Morphology Paper free essay sample

In order to understand different word formation processes, it is important to understand the oncept of morphemes, roots and affixes, etc. The following are the processes by which new words come into a language. Acronyms These words are formed from the initials of a group of words that refers to one concept so that it is easier for people to name it. There are lots of examples of acronyms. Many of them are names of organizations. For example, HKEAA refers to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority; EMB refers to Education and Manpower Bureau and IRD refers to the Inland Revenue Department. Some acronyms can be pronounced as a word. For example, laser for light amplification hrough the stimulated emission of radiation and AIDS for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Sometimes, acronyms can be formed in such a way that the word is pronounceable. For example, in order to make Standing Committee on Language Education and Research pronounceable, instead of using SCLER, the acronym SCOLAR is used. Backformation Backformation is the process of deriving a new word from an existing word that is assumed to be a derivative of it. For example, pairs of words such as revision and revise; supervision and supervise and donation and donate. Actually revision, upervision and donation are the old words and we take off what looks like the typical affix -ion to make them verbs, revise, supervise and donate. We also know that the person representing a particular occupation usually ends with -er or -or, such as teacher and instructor. It is assumed that if the affixes -er and -or are taken away from words like those, a verb will be created. For example, the verb edit is actually back-formed from the noun editor. Blending Blending is the process of combining two words to form one new word. It is done by combining derivational affixes or bound morpheme with existing words. The meaning word brunch is formed by combining the beginning of the word breakfast and the ending of the word lunch. The meaning is clear when the original words are known. It means a meal typically eaten late in the morning as a combination of a late breakfast and an early lunch (according to Dictionary. Com). The word formed (i. e. blend) usually has the same size as its constituents, or the size of the second element. Borrowing Many new words are actually borrowed from other languages. English borrowed a lot of French words. It is the process in which English speakers imitate a word from a oreign language and adapt it into its own phonological or grammatical system, especially when there is no such equivalent word in English. For example, the borrowed French word petite is used to describe females who are small and slender. English borrowed words from many different languages. Examples include: alcohol (Arabic), rouge (French), piano (Italian), barbecue (Spanish), robot (Czech), sashimi Oapanese), yoghurt (Turkish), dim-sum (Chinese). Clipping / truncation Clipping or truncation is the process of shortening a longer word by cutting off the beginning or the end of a word or both. This is different from back-formation in that it does not change the part of speech of the word. Most clipped words have only one to two syllables and are usually based on the first part of the word. For example, exam is from examination, dorm from dormitory. Clipping is not restricted by derivational morphology (i. e. the part cut off does not have to be a morpheme) and thus the clipped word can become a new morpheme. Sometimes suffixation by -y, le and -ee are added when words are truncated. For example, Patricia ( Patty; Charles ( Charlie. There is some subtle difference between the truncated names with y- iminutives and those without because diminutives usually express a positive attitude towards the person or thing referred to. (Plag, 2003). Invention Invention is the process of creating new words which are usually associated with the name of a product. For example, the brand name Xerox is a trademark used for a photocopying process. This trademark often occurs in print in lowercase as a verb and noun, meaning photocopy. (Could you xerox this letter, please? Example sentence from Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary) Other examples are Vaseline, and Kleenex. Compounding Compounding refers to the process of putting together two or more existing words to form a new one. The words can be written separately (open compound), connected by a hyphen (hyphenated compound) or written as one word (solid compound). Examples are as follows: I open compound Isalad dressing, systems analyst, computer all-round, end-of-term, well-known compound I housekeeping, doghouse I Isolid Compounds usually have a head which contains the basic meaning of the whole compound plus modifiers. For example, the compound blackboard is a board which is black. Compounds can be classified into nominal (with nouns as heads), adjectival (with adjectives as heads), verbal (with verbs as heads) and neoclassical compounds (formed by combining words with the lexemes of Latin or Greek origins. Examples are shown below: I nominal compound I ladJectival compound I Iverbal compound I I neoclassical compound Icar driver, soft-ball, shopkeeper Isugar-free, blood-red I proof-read, stir-fry, broadcast I biotechnology, geographic, microscope Many compounds are used as modifiers and they are generally hyphenated. For example, high-school teacher, low-quality wine, well-known director, old-fashioned Derivation This is the process of forming new words from already existing ones by adding a derivational affix or bound morpheme. That means derivation is different from compounding because free morphemes are combined in compounding. Derivational affixes not only can change the grammatical category of a word, but sometimes, can change the meaning as well. Take honest as an example. By adding the prefix dis-, the word with the opposite meaning dishonest is formed. Combining dishonest with the suffix -y changes the adjective dishonest into a noun dishonesty. Conversion Conversion is the extension of the use of one word from its original grammatical category to another. Thus, new word is formed by changing the part of speech but retaining the spelling of the word. As no affixes are added to the word, this process is also known as zero-derivation. For example, the modal verb must can be used as a noun (e. g. regular exercise is a must. ) Sometimes, the pronunciations change when the part of speech is changed. Examples include record and contrast. Echoism Words are sometimes invented so that they sound like the entity which produces uch sound. This process is also known as onomatopoeia. Examples include everyday sounds like beep, boom, clap; machine sounds and animal sounds (e. g. roar, moo, meow). It is the word formation process in which a proper name is used to stand for something else having an attribute associated with that name. For example, Solomon stands for a wise man and Im no Croesus means Im not a very rich person. Words can also be formed when places or activities are named for people who are connected with them. For example, the word lynch from the Virginian captain William Lynch who led a campaign of corporal punishment. Reduplication Reduplication is a process in which the root or stem of a word, or only part of it, is repeated in order to intensify the meaning. The new word is formed by doubling a morpheme, with change of initial consonants, with change of vowel or without change (bye-bye, no-no, go-go). It is often used when a speaker wants to use a more figurative and expressive tone. For example, ping-pong and walkie-talkie. Many of them rhyme as well. Folk Etymology Folk Etymology is the formation of new words when people mishear a word and break t down into familiar words or morphemes. For example, the English word cockroach from Spanish cucaracha. When a foreign word was hard to pronounce, sometimes people changed it to something that sounded more familiar. For example, woodchuck from the American Indian word wuchak. Sometimes old words are changed so that the new word makes more sense with the meaning. For example, the old English word sam-blind meaning half-blind became sand-blind (as if blinded by the sand) because the element sam does not help people to understand the word. I Declaration I II declare that the assignment here submitted is original except for source material explicitly acknowledged. I also acknowledge that I am aware I lof University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and of the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of I Isuch policy and regulations, as contained in the website.