WORD FORMATION

Why does it matter?

How do they go together?

March 2022
 A glance over word formation process

What are prefixes and suffixes?

Why are they important?

Table of
Contents Common prefixes

Common suffixes

Final quiz
1. A glance over word formation process
HUMAN LANGUAGES
ARE DYNAMIC!

New words come into

the language all the time and
others become obsolete.
the processes through which words
can change, or the creation of new
words in a particular language.
 In which way are
these words
special?
• Yogurt
• Brunch
• Washington, D.C.
• ASEAN
• Goalie
• Insurmountably
 In which way are these words special?
• Yogurt: is not originally an English word. It was borrowed from Turkish
• Brunch: is a combination of BREAKFAST and LUNCH
• Washington, D.C.: derived from the first US president’s name, and
D.C. stands for District of Columbia.
• ASEAN: the abbreviation of Association of Southeast Asian Nations
• Goalie: means goalkeeper, but sounds sweeter
• Insurmountably = in- sur- mount -able –ly
There are different types of word formation!!!

WORD FORMATION
 BORROWING COINAGE

COMPOUNDING CLIPPING

BLENDING DERIVATION

ACRONYMS HYPOCORISMS
…
 BORROWING
• Borrowing is the process whereby new words are formed by adopting
words from other languages together with the concepts or ideas they
stand for.
Example:
- tango, mango, taco, burrito from Spanish
- fiancé, very (adapted from Old French verai)
- garage from French
Italian
- pizza, mafia from ____________
Chinese
- tofu, fengshui, Kungfu from _________
 COMPOUNDING

• The joining of two separate words to produce a single form.

Example: wastebasket, waterbed, bookcase, jellyfish,…
COMPOUNDING
 BLENDING
• Blending is the process whereby new words are formed by
combining parts of two words, usually the beginning of one word
and the end of another.
For example:

• Smog: Smoke + fog

• Brunch: breakfast + lunch

heliport (helicopter + airport), motel (motor + hotel), electrocute
(electro + execute), Eurovision (European + television), newscast
(news + broadcast), paratroops (parachute + troops), telecast
(television + broadcast), …
 CLIPPING
• Clipping is the processes whereby new
words are formed by shortening other
words, i.e., by eliminating the initial part, the
last part, or both parts, of those words.
Example: phone from (tele)phone, plane from
(air)plane, ad (advert (BrE)) from
ad(vertisement), exam from exam(ination),
flu from (in)flu(enza), fridge(esp. BrE) from
refrigerator.
CLIPPING
• Clipped forms generally show a certain tone of informality,
which is often reflected in their spellings.
Example:
showbiz for showbusiness
'cause ('cuz or cos) for because
praps for perhaps
mike /maɪk/ for microphone
 SHORTENED NAMES

• Dennis → Denny
• Nicholas → Nick → Nicky
• Thomas → Tom → Tommy
• Susan → Sue → Susie, Suzy
• William → Will
 HYPOCORISMS

• Hypocorism: A longer word is reduced to a single syllable, then –y or –ie

is added to the end.
Example:
- Telly (television)
- Bickie (biscuit)
- Goalie …
- movie (moving pictures)
- bookie (bookmarker)
- Aussie …
 COINAGE
• Word coinage (or invention) is the process whereby new words
are created outright, either deliberately or accidentally, to fit
some purpose.
Example: nylon, aspirin, Vaseline, zipper, Google, iPod,…
 ACRONYMS
• Acronyms are new words formed from the initial letters of a
set of other words.
Example:
CD NATO NASA UNESCO
UNICEF Scuba
ATM FA
 ACRONYMS
CD = Compact disc
NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNICEF = United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
Scuba = Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
ATM = automatic teller machine
FA = forever alone
 DERIVATION/,deri'veiʃn/
• Derivation is the most common word-formation process in English.
• The process involves the utilization of AFFIXES (Phụ tố)
• There are usually 3 kinds of affixes:
PREFIXES (tiền tố)
INFIXES (trung tố)
SUFFIXES (hậu tố)
- Infixes are not very popular in English.
 DERIVATION

care + -less + -ness

dis- + agree + -ment
Misbehaving = mis- + behave + -ing
Insurmountable = in- + sur- + mount + -able
 BORROWING COINAGE

COMPOUNDING CLIPPING

BLENDING DERIVATION

ACRONYMS HYPOCORISMS
…
2. What are prefixes and suffixes?
DERIVATION PROCESS
Prefixes and Suffixes
Prefixes and Suffixes
3. Why are they important?
Understanding prefixes and suffixes helps…

Infer word Expand your own Improve text

meanings vocabulary comprehension

graduate > analyze unknown words “In January or February, Venice

undergraduate > recognize component parts plays host to the most magical
postgraduate of a word of carnivals. During the carnival,
the city is filled with a mass of
ripe windproof: wind-proof masked party-goers, posing and
overripe tomatoes multicultural: multi-cultur-al dancing, in an attempt to
indefensible: in-defens-ible reinvent one of the great
traditions of the city.”
4. Common types of prefixes
Find the opposites of…

1. natural (adj) unnatural

2. experienced (adj) inexperienced
3. understand (v) misunderstand
4. normal (adj) abnormal
5. obey (v) disobey
6. regular (adj) irregular
1 Prefixes of negation

…Common prefixes

un-: unfair, unhealthy

un-: untie, unlock, unload
in-: inactive, inconsistent
dis-: disappear, disqualify
im-: impossible, immature
ab-: abnormal
ir-: irregular, irresponsible
non-: non-existent, non-verbal
il-: illegal, illogical
mis-: misspell, mishear
dis-: dishonest, disorganized
 Add a prefix of negation to the word in brackets to complete the
sentences.

1. I’m sure he’s lying, but it’s going to be hard to ___ his story. (prove) disprove
2. I just love ___ Christmas presents! (wrap) unwrapping
3. His phone was ___ because he didn’t pay his last bill. (connect) disconnected
4. I’m afraid you’ve ___ what I’m saying. (understand) misunderstood
2 Prefixes with numbers

Examples?

uni- (one) unicycle, unilateral

bi- (two) bicycle, biannual, biweekly
tri- (three) triangle, tripod
quad- (four) quadruplet, quadrangle
mono- (one) monolingual, monologue
multi- (many) multinational, multicultural
 Answer the questions with the given words.

biannual – multinational – triangle – monologue – multicultural

1. What kind of company has branches in many countries? multinational

2. Which word means including people from many different countries? multicultural
3. Which word means a shape with three straight sides and three angles? triangle
4. Which word means a long speech by one person? monologue
5. Which word means happening twice a year? biannual
3 Prefixes emphasizing degree

Examples?

super- (above, beyond) superpower, superhero

hyper- (too much) hyperactive, hypertension
over- (too much) oversleep, overrate
under- (not enough) undercooked, underestimate
out- (go beyond) outnumber, outperform
ultra- (extreme) ultrasound, ultramodern
 Complete the sentences by adding a prefix to the words in
brackets.
super-, hyper-, over-, under-, out-, ultra-

1. ___ children often have poor concentration and require very little sleep. hyperactive
(active)
2. He became a porter, was ___, often not paid at all, but did not complain. underpaid
(pay)
3. The company has consistently ___ its larger rivals. (perform) outperformed
4. I wouldn’t ___ her if I were you - she's smarter than you think. (estimate) underestimate
5. After seeing the award-winning movie, we decided it was ___. (rate) overrated
5. Common types of suffixes
 SUFFIXES USED TO FORM NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM VERBS

-tion/-ation: prevent → prevention; invent → invention; conserve → conservation

-ment: develop → development; improve → improvement; employ → employment
-ence/-ance: different → difference; attend → attendance; appear → appearance
-er/-or: drive → driver; teach → teacher; dry → dryer; edit → editor
-ar/-ant/-ee: beg → beggar; lie → liar; assist → assistant; employ → employee
-ing: build → building, understand → understanding
-age: drain → drainage; use → usage
 SUFFIXES USED TO FORM NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS

-ship: friend → friendship; owner → ownership

-ism: capital → capitalism; Marx → Marxism
 SUFFIXES USED TO FORM NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM ADJECTIVES

-ity: possible → possibility; real → reality; national → nationality

-ism: social → socialism; feudal → feudalism; surreal → surrealism
-ness: rich → richness; happy → happiness; willing → willingness
 SUFFIXES USED TO FORM ADJECTIVES
FORMING ADJECTIVES FROM NOUNS
-ful: harm → harmful; use → useful; beauty → beautiful
-less: child → childless; hope → hopeless; odor → odorless (không có mùi hương)
-ly: man → manly; hour → hourly; friend → friendly (có vẻ, có tính chất,…)
-like: child → childlike; life → lifelike; god → godlike ( giống như, tương tự)
-y: rain → rainy; health → healthy; sand → sandy ( có nhiều)
-ish: fool → foolish; self → selfish; child → childish (giống như, có tính chất của)
-al: magic → magical; industry → industrial; nature → natural (thuộc về)
-ous: poison → poisonous; danger → dangerous
-able: fashion → fashionable; value → valuable
 SUFFIXES USED TO FORM ADJECTIVES
FORMING ADJECTIVES FROM VERBS

-ive: act → active; attract → attractive

-able/-ible: accept → acceptable; eat → eatable, edible

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
NOUNS

Admire
Disappoint
Exist
Owner Ownership
Hero
Special
Social
Lazy
Popular
Lenin
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
NOUNS

Admire Admiration
Disappoint Disappointment
Exist Existence
Owner Ownership
Hero Heroism
Special Specialty/Speciality
Social Socialism/Society
Lazy Laziness
Popular Popularity
Lenin Leninism
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
ADJECTIVES
Woman
Brother
Use
Power
Snow
Change
Comprehend
Magic Magical
Profession
Fame
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
ADJECTIVES
Woman Womanly
Brother Brotherlike
Use Useful/useless
Power Powerful/powerless
Snow Snowy
Change Changeable
Comprehend Comprehensible
Magic Magical
Profession Professional
Fame Famous
Final quiz
Thank you
for your attention!