Word Formation Processes: The Hierarchical Structure of Words
Important
means of word formation involves building up complex words from base morphemes
and affixes
Example:
agentive noun
Verb →Agentive Noun (Verb+-er)
Teach
→teacher
Drive →driver
Kill →killer
A. Coinage
From the
word to coin: to create
→ the
creation or invention of totally new terms, without employing any other word or
word parts that have already been in existence. Originated from invented trade names
or from the appearance of new technological product
Example:
aspirin, nylon, kleenex
B. Acronym
→ formed
by taking the initial sounds (or letter) of the word or phrase and writing them
into a combination that is itself pronounceable as a separate word. Often consist of capital letter – may loose to become everyday terms. Speaker forget the origin of the word and the acronym become new
independent words
Example:
NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Laser – Light Amplification (by)
Stimulated Emission (of) Radiation
C. Blending
→ combination
of the parts of two words. To blend: mix or combine two things
Taking
the front part of one word and joining with the back part of another word
Gasohol
: gasoline – alcohol
Smog : smoke – fog
Brunch : breakfast – lunch
Motel : motorist – hotel
D. Clipping
To clip
: to cut/ to sharpen
Occurs
when a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form
E. Borrowing
→ taking
over words from other language, esp to accompany new ideas, inventions, product
Example:
Indonesian words borrowing from English
Diskusi
(discussion), evaluasi (evaluation)
Indonesian
words borrowing from Arabic
saat,
rabu, istirahat
English
from other words
Alcohol : Arabic
Boss:
Dutch
F. Backformation
A word
of 1 part of speech (usually noun) is reduced to form another word of a
different part of speech (usually verb)
Form
nouns from verbs
Example:
to
evaluate → evaluation
to explain → explanation
to relate → relation
The
backformation processes are reversed
G. Compounding
→ combining
process of 2 or more free morphemes or existing words to produce a single form
H. Conversion
→ converting
the part of speech to another one without
changing the form of the word
I. Derivation
Prefixes
: Added to the beginning of a word. Infixes : English does not have
infixes, it common in some other languages (the addition can be at the middle
part). Suffixes : Added to the end of a
word
J. Onomatopoeia
→ created
by simply mimicking or imitating or echoing the sounds that certain objects
make
→ onomatopoeic
words
Example:
meow
– cat’s sound
quack – duck’s sound
hiss – snake’s sound
bang, boom, cackle
K. Multiple
Processes
Example:
The
problems with the project have snowballed
Compounding
snow + ball
Conversion
noun-verb
So the
word snowballed has multiple processes which are compounding and conversion
(Sumber: Catatan Kuliah Morfology-Syntax UT)
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