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WORD FORMATION

Word Formation

• Word formation can denote either a state or a process. It can also be viewed either diachronically or synchronically.  Understanding the different word formation processes helps us to understand the creation of the English vocabulary.

Types of word formation

• Affixation or Derivation - This is the process of adding an affix to a word to create a different form of that word or a new word with a different meaning.
• Coinage - This is the invention of totally new terms in which a new word is created either accidentally or deliberately and often from seemingly nothing.
• Borrowing - This is the process of taking words from other languages.
• Blending - This is a process of creating a new word by combining the parts of two different words, usually the beginning of one word and the end of another.
• Clipping - This involves reduction of syllables in a word. New words are created by shortening parts of a longer word.
• Acronymy - In this type, new words are formed from the initial letters of a set of words.
• Folk Etymology - This refers to the changing of a word or a phrase over time which results from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more familiar one.
• Reduplication - This is a process of forming new words by doubling either an entire word (total reduplication) or part of a word (partial reduplication).
• Echoism or Onomatopoeia - In this type, new words are formed by imitating sounds.

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