Assignment 2

ENG 312.1 (HMe)

1. Here are five instances where a new word is needed. Create a word for each of these definitions using
the word formation process suggested. Fill in the blanks with your new words.

a) Use an acronym . . . for your uncle’s second oldest brother.

‘We visited my                        at Christmas.’
b) Use onomatopoeia . . . for the sound of a coffee percolator at work.
‘I can’t concentrate because my perc is                            ing.’
c) Use conversion . . . for wrapping something breakable in bubbles.
‘You’d better                                 that ornament or else it might break.’
d) Use a compound . . . for the annoying string of cheese stretching from a slice of hot pizza to
one’s mouth.
‘As the                                hung precariously from my lips, our eyes met!’
e) Use backformation . . . for the action of backformation.
‘We had to                                   words in Linguistics today.’

2. Create new words for each of the following situations.

a) Use a product name…for the act of scrubbing with Ajax.

‘I                        ed the tub after giving Fido a bath.’
b) Use a proper name . . . for the act of breaking dishes, which Jonathan does regularly.
‘He’s going to                     all of my best dishes.’
c) Use clipping . . . for a course in ovinology (the study of sheep).
‘Have you done your                      assignment yet?’
d) Use derivation . . . for being able to be contacted.
‘The counsellor is not very                               .’
e) Use a blend . . . for the name of a cafeteria that serves only chocolate beverages, cakes, ice-
creams etc.
‘Let’s meet later at the                            for a drink.’

3. Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by processes
of inflection or derivation.

a) go, goes, going, gone

b) discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverability
c) lovely, lovelier, loveliest
d) inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’
e) democracy, democrat, democratic, democratize