WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

The word formation process is the branch of morphology that is concerned with the role of
expanding our vocabulary and it helps us to communicate very effectively. It is located within
morphemes Odebunmi (2001). According to Muir (1972) can be simple or complex. A word is
described as simple when it has one morpheme and complex when it contains one two or more
morphemes (Odebunmi 2001).

There are two types of morphemes –free or bound morphemes. Free morphemes are independent
in terms of form and meaning while bound morphemes depend on free morpheme for form and
meaning.

1. Affixation
Affixation is the process of inflection or derivation that consists of adding an affix. It is the
process of adding affixes to the roots or base in order to vary or modify meaning. The two
primary kinds of affixation are prefixation and suffixation.

i. Prefix: This is a meaningful unit smaller than a word added at the beginning of a word to
change its meaning. It may be one or more than one syllable.

Im- is placed before bilabial sounds /p, b, m/. Examples:

balance imbalance
possible impossible
patient impatient
pure impure
mortal immortal
movable immovable

In- is used before alveolar and velar sounds /d, k, s/ and the labio-dental fricative /v/. Examples:
visible invisible
definite indefinite
sincere insincere
competent incompetent
direct indirect
convenience inconvenience
decision indecision
credible incredible

Ir- is used before r. Examples:

Regular irregular
relevant irrelevant
resistible irresistible
responsible irresponsible
resolute irresolute
reparable irreparable
Il- is used before l. Examples
logical illogical
legitimate illegitimate
legal illegal
literate illiterate

Suffixation
Suffixes are important in determining the meanings of words in English. They are either
inflections added at the end of a word or they change the grammatical class of words they are
attached to. Let us consider the examples below:

i. -ment
amend amendment
defile defilement
detach detachment
incite incitement
embellish embellishment
argue argument

ii. –ion/-tion
collect collection
resolve resolution
obstruct obstruction
adopt adoption
repress repression
adapt adaptation

iii. –ation. The suffix –ation is added to some verbs ending in –ise. The final e is dropped before
the addition of –ation.
authorize authorization
improvise improvisation
civilize civilization
polarize polarization

Inflectional morphemes
An inflectional morpheme is added to a noun, verb, adjective or adverb to assign a particular
grammatical property to that word such as: tense, number, possession, or comparison.

Tense -: -d, -t, -id, -ing Like in: stopped, running, stirred, waited
Number -: -s, -z, -iz Like in: cats, horses, dogs
Possession -e in: stopped, running, stirred, waited o Possession: -‘s Like in: Alex’s
Comparison --er, -en Like in: greater, heighten *note that –er is also a derivational morpheme so
don’t mix them up!!

These do do not change the essential meaning or the grammatical category of a word. Adjectives
stay adjectives, nouns remain nouns, and verbs stay verbs
 Suffixation Function Example Attaches to
-s Plural cats Nouns
-’s Possessive brother’s Nouns
-er Comparative taller faster Adjectives
-est Superlative tallest Adjectives
fastes
-s third person (she) walks Verbs
singular present (he) eats
-ed tensetense
past walked called Verbs
-ing Progressive walking Verbs
-en past participle (have) givin
given Verbs
(have) eaten

2. Conversion
Conversion is a word formation process that deals with making a word that belongs to a
grammatical converts to another grammatical form without changing any spelling or
pronunciation. For examples.

a. He is a good man
b. He was asked to man the gate
a. It is a green bottle
b. My boss told me to bottle the wine
a. Check up the topic on google
b. Google the topic

Man, bottle and google in sentences 1a-3a are traditionally noun but they were converted to verb
in sentences 1b-3b.

We also have verb to noun conversion. Look at the examples below:

Verb Noun
To hope hope
To cover cover
To increase increase
To attack attack

3. Compounding
Compounding is a word-formation process that allows words to combine to make a new word.
Compounding words can be formed as two words joined with/without a hyphen.

Cybercrime
Ashtray
Classroom
Notebook
Breakup

4. Clipping
Clipping is a type of word formation process in which part of a word is 'clipped' off , and the
remaining word now means essentially the same thing as what the whole word means or meant.
Examples:

Ad from advertisement
Gas from gasoline
Exam from examination
Flu from Influenza
Edu from education
Gym from gymnasium
Lab from laboratory
disco from discotheque

5. Acronyms
Acronyms are formed by taking the initial letters of a phrase and making a word out of it.
Acronyms provide a way of turning a phrase into a word. The classical acronym is also
pronounced as a word. Examples:

On your own OYO

As soon as possible ASAP
Laugh out loudly LOL
Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS
Absent without leave AWOL
Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation Laser
National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC
Journal of language, theatre and Literary Studies JOLATALS
Ife Studies in English and Literature ISEL
Papers in English and Linguistics PEL

6. Abbreviation:
Abbreviation is the word formation process in which a word or phrase is shortened. Initialisms
are a type of abbreviation formed by the initial letters of a word or phrase. For example:

cm – centimeter(s)
dept. – department
Dr. – doctor
Mr. – Mister
Sun. – Sunday
7. Blending
In the ‘Blending’ word-formation method, the parts of two or more words combine to form a
new word. Let us see some examples in the below table:

Words Blending
Breakfast+lunch Brunch
Biographical+picture Biopic
Motor+hotel Motel
Spanish+English Spanglish
Telephone+marathon Telethon
Romance +comedy Romcom

8. Borrowing
Another method of forming new word is borrowing. This is the process by which a word from
one language is imported into another language. This is the process by which a word from one
language is adapted for use in another language.

Word Origin
Zebra Bantu
Lilac Persian
Pretzel German
Yogurt Turkish
Piano Italian
Sofa Arabic
Tattoo Tahitian
Tycoon Japanese

9. Coinage/Neologism
This is a process of word formation where new words, deliberately or accidentally, are created.
Though it is a very rare word formation process, it is beginning to gain popularity in the media
(print, electronic or social) and industry, people and companies try to surpass others with unique
words to name their services or products.

Some common examples of coinage are:

Lagosian Awoites
Awoism Kodak
Google Bing
Nylon

Conclusion
Word formation is a very important aspect of any language, it allows for vocabulary
development and expansion. It helps the speakers to have many alternatives to express their
semantic intensions. It will also help the interlocutor or reader to guess right the meaning of
unfamiliar words.