SUMMARY

Plantilla resumenes.dot

ENGLISH

TOPIC10. LEXICON.
CHARACTERISTICS OF WORD
FORMATION. PREFIXATION,
SUFFIXATION AND
COMPOUNDING.
DOCUMENTO3
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INDEX

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 3
1. LINGUISTICS ................................................................................. 4
1.1. MORPHEME .............................................................................. 4
1.2 LEXEME .................................................................................... 5
2. WORD FORMATION .................................................................... 6
3. PREFIXATION ................................................................................ 7
4. SUFFIXATION ...............................................................................12
5. CONVERSION ..............................................................................14
6. COMPOUND ................................................................................16
6.1 NOUN COMPOUNDS ............................................................... 16
6.2. NOUN COMPOUNDS ............................................................... 17
6.3. VERB COMPOUND .................................................................. 17
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................19

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INTRODUCTION

Language is a complex system which is composed by a series of fixed rules

which establishes the patter of correctness. Language is in constant change

due to losing and borrowings and the creation of words resulting from the

application of word formation processes. Lexicon, then, is what is most par-

ticular to a language.

In this unit we will explore general important concepts such as morpheme

and lexeme. After that a revision of word-formation will be carried out: suf-

fixation, prefixation, conversion and compounding.

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1. LINGUISTICS

Linguistics is the study of the structure of language (Cambridge dictionary). It

has four branches: phonetics, morphology, syntax and semantics.

We identify 4 levels of linguistic analysis:

a) Sound level: phonetics (sounds in general) and phonology (specific

sounds).

b) Morphological level: morphemes (basis meaningful units) and morphol-

ogy (internal structure of words).

c) Syntactic level: syntax (set of rules)

d) Semantic level: semantics (detailing with the meaning) and pragmatics

(speaker’s meaning).

Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the structure and formation

of the elements of the language system. Two types are identified:

a) Inflectional morphology: the process affects the meaning.

b) Lexical morphology: the process yields a different lexical item from the

source.

1.1. MORPHEME
It is the smallest unit of language that has its own meaning (Cambridge dic-

tionary). They can change the part or entire meaning of a word: love (want) ed

(past).

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The most basic form is called stem (e.g. expect). Morphemes can be added to

the stem in order to produce new words. There are two types of morphemes:

a) Lexical: morphemes denote states, facts, relations…They can be free (in-

dependent words) or bound (affixes, attached to others). These can be

combined with other lexical morphemes giving as a result a new lexeme.

b) Grammatical: they are a close category. They can be free (function

words) and bound (inflectional affixes: -ed). These can be combined with

lexical morphemes.

Most stems are free morphemes but not all them: re-ceive. The stem plus a

bound morpheme may form the base for new words: friend-friendly. Bound

morphemes can be inflectional, which modify the tense (loved) or the number,

or derivational, which change the meaning or the word class (happy-happi-

ness).

Bound morphemes are characterised by allomorphs (a morpheme variants) and

productivity (range of stems to which a morpheme applies).

1.2 LEXEME
Lexemes have a limited number and are listed alphabetically in the dictionary:

love, for example, has several meaning and it can be used as a noun and as a

verb. It can also take derivational morphemes: lover, lovely …

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2. WORD FORMATION

The main process of word-formation is derivation, accomplishes by means of:

- Affixation: bound morphemes are added to the base in initial position

(un-expect) or final position (expect-ed).

- Conversion: change of the word class without changing its form (a direct

object vs direct the traffic).

Other minor word-formation processes are:

- Compounding: stems/bases are combined to form a new word. The

most common is to put two nouns together (website) and adjective+

noun (blackberry). They are found as a word (bathroom) or with hyphens

(father-in-law).

- Reduplicative: two elements are identical or very similar: walkie-talkie.

- Clipping: word reduction: phone.

- Blending: two words become one: Brexit (Britain+exit).

- Acronym: only initial letters are used RSA (Royal Society of Arts).

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3. PREFIXATION

The process of forming a new word by adding a prefix. The prefixes do not alter

the word class and they normally have a light stress. We can divide them into:

a) Negative prefixes

Prefix Meaning Added to

A In the process of Adjective (amoral)

Nouns (atheist)
Verbs (ablaze)

De Reverse of an action Verbs (defrost)

Dis The opposite of Adjectives (disloyal)

Nouns (discount)
Reverse of an action
Verbs (disconnect)

In The opposite of Adjectives (infinite)

Adverbs (incorrectly)
Verbs (incapacitate)

Il Words beginning with l

(illegal)

Ir Words beginning with r

(irresponsible)

Mal Badly Verbs (maltreat)

Nouns (malnutrition)

Mis Wrongly Verbs (misread)

Nouns (misrule)

Non Not Adjectives (non-stop-

ping)

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Nouns (nonsense)

Pseudo False Adjectives (pseudo-sci-

entific)
Nouns (pseudonym)

un The opposite of Adjectives (unfair)

Participle (unexpected)
Reverse of an action
Adverbs (unhappy)
Nouns (belief)
Verbs (uncover)

b) Prefixes of degree or size/locative prefixes.

Prefix Meaning Added to

Ante Before Adjectives (antenatal)

Nouns (antecedent)

Arch Highest Nouns (archduke)

Hyper To an excessive degree Adjectives (hyperactive)

Nouns (hypermarker)

Mini Small Nouns (mini-skirt)

Out Surpassing Verbs (outgrow)

Adjectives and adverbs
(outburst, outgoing)

Over Too much Verbs (overeat)

Nouns (overdose)
Adjectives (overhead)

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Sub Less than Adjectives (subhuman)

Nouns (subway)

Super More than Nouns (surround)

Sur Outside Nouns (surreal)

Ultra Beyond Adjectives (ultrasonic)

Under Not enough Verbs (undercook)

Nouns (undercurrent)

c) Prefixes of attitude

Prefix Meaning Added to

Anti Against Adjectives (antisocial)

Nouns (antihero)

co Jointly Adjectives (cooperative)

Verbs (co-star)
Nouns (co-driver)

Counter Against Nouns (counter-attack)

Verbs (counter-balance)
Adverb (counter-clock-

wisse)

Pro In favour of Adjectives (pro-abortion)

Nouns (pronoun)

d) Prefixes of time and order

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Prefix Meaning Added to

Ex Former Nouns (ex-president)

Fore Before Adjectives (foretell)

Nouns (forefoot)

Post After Adjectives (post-classical)

Nouns (post-war)

Pre Before Adjectives (pre-marital)

Nouns (predestination)
Verbs (prefabricate)

Proto First Nouns (prototype)

Re Again Verbs (reactivate)

Adjectives (reborn)

e) Number prefixes

Prefix Meaning Added to

Uni-mono One Unilateral

Bi-di Two Bisexual

Tri Three Tricolour

Multi- Poli Many Multilingual

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f) Other prefixes

Prefix Meaning Added to

Auto Self Autobiography

Neo New Neolithic

Pan All Pantheism

Semi Half Semi-circle

Vice Deputy Vice-president

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4. SUFFIXATION

A suffix is added to the end of the root in order to form a new word. They are

classified according to the word class they form and the class of root word they

added to.

Types of suffixes (examples)

a) Suffixes that form nouns from noun

- Meaning: ‘related to’:

 -ster, connected to: gangster.

 -er: concerned with: astronomer, philosopher, villager…

- Diminutive sense:

 -let: small (piglet).

 -ette: small or imitation (cigarette, usherette).

 -y: familiar (daddy).

- Indicating status:

 -dom: domain (kingdom).

 -(e)ry: place (pottery, bakery).

 -hood: abstract nouns (neighbourhood).

 -ocracy: class (aristocracy).

 -ship: condition (friendship, dictatorship).

- Related to material:

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 -ful: amount (mouthful).

 -iana: connecte with (Victoriana).

 -ing: activity (glassing).

b) Suffixes that forms nouns/adjectives from nouns/adjectives:

 - (e)ry: state (bravery) and collection (greenery)

 -ese: nationality (Japanese).

 -(i)an: people (Italian).

 -ism: current of thought (idealism).

 Ist: membership (violinist).

 -ite: follower (Israelite).

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5. CONVERSION

Conversion is a derivational process whereby an item changes its word class

without the addition of an affix (Quirk 1973). There are different types:

a) From verb to noun: doubt (stative verb), laugh (dynamic verb), answer

(object), bore (subject), cover (instrument), throw (manner), retreat (turn).

b) From adjective to noun: daily, comic, marrieds.

c) From noun to verb: bottle (to put something in/on), coat (give some-

thing), peel (deprive of something), brake (do something with an instru-

ment), cash (to make something), mail (send by something), bicycle (to

by something).

d) From adjective to verb: This category competes with –en suffixation:

calm (to make), dry (to become).

e) Minor categories of conversion: must (from closed system word to

nouns); alsoran (from phrases to nouns); under-the-weather (form

phrases to adjectives); doctrine (from affixes to nouns).

f) Change of secondary word-class: nouns: paints (from non-countable

to countable); floor (from countable to non-countable); a Renoir (from

proper to common nouns), a fool (from stative to dynamic).

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g) Change of secondary word-class: verbs: run the water (from intransitive

to transitive); read well (from transitive to intransitive), fall flat (from in-

transitive to intensive); turn sour (from intensive to intransitive); wipe

something clean (monotransitive to complex transitive).

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6. COMPOUND

It is the process of putting two words together. It may be hyphenated (one

word) or as different words.

6.1 NOUN COMPOUNDS

A compound noun is an expression which is made up of more than one word

and which functions as a noun.

A compound word may have two words (daylight); it may be hyphenated (baby-

sitter) or both hyphenated and spaces (children from one-parent families).

Types of noun compounds

c) Subject and verbs compounds: noun + deverbal noun (sunrise); verb +

noun (hangman); verbal noun + noun (dancing girl).

d) Verb and object compounds: noun + verbal noun (brainwashing); noun

+ agentive/instrumental noun (gamekeeper); verb + noun (call-girl); ver-

bal noun + noun (cooking apple).v

e) Verb and adverbial compounds: verbal noun + noun (swimming pool);

noun + verbal noun (handwriting), noun + agentive noun (baby-sitter);

noun + deverbal noun (homeword); verb + noun (dance hall).

f) Verbless compounds: noun + noun (windmill), adjective + noun (dark-

room).

6.2 Adjective compounds

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6.2. NOUN COMPOUNDS

Adjectives are made up of two or more words and functions as a nucleus of an

adjectival phrase or as modifiers of a noun phrase.

Types of adjective compounds:

g) Verb and object compounds: noun + -ing participle (man-eating).

h) Verb and adverbial compounds: noun + -ing participle (mouth-water-

ing); adjective + -ed participle (handmade); adjective/adverb + ing par-

ticiple (hard-working), adjective/adverb + ed participle (well-read).

i) Verbless compound: noun + adjective (duty free); adjective + adjective

(deaf-mute).

6.3. VERB COMPOUND

Some of them are difficult to guess:

j) Noun + verb (lip-read); verb + noun (pickpocket, verb + verb (make-

believe); adjective + verb (deepfreeze); adverb/preposition + verb (over-

book).

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CONCLUSION

Word formation cannot be considered a close field since the evolution of the

language never stops and lexicon is the part of the language most affected by

it. In the light of the evidence, this unit shows such an issue and it is important

for our students to know how the creativity of the language and the word

formation processes permit to adapt the language to the different periods of

the history. Nowadays, technology is modifying our langue due to its fast evo-

lution, for instance, so that we, as teacher, must keep our student to be updated

and let them be aware of such a reality.

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