding

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In both German and English, compounding frequently occurs, merging two distinct words to create a unified term. Instances include "bookcase," "doorknob," "fingerprint," and "waterbed." Compounds can take the form of adjectives, such as "good-looking" and "low-paid," or combine adjectives and nouns, like "fast-food restaurant" or "full-time job." This process, extensively studied in English and German, is also evident in unrelated languages like Hmong, spoken in Laos and Vietnam, where numerous newly formed compounds exist.

Examples:

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Blending is the process of fusing two distinct words into a single term, typically by taking the start of one word and combining it with the end of the other. For example, "smog" combines "smoke" and "fog," while "smaze" blends "smoke" with "haze," and "smurk" merges "smoke" with "murk." Additional instances include "vog" for volcanic fog in Hawai‘i, "brunch" for breakfast and lunch, "motel" for motor and hotel, and "telecast" for television and broadcast. Blends such as "telethon," "infotainment," and "simulcast" stem from television activities. Terms like "Franglais" and "Spanglish" denote language amalgamation, while some blends combine the beginnings of both words, as seen in "telex" and "modem." The term "velcro" comes from merging "velours croché" ("hooked velvet") in French. However, "fax" is classified differently.

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Clipping

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Clipping is a process where longer words, like "facsimile," are shortened into shorter forms, such as "fax," especially in casual speech. For instance, "gasoline" becomes "gas," and "advertisement" becomes "ad." Other examples include "bra" for "brassiere," "cab" for "cabriolet," "condo" for "condominium," and "perm" for "permanent wave." Additionally, names like "Al," "Ed," "Liz," and "Mike" are commonly clipped. Educational environments often foster this practice, leading to reductions like "chem," "exam," "gym," "lab," and "math."

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Hypocorisms

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The linguistic phenomenon called hypocorisms, which involves shortening longer words to a single syllable and adding "-y" or "-ie" at the end. This process is common in Australian and British English and has led to the creation of informal terms like "movie" (from "moving pictures"), "telly" (from "television"), "Aussie" (from "Australian"), "barbie" (from "barbecue"), "bickie" (from "biscuit"), "bookie" (from "bookmaker"), "brekky" (from "breakfast"), "hankie" (from "handkerchief"), "toastie" (from "toasted sandwich"), and "Chrissy pressies" (Christmas presents). Additionally, the text mentions the term "sickie," which refers to taking a day off from work under the pretense of being sick, regardless of actual illness.

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Backformation

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Linguistic process called backformation, where a word of one type, typically a noun, is reduced to form a word of another type, usually a verb. For example, the noun "television" led to the creation of the verb "televise." Other examples include "donate" (from "donation"), "emote" (from "emotion"), "enthuse" (from "enthusiasm"), and "liaise" (from "liaison"). The text also mentions the verb "backform," which itself is a backformation (derived from "backformation").

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Conversion

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The linguistic phenomenon known as conversion, where a word's function changes without being reduced. Conversion is also referred to as "category change" or "functional shift." For instance, nouns such as "bottle," "butter," "chair," and "vacation" have been transformed into verbs, as demonstrated in sentences like "We bottled the home-brew last night" and "They're vacationing in Florida." While many conversions are widely accepted, some, like the use of "impact" as a verb, can be contentious.

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In Modern English, conversions are common occurrences. This includes verbs turning into nouns (e.g., "guess" becoming "a guess"), phrasal verbs becoming nouns (e.g., "print out" becoming "a printout"), and complex verb combinations giving rise to new nouns (e.g., "want to be" becoming "a wannabe"). The passage also provides additional examples of conversion in practice.

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Coinage

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The creation of entirely new terms, known as coinage, is relatively uncommon in English. These terms often originate from trade names for commercial products, which then become general terms for any similar product. Examples include aspirin, nylon, vaseline, and zipper, as well as more recent ones like granola, Kleenex, Teflon, and Xerox. While some coinages may have technical origins, they typically integrate into everyday language after their initial introduction.

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Words derived from names of people or places are called eponyms. For instance, "hoover" and "spangler" are eponyms, as are "teddy bear" (from US President Theodore Roosevelt) and "jeans" (from the Italian city of Genoa). Another example is "sandwich," originating from John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who famously requested his meal to be served between two slices of bread while gambling, leading others to request "the same as Sandwich."

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Acronyms

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Acronyms are words formed by taking the initial letters of a set of other words. Some acronyms, like CD ("compact disk") or SPCA ("Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals"), are pronounced by saying each separate letter. However, most acronyms are pronounced as single words, such as NATO, NASA, or UNESCO. While some maintain their capital letters, many acronyms become everyday terms, like laser ("light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation"), radar ("radio detecting and ranging"), scuba ("self-contained underwater breathing apparatus"), sim card ("subscriber identity module"), and zip code ("zone improvement plan"). There's even the term "snafu," believed to come from "situation normal, all fouled up," though its exact origin is disputed.

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Organizational names often aim for acronyms that represent relevant terms, like "mothers against drunk driving" (MADD) and "women against rape" (WAR). Many speakers don't consider the individual meanings of these acronyms. Some innovations, like the ATM ("automatic teller machine") and PIN ("personal identification number"), are frequently used with one of their elements repeated, as in "I sometimes forget my PIN number when I go to the ATM machine."

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Derivation

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The most common word-formation process in English is derivation, which involves using small elements of the language called affixes to create new words. These affixes are not typically listed separately in dictionaries.

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Prefixes and Suffixes

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When examining the previous group of words, it becomes apparent that some affixes are added to the beginning of the word (e.g., un-, mis-), known as prefixes. Others are added to the end of the word (e.g., -less, -ish), termed suffixes. All English words formed through derivation have either prefixes or suffixes, or sometimes both. For example, "mislead" has a prefix, "disrespectful" has both a prefix and a suffix, and "foolishness" has two suffixes. According to Dixon (2014: 11), English comprises approximately 200 derivational affixes, with 90 being prefixes and 110 being suffixes.

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Infixes

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Apart from prefixes and suffixes, there's a lesser-known type of affix called infixes, which are rarely used in English but are present in some other languages. Infixes are affixes that are inserted within a word. While infixes aren't commonly used in English, we can see a similar concept in certain emotionally charged expressions occasionally used by English speakers, like "Hallebloodylujah!" and "Absogoddamlutely!" Another example is "Unfuckinbelievable!" However, a more vivid illustration of infixing can be seen in Khmu (or Kamhmu), a language spoken in northern Laos and Vietnam.

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From these examples, we can see that there is a regular pattern whereby the infix -rn- is added to verbs to form nouns. If we know that the form srnal is the Khmu noun for “an ear ornament,” then we can work out the corresponding verb “to put an ornament in the ear.” According to Merrifield et al. (2003), the source of these examples, it is sal.

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Multiple Processes

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While we've explored each word-formation process separately, it's common for multiple processes to contribute to the creation of a single word. For instance, "deli" likely originated by borrowing "delicatessen" from German and then clipping it. "Snowballed" illustrates compounding (combining "snow" and "ball" to form "snowball") followed by conversion from noun to verb. Acronyms can undergo further processes; "lase" derived from "laser" through backformation. "Waspish" demonstrates derivation, where the acronym "WASP" (originally "white Anglo-Saxon Protestant") lost its capitalization and gained the suffix "-ish." "Yuppie" emerged from "young urban professional" through analogy with "hippie" and "yippie," which also had an acronym basis ("youth international party"). This process of analogy led to the term "yappies" for noisy young professionals. These examples show how word formation processes can intertwine to create new terms continually.

Quiz 1/10

When terms "modulator" and "demodulator" are combined

1 When is an eponym a neologism?

It´s not a word based on the name of a person or a place is used as a new word in the language.

A word based on the name of a person or a place) is used as a new word in the language.

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Derivation

2 Which word-formation process is the source of the English word modem?

Analogy

Blending

Quiz 3/10

Prefixes and Suffixes

3 Which two processes were involved in the creation of the verb google, as in Have you ever googled yourself?

Coinage and conversion

Loan-Translation and Coinage

Quiz 4/10

Compounding

4 Which process is clearly involved in creating the new term selfie?

Hypocorism

Backformation

Quiz 5/10

Blending

5 What do we call the process whereby a new word is formed to be similar to an existing word?

Derivation

Analogy

Quiz 6/10

6 Which of the following pairs contains an example of calque? How would you describe the other(s)? ---(a) footobooru (Japanese) – football (English) (b) tréning (Hungarian) – training (English) (c) luna de miel (Spanish “moon of honey”) – honeymoon (English) (d) jardin d’enfants (French “garden of children”) – Kindergarten (German “childrengarden”)

(b) and (d) examples of calque (a) and (c) are borrowings

(c) and (b) are examples of calque (a) and (d) are borrowings

(c) and (d) are examples of calque(a) and (b) are borrowings

Quiz 7/10

7 Can you identify the different word-formation processes involved in producing each of the underlined words in these sentences?

Quiz 8/10

8 Identify the prefixes and suffixes used in these words: misfortune, terrorism, carelessness, disagreement, inef ective, unfaithful, prepackaged, biodegradable, reincarnation, decentralization

Quiz 9/10

MADD and PIN

9 In Khmu, the word kap means “to grasp with tongs,” and tiap means “to fold a small package.” What would be the words for “tongs” and “a small package”?

Krnap and trniap

Dust and krnap

Quiz 10/10

10 More than one process was involved in the creation of the forms underlined in these sentences. Can you identify the processes involved in each case?

Quiz

¡Excelent!

Quiz

Incorrect

Bibliography

Book: The study of Language 6th edition

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nZH5UJGB_zE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loGKkB8pTK0&t=38s

One prominent contemporary example of coinage is "google," originally a misspelling of "googol," meaning the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. It evolved into the company name Google and transitioned into a widely used verb meaning "to search for information on the internet."

(a) Don’t they ever worry that they might get AIDS? (b) That’s really fandamntastic! (c) These new skateboards from Zee Designs are kickass. (d) When I’m ill, I want to see a doc, not a vet. (e) The house next door was burgled when I was babysitting the Smiths’ children. (f) I like this old sofa – it’s nice and comfy. (g) I think Robyn said she’d like a toastie for brekky. (h) You don’t need to button it because it’s got velcro inside.

• (a) Acronym ("Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome").
• (b) infixing ("damn" inside "fantastic").
• (c) Compounding ("skate" + "board") and conversion (verb "kick" + noun "ass" → adjective "kickass").
• (d) Clipping ("doctor") and clipping ("veterinarian").
• (e) Backformation (verb "burgle" from noun "burglar") and backformation (verb "babysit" from noun "babysitter", which is a compound ("baby" + "sitter")).
• (f) Borrowing (from Arabic "suffa") and hypocorism (from "comfortable").
• (g) Hypocorism (from "toasted sandwich") and hypocorism (from "breakfast")
• (h) Conversion (noun "a button" → verb "to button") and blending (of "velours croché", (which is borrowed from French)).

• (a) infixing Acronym ("Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome").
• (b) Acronym ("damn" inside "fantastic").
• (c) Compounding ("skate" + "board") and conversion (verb "kick" + noun "ass" → adjective "kickass").
• (d) Hypocorism ("doctor") and clipping ("veterinarian").
• (e) Backformation (verb "burgle" from noun "burglar") and backformation (verb "babysit" from noun "babysitter", which is a compound ("baby" + "sitter")).
• (f) Borrowing (from Arabic "suffa") and hypocorism (from "comfortable").
• (g) Clipping (from "toasted sandwich") and hypocorism (from "breakfast")
• (h) Conversion (noun "a button" → verb "to button") and blending (of "velours croché", (which is borrowed from French)).

• (a) infixing Acronym ("Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome").
• (b) Acronym ("damn" inside "fantastic").
• (c) Backformation Compounding ("skate" + "board") and conversion (verb "kick" + noun "ass" → adjective "kickass").
• (d) Backformation ("doctor") and clipping ("veterinarian").
• (e) Hypocorism Backformation (verb "burgle" from noun "burglar") and backformation (verb "babysit" from noun "babysitter", which is a compound ("baby" + "sitter")).
• (f) Borrowing (from Arabic "suffa") and hypocorism (from "comfortable").
• (g) Conversion (from "toasted sandwich") and hypocorism (from "breakfast")
• (h) Clipping (noun "a button" → verb "to button") and blending (of "velours croché", (which is borrowed from French)).

• mis+ -fortune;
• terror + -ism;
• care- + less + -ness;
• dis- + agree + -ment;
• in- + effect + -ive;
• un- + -faith + -ful;
• pre- + -pack + age + -(e)d;
• bio- + de- + grade + -able;
• re- + in- + carn + -ation (Latin root carn ("flesh"));
• de- + cent(e)r + -al + -iz(e) + -ation.

• mis- + fortune;
• terror + -ism;
• care + -less + -ness;
• dis- + agree + -ment;
• in- + effect + -ive;
• un- + faith + -ful;
• pre- + pack + -age + -(e)d;
• bio- + de- + grade + -able;
• re- + in- + carn + -ation (Latin root carn ("flesh"));
• de- + cent(e)r + -al + -iz(e) + -ation.

• mis+ -fortune;
• terror + -ism;
• care- + less + -ness;
• dis- + agree + -ment;
• in- + effect + -ive;
• un- + -faith + -ful;
• pre + -pack + age + -(e)d;
• bio- + de- + grade + -able;
• re- + in- + carn + -ation (Latin root carn ("flesh"));
• de + -cent(e)r + -al + -iz(e) + -ation.

• (a) Eponym (from Federal Express) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (b) Clipping (car + hijack) plus conversion (verb → noun)
• (c) Blending (from William Hoover) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (d) Clipping (from temporary worker) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (e) Blending (web + log) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (f) Borrowing (usually) a reduced version of "a cup of coffee made with decaffeinated coffee," so clipping is the most obvious process. The longer word decaffeinated is a derivation via a prefix (de-) and two suffixes (-ate + -ed) from caffeine, which was originally a borrowing from French. Conversion from noun (caffeine) to adjective (decaffeinated) to noun (decaf) has also taken place.

(a) Eponym (from Federal Express) plus conversion (noun → verb) (b) Clipping (car + hijack) plus conversion (verb → noun) (c) Blending (from William Hoover) plus conversion (noun → verb) (d) Clipping (from temporary worker) plus conversion (noun → verb) (e) Blending (web + log) plus conversion (noun → verb) (f) decaf is (usually) a reduced version of "a cup of coffee made with decaffeinated coffee," so clipping is the most obvious process. The longer word decaffeinated is a derivation via a prefix (de-) and two suffixes (-ate + -ed) from caffeine, which was originally a borrowing from French. Conversion from noun (caffeine) to adjective (decaffeinated) to noun (decaf) has also taken place.

• (a) blending (from Federal Express) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (b) blending (car + hijack) plus conversion (verb → noun)
• (c) eponym (from William Hoover) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (d) clipping (from temporary worker) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (e) blending (web + log) plus conversion (noun → verb)
• (f) decaf is (usually) a reduced version of "a cup of coffee made with decaffeinated coffee," so clipping is the most obvious process. The longer word decaffeinated is a derivation via a prefix (de-) and two suffixes (-ate + -ed) from caffeine, which was originally a borrowing from French. Conversion from noun (caffeine) to adjective (decaffeinated) to noun (decaf) has also taken place.

• (a) Can you FedEx the books to me today?
• (b) Police have reported an increase in carjackings in recent months.
• (c) Jeeves, could you tell the maid to be sure to hoover the bedroom carpet?
• (d) I had to temp for a while before I got a real job.
• (e) Is your friend Ian still blogging?
• (f) Would you prefer a decaf?