Word formation

Inlinguistics,word formationis an ambiguous term^[1]that can refer to either:

the processes through which words can change^[2](i.e.morphology), or
the creation of newlexemesin a particular language

Morphological

A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivationalaffixes.

Derivation

Examples include:

the wordsgovernor,government,governable,misgovern,ex-governor,andungovernableare all derived from the base word(to) govern^[3]

Inflection

Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence.^[4]For example:

managesandmanagedare inflected from the base word(to) manage^[1]
workedis inflected from the verb(to) work
talks,talked,andtalkingare inflected from the base(to) talk^[5]

Nonmorphological

Abbreviation

Examples includes:

etc.fromet cetera

Acronyms & Initialisms

An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words.^[6]For example:

NASAis the acronym forNationalAeronautics andSpaceAdministration
IJAL(pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym forInternationalJournal ofAmericanLinguistics

Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, likeradar,are now treated as common nouns.^[7]

Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example:

ATMforAutomatedTellerMachine
SIAforSingaporeInternationalAirlines^[1]

Back-formation

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base.^[5]Examples include:

the verbheadhuntis a back-formation ofheadhunter
the verbeditis formed from the nouneditor^[5]
the wordteleviseis a back-formation oftelevision

The process is motivated byanalogy:editis toeditorasactis toactor.This process leads to a lot ofdenominal verbs.

Theproductivityof back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation beinghypocoristics.^[5]

Blending

A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments. For example:

smogis a blend ofsmokeandfog
brunchis a blend ofbreakfastandlunch.^[6]
stagflationis a blend ofstagnationandinflation^[1]
chunnelis a blend ofchannelandtunnel,^[1]referring to theChannel Tunnel

Although blending is listed under theNonmorphologicalheading, there are debates as to how far blending is a matter of morphology.^[1]

Compounding

Compounding is the processing of combining two bases, where each base may be a fully-fledged word. For example:

desktopis formed by combiningdeskandtop
railwayis formed by combiningrailandway
firefighteris formed by combiningfireandfighter^[5]

Compounding is a topic relevant to syntax, semantics, and morphology.^[2]

Hashtagging as word formation

Linguists argue thathashtagsarewordsand hashtagging is a morphological process.^[8]^[9]Social media users view the syntax of existing viral hashtags as guiding principles for creating new ones. A hashtag's popularity is therefore influenced more by the presence of popular hashtags with similar syntactic patterns than by its conciseness and clarity.^[10]

Word formation vs. semantic change

There are processes for forming new dictionary items which are not considered under the umbrella of word formation.^[1]One specific example issemantic change,which is a change in a single word's meaning. The boundary between word formation and semantic change can be difficult to define as a new use of an old word can be seen as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form.

References

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gBauer, L. (1 January 2006)."Word Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition).Elsevier:632–633.doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/04235-8.ISBN 9780080448541.Retrieved17 December2021.
^^a ^bBaker, Anne;Hengeveld, Kees(2012).Linguistics.Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 23.ISBN 978-0631230366.
^Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition):642–645.doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5.ISBN 9780080448541.
^Linguistics: the basics.Anne, July 8- Baker, Kees Hengeveld. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. p. 217.ISBN 978-0-631-23035-9.OCLC 748812931.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eKatamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition):642–645.doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5.ISBN 9780080448541.
^^a ^bAronoff, Mark (1983)."A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation".Annual Review of Anthropology.12:360.doi:10.1146/annurev.an.12.100183.002035.
^Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2018).An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure(2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 71.ISBN 978-1-4744-2896-5.
^Caleffi, Paola-Maria (2015)."The 'hashtag': A new word or a new rule?"(PDF).Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics.12(2).ISSN 1336-782X.
^Calude, Andreea S.; Long, Maebh; Burnette, Jessie (2024-06-07)."#AreHashtagsWords? Structure, position, and syntactic integration of hashtags in (English) tweets".Linguistics Vanguard.10(1):105–114.doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0044.ISSN 2199-174X.
^Wan, Ming Feng (2024-03-12)."The role of syntax in hashtag popularity".Linguistics Vanguard.10(1):693–698.doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0051.ISSN 2199-174X.

[:1-1] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gBauer, L. (1 January 2006)."Word Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition).Elsevier:632–633.doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/04235-8.ISBN 9780080448541.Retrieved17 December2021.

[:2-2] Baker, Anne;Hengeveld, Kees(2012).Linguistics.Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 23.ISBN 978-0631230366.

[:32-3] Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition):642–645.doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5.ISBN 9780080448541.

[4] Linguistics: the basics.Anne, July 8- Baker, Kees Hengeveld. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. p. 217.ISBN 978-0-631-23035-9.OCLC 748812931.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)

[:3-5] Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation".Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition):642–645.doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5.ISBN 9780080448541.

[:0-6] Aronoff, Mark (1983)."A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation".Annual Review of Anthropology.12:360.doi:10.1146/annurev.an.12.100183.002035.

[7] Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2018).An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure(2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 71.ISBN 978-1-4744-2896-5.

[:03-8] Caleffi, Paola-Maria (2015)."The 'hashtag': A new word or a new rule?"(PDF).Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics.12(2).ISSN 1336-782X.

[9] Calude, Andreea S.; Long, Maebh; Burnette, Jessie (2024-06-07)."#AreHashtagsWords? Structure, position, and syntactic integration of hashtags in (English) tweets".Linguistics Vanguard.10(1):105–114.doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0044.ISSN 2199-174X.

[:13-10] Wan, Ming Feng (2024-03-12)."The role of syntax in hashtag popularity".Linguistics Vanguard.10(1):693–698.doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0051.ISSN 2199-174X.

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