10- Léxico. Características de la formación de palabras en inglés.

Prefijación, sufijación y composición.

1- Introduction

2- Derivation
- Prefixes
- Infixes
- Suffixes

3- Suffixation
- Noun Suffixes
- Verb Suffixes
- Adjective Suffixes
- Adverb Suffixes

4- Compound words
- Kinds of composition in the Noun
- Kinds of composition in the verb
- Adjective compounds
- Reduplicative or repetition compounds

1- INTRODUCTION

“Any discussion of word-formation makes two assumptions: that there are such things as
words, and that at least some of them can be formed” (Bauer 1983:8). However, the rules that must
be established for forming words depend on what counts as a word. According to the Cambridge
Advanced Dictionary, a word is “a single unit of language that has meaning and can be spoken or
written”. But to deal with word-formation, the term “word” will need to be refined and different
categories will be drawn. A word can be:
a) a lexeme, that is, a basic unit of meaning that roughly corresponds to a set of all forms,
related through inflection, taken by a single root word. For example: run, runs, ran and
running are forms of the same lexeme which can be represented by RUN (small caps).
b) a word-form is the particular shape a lexeme has on a particular occasion (here run, runs,
ran and running are word-forms).
c) a lemma /´lema/ is the word you find in a dictionary. It refers to a particular form that is
chosen by convention to represent a lexeme.
d) the morphosyntactic word, is a third notion of word, intermediate between the word-form
and the lexeme and distinct from both. The morphosyntactic word is a representation of a
word in terms of its grammatical properties, as opposed to a phonetic or written word-form.
Consequently, the word-form run represents two grammatical forms, the present and past
participle of the lexeme RUN (small caps).

Morphology as a subbranch of linguistics deals with the internal structure of word-forms.

The basic unit of analysis recognised in morphology are morphemes. Consider for example the
word-form untouchables. It can be segmented to show its constituent elements as follow: un-touch-
able-s. Each of these segments has its own phonological form, or set of forms (/ʌn/), its own
meanings (of negation), and its own distribution (it recurs in other words). Each of them represents
a morpheme. A morpheme therefore is the minimal unit of grammatical analysis. But morphemes
do not really occur as forms in a language, they are abstract elements of analysis and what actually
occurs is a phonetic (or orthographic) form which realizes the morpheme. When the phonetic (or
orthographic) strings which realize morphemes are segmentable, these are termed morphs. In the
word untouchables, the segmented portions are morphs, each of which represents a morpheme.
Whereas, in the word-form was, the three morphemes {BE}, {preterit} and {singular} can be
recognised but the word-form cannot be segmented into morphs. By extension of the use of the
term, it can be said that was is a single morph which represents the morphemes {BE}, {preterit} and
{singular}, that is a portmanteau morph. The term allomorph refers to the different realization of
the same morpheme. For example, in English, the plural morpheme, in its regular forms, has three
different realizations /s/, /z/ or /iz/.
A morph which can occur in isolation (i.e. which can also be a word-form like blend) is
coined a free morph, whereas a morph which can only occur in a word-form in conjunction with at
least one other morph is termed a bound morph (as in blend-er-s). Bound morphs are always
bound to a base and are termed affixes. Affixes can be divided into prefixes, which are attached
before a base, and suffixes, which are attached after a base.
Root, stem, and base are all terms used in the literature to designate the part of the word
that remains when all affixes have been removed. A root is the basic part always present in a
lexeme (like touch in untouchables), it is a part which cannot be analysed any further, either in
terms of derivational or inflectional morphology. It is that part of a word-form that remains when all
inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed. A stem is only of concern when dealing
with inflectional morphology. It is the part of the word-form which remains when all inflectional
affixes have been removed. In the form untouchables the stem is untouchable, although in the form
touched the stem is touch; in the form wheelchairs the stem is wheelchair, even though the stem
contains two roots. A base is any form to which affixes of any kind can be added. A derivationally
analysable form to which derivational affixes are added can only be referred to as a base. That is,
touchable can act as a base for prefixation to give untouchable.
The definitions of lexeme, root and stem above have all presupposed a definition of
inflection and derivation. An inflection produces word-forms of a single lexeme and usually marks
agreement (singular/plural in English, but masculine/feminine in other languages). Therefore, an
inflectional affix is an affix which is composed of grammatical features. On the other hand,
derivation is the morphological process that results in the formation of new lexemes. A
derivational affix ultimately affects the lexical meaning of a base. Contrary to inflection affixes,
derivational ones are composed of lexical features.

So, word-formation deals with the formation of new lexemes from given bases and affects
open classes of words (words to which new members can be added, such as nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs as opposed to closed classes which are relatively fixed in number and
include articles, pronouns and prepositions). Word-formation can in turn be subdivided into
derivation and compounding. As seen above, derivation is concerned with the formation of new
lexemes through affixation. A distinction is sometimes made between class-maintaining (process
of derivation which produces lexemes to the same word class as the base: king  kingdom
(“kingdom” is also a noun but unlike the original base, it cannot undergo the same process of
derivation *kingdomdom)) and class-changing derivation (which produces lexemes which belong
to a form class other than the form class of the base: King  kingly). Compounding on the other
hand, is concerned with the formation of new lexemes from two or more potential stems. Complex
forms is a term used to cover both the forms produced by derivation and the forms produced by
compounding to contrast these with forms produced by inflection and words which are produced of
just roots. Therefore, word formation can now be defined as the production of complex forms.
Conversion is the third major word-formation process whereby a word-form undergo a change in
word class without any corresponding change of form (napalm N  napalm V : “They decided to
napalm the village)
 Normally, rules like this are aid to have an input (on the left) and output on the right.
There are several processes used in English to form new words, divided between The Major
processes and the Minor processes. The Major Processes are affixation (WFP which adds an affix
to the base – co-author, compounding (the most common, adds one base to another to create a new
word: tea + pot= teapot) and conversion (assign the base to a different word-class without
changing its form (drive – verb / drive- noun).
The Minor processes are Reduplication (tick-tack), Clipping (add, from advertisement),
Blending (brunch: breakfast+lunch) Acronyms (NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
Once the base has undergone a rule of WFP, the derived word itself might become the base
for another derivation: Friend (noun)-friendly (noun-adjective) -unfriendly (adjective-adjective) -
unfriendliness (adjective-noun).

2- DERIVATION

As seen above, derivation is concerned with the formation of new lexemes through
affixation, that is, bound morphemes that are added to the base. There are three types of affixation:
1. prefixes, which are attached before the base, 2. suffixes, which are attached after a base, and 3.
infixes, which are attached inside a base.

2.1 - Prefixes
The vast majority of prefixes in English are class-maintaining (with the exception of a-, be-
and en- as in ablaze, bewitch, and enslave) and they are usually lightly stressed (the main stress
falling on the stem). English prefixes can be grouped according to their meaning.

Negative prefixes A-, DIS-, IN-, NON-, UN-

Reservative or privative DE-, DIS-, UN-

prefixes
Pejorative prefixes MAL-, MIS-, PSEUDO-

Prefixes of degree or ARCH-, CO-, HYPER-, MINI-, OUT-, OVER-, SUB-, SUPER-,
size SUR-, ULTRA-, UNDER-

Locative prefixes FORE-, INTER-, SUB-, SUPER-, SUR-, TRANS-

Prefixes of orientation ANTI-, CO-, COUNTER-, PRO-,
and attitude

Prefixes of time and EX-, FORE-, POST-, PRE-, PROTO-, RE-

order

Number prefixes UNI- / MONO-, BI- / DI-, TRI- MULTI- / POLY-, SEMI- / DEMI-
 Other suffixes AUTO-, EXTRA-, NEO-, PALEO-, PAN-, PROTO-, TELE-, VICE-

Conversion prefixes A- converts verbs to predicative adjectives.

BE- converts nouns to adjectives; intensifies the force of verbs;
converts nouns to transitive verbs.
EN- / EM- converts nouns to verbs.

2.2- Suffixes

As seen earlier, suffixes are bound morphs, or affixes, which are attached after a base. A
suffix is a derivative final element which is productive in forming new words (Marchand: 1969). A
distinction needs to be made between suffixes with semantic value (derivational suffixes) and
inflections with grammatical value (inflectional suffixes) and we shall here solely focus on the
former.
Unlike prefixes, suffixes frequently alter the word-class of the base; for example, the
adjective kind, by the addition of the suffix -ness, is changed into an abstract noun kindness.

2.2.1 Classification of suffixes.

We shall group suffixes not only by the class of words they form (as noun suffixes, verb
suffixes, etc) but also by the class of base they are typically added to (DENOMINAL, i.e., from
nouns, DEADJECTIVAL, DEVERBAL suffixes, etc) and we shall extend this latter terminology,
where convenient, to the derived words themselves, and talk of worker as a DEVERBAL noun,
hopeful as a DENOMINAL adjective, etc.

2.2.2 Suffixes forming nouns

Nouns from nouns

Denominal Nouns: Abstract (They are all added to nouns and form noncount-abstract Ns)
 Noun/Adjective Suffixes (To form nouns and non-gradable adjectives)
-ITE. Member of something. Israelite, socialite.
-(I)AN Related to, Citizen of. Republican, Lutheran, Indonesian.
-ESE. Member of. Chinese, Portuguese.
-IST. Skilled in. Violinist, specialist, socialist.

De-adjectival Nouns (Form abstract nouns expressing state or quality)

-NESS. Means state, quality. Happiness.
-ITY. To form abstract nouns. Means state / quality. Sanity.

2.2.3. Verb Suffixes (There are very few in English).

-(I)FY. Causative. Simplify.

-ISE / IZE in American English. Causative. Popularise.
-ATE. To form verbs. Orchestrate.
-EN. Intransitive verbs. Causative. Deafen, quicken.

2.2.4 Adjective Suffixes

Denominal Adjectives (to form gradable adjectives)

-FUL. Means providing, full of. Helpful, forgetful.
-LESS. Without, not giving. Childless, penniless.
-LY. Having the quality of. Cowardly, daily.
-LIKE. Having the quality of. Ladylike
-Y. Like something. Creamy, Hairy.
-ISH. Somewhat Like, names of people. Foolish, Turkish, Swedish.
-IAN. In the tradition of. Darwinian.

Denominal Adjectives: borrowed and neo-classical in origin suffixes

-AL, -IAL, -CAL. To form non-gradable adjectives. Criminal, editorial, musical.
-IC. To form gradable/non gradable adjectives. Heroic, Arabic.
-ESQUE. To form adjectives. Burlesque, arabesque.
-OUS, -EOUS, -IOUS. Primarily gradable adjectives. Virtuous, courteous, ambitious.
 Deverbal Adjectives
-ABLE. To form adjectives. Means passive. Readable, forcible.
-IVE. To form adjectives. Attractive, possessive.

2.2.5 Adverb suffixes

-LY. Added to adjectives to form adverbs. Means In a manner. Happily, fortunately.

- WARDS. Added to adjs and nouns to form adverbs. Way and direction. Backwards, afterwards
-WISE. Added to nouns to form adverbs. In a manner. Weather-wise.

3- COMPOUNDS

Compounding is concerned with the formation of new lexemes from two (or more)
potential stems. A compound may be defined as a combination of two or more potential stems that
has not subsequently been subjected to a derivational process (as in school.master.ish and
super.high.way).
The vast majority of compounds in English are nouns. Compounds may be written in three
ways: as two independent words (washing machine), joined by a hyphen (tax-free) or as one word
(toothache). There is no rule about how compounds should be spelt.
In general, the main stress is usually on the first element and secondary stress on the second
element: “black, bird” compound, species of birds; ´blackbird (a bird that is black).
Compound nouns can be subdivided into four groups according to semantic criteria:
endocentric compounds - in which one element functions as the head whereas the other functions
as the modifier (beehive is a type of hive, armchair a type of chair); exocentric compounds –
which, unlike endocentric compound, lack a head (highbrow is not a type of brow, nor is redskin a
type of skin); appositional compounds, which are hyponyms (=kinds) of both of the terms used
(maidservant is both a type of maid and a type of servant); and dvandva or copulative compounds,
in which there is a simple conjunction of two words without dependency holding them so each
element could be a head (Alsace-Loraine, freeze-dry).

The classification of compounds is bound to be controversial since many scholars have

attempted to do it from different approaches (i.e. class-form, semantic class, linking elements and
syntactic function among others) and none of them are considered to win unqualified support.
However, we have approached compounding following Bauer (1983), whose classification deals
with the form classes of compound constituents, that is, by the function they play in a sentence
(i.e. noun, adjective, verb, adverb, and so on).
https://www.oposinet.com/temario-de-ingles-secundaria/temario-2-ingles-secundaria/topic-10-the-
lexicon-characteristics-of-word-formation-in-english-prefixation-suffixation-composition/

Noun compounds NOUN + NOUN - proper noun + noun

- gerund + noun
- common noun + common noun
VERB + NOUN - N is direct object of the verb
- N is not the direct object of the verb
NOUN + VERB
VERB + VERB
ADJECTIVE + NOUN
PARTICLE + NOUN
 ADVERB + NOUN
VERB + PARTICLE
COUNTABLE / UNCOUNTABLE, SINGULAR / PLURAL NOUNS!!

3.1- Noun compounds

A compound noun is a fixed expression made up of two or more words with its own
meaning, and has a nominal function in a sentence (i.e. subject, object, attribute). The pattern 1) N +
N is the most frequent in English. Other compound nouns are drawn from a) proper nouns + nouns
which are a very productive process in modern English by means of place and people’s names (i.e.
California dream). Another type is b) gerund + noun, which has either nominal or verbal
characteristics. However, semantically speaking, they are considered nouns (i.e. a fishing rod = a
rod for fishing). And finally, c) common noun + common noun patterns, with hundreds of
example to be found in newspapers, magazines and dictionaries (i.e. acid rain, domino effect).
We also find 2) verb + noun patterns where we find two types: a) when the noun is the
direct object of the verb (i.e. a cut throat, kill-joy, breakfast) and b) when the noun is not the
direct object of the verb (i.e. drownproofing, play pit). Another type, not very productive is 3)
noun + verb (i.e. nosebleed, birth control). Next type 4) is verb + verb (i.e. make-believe) is
unusual and non-productive. The fifth type 5) is adjective + noun. In order to distinguish whether a
given adjective + noun combination is a compound or simply a noun phrase is by means of stress
patterns. Nuclear stress on the adjective indicates a compound. Next type, 6) particle + noun is
quite a productive pattern and recent example include in-crowd and afterheat. 7) Adverb + noun is
a very restricted pattern partly because only adverbs of time or place occur in such compounds. This
class is not very distinct from the previous one since many particles can also be interpreted as
adverbs showing time or place.
Next is 8) verb + particle compounds. The majority of words of this form are
nominalization of phrasal verbs and it is arguable that these are not compounds at all. There are
however a number of such formations which are not derived from phrasal verbs, although they may
be coined by analogy with phrasal verbs (i.e. pray-in, teach-in, but cop-out). With respect to 9)
phrase compounds, there are several constructions to be taken into account. There are phrases that
have become welded into compounds, for instance dog-in-the-manger, father-in-law, and eighteen-
year-old.
Finally, it is worth remembering that, since compound nouns share the same characteristics
as single nouns, there is a further classification that can be drawn whether they are countable (i.e.
baby-sitter, post-office), uncountable (i.e. day dream, first aid), singular (i.e. television screen, solar
system) or plural nouns (i.e. yellow pages, high heels).

3.2 – Adjective compounds

Compound adjectives are made up of two or more words, usually hyphenated. Since
compound adjectives share the same characteristics as single adjectives, they function as the
nucleus of an adjectival phrase or as modifiers of a noun phrase. Compound adjectives are formed
according to a large number of different patterns.

Noun + Adjective
This is the most frequent type of compound adjective (i.e. childproof, leadfree)

Adjective + Adjective
These can be divided into two clear semantic groups: appositional compounds (i.e.
bittersweet, deafmute) and, more frequently, endocentric ones (i.e. open-ended, ready.made).
 Adverb + Adjective
The majority of compounds in this group are simply participial forms of compound verbs
(i.e. low-paid, well-known) but can also include those which have a particle as a first element (i.e.
uptight, overqualified).

Noun + Noun
All the remaining compound adjectives are exocentric in that they function as adjectives but
their second (head) element is not an adjective. In many cases these adjectives are converted nouns
or verbs and it often seems rather misleading to class them as adjectives at all but such modifying
compounds have become institutionalized and lexicalised as units. (i.e. coffee-table book, glass-
steel sky-scraper).

Verb + Noun

3.2 Kinds of composition in the Verb

Back-formation It is when a compound verbal noun is shortened to form a Verb, as

housekeeper-housekeep. There are two types of syntactic relation in these compounds: Object +
Verb (Fire watch, house-hunt, lip-read, brain-wash) and Adverbial + Verb (Bottle-feed, spring-clean,
sleep-walk, baby-sit)

Verb + Adverb
The principal adverbs used in these compounds are: out, over and under: Outrun, overcome,
underestimate.

4.3 Adjective Compounds

Verb and Object compounds

- Object + -ing Participle: Man-eating, breathtaking, self-governing.

Verb and Adverbial Compounds

- Adverbial + -ing particle: Ocean-going, lip-sucking, mouth-watering
- Adverbial + -ed participle. Home-made, self employed.
- Adjective / Adverb + ing participle: Hardworking, everlasting, good-looking.
- Adjective / Adverb + Past Participle. New-laid, quick-frozen.

Verbless Compounds
- Noun + Adjective. Very productive. Tax-free, air-tight, homesick, waterproof.
- Other Noun + Adjective. Bottle-green (as green as a bottle) Snow-white (white like snow).
-Contacts: (Adj 1 + Adj 2). Many compounds of this type have a first element ending in “-o” which
does not form an independent word. Socio-economic, Anglo-american.

4.4 Reduplicative or repetition compounds

These compounds are formed by two elements which are either identical or slightly
different. They are very common in very informal speech and some derive from the nursery.
- To imitate sounds (onomatopoeia): Tick-tock, drip-drip.
- Alternating movements: Ping-pong, flip-flop.
- Vacillation, insincerity: Riff-raff, wishy-washy, tittle-tattle (gossip).
- Intensification: Tip-top, teeny-weeny.

Bibliography

Matthews, P. H. 2005. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University

Press.77.