S6 Morphology II Flashcards
word-formation
branch that studies the way in which new lexemes are formed
productivity
classification for word-formation
derivation
affixes are used to create new words
change in meaning, word-class, sometimes in word class)
prefixation: un-happy, be-friend, de-frost
change in word class, change in meaning
suffixation: -ise, womanise,, -hood, childhood
compounding
two are three morphemes are combined to form a new polymorphemic word
eg. apple + juice
semantic relations of components
- endocentric
- exocentric
- copulative
- A+B denotes a special kind of B, A determines B; A=modifier, b=head of the compound // darkroom, smalltalk
- A+B denotes a special kind of an unexpressed semantic head // skinhead, paleface, pickpocket (head “person”)
- A+B denotes “the sum” of what A and B denote // bitter-sweet, sleepwalk, maid-servant
conversion
a new lexeme is derived from an existing one involving word-class change without any morphological changes
total conversion
noun –> verb: to cage, to water
adjective –> verb: to empty
verb –> noun: a cough, a guess
adjective–> noun: a comic, a professional
partial conversion
with phonological change:
the mouth - to mouth –> the two different h’s
to abSTRACT - the ABstract
blending
two words are fused together
smog = smoke+fog
clipping
parts of the word are omitted, most often the final part is left out (back-clipping)
acronyms and alphabetisms
pronouced like a word; asap > as soon as possible
pronounced letter by letter; OED > Oxford English dictionary
back-formation
change the word class, deleting a derivational suffix; sleepwalk/ -er
coinage
just creating words out of nothing like trade names
eg. Kleenex, Aspirin
eponyms
coined from proper names
eg. Mac, sandwich
stages in which a newly formed word enters the lexicon:
- ad hoc formation
- institutionalism
- lexicalisation
- created to fulfill a momentary need for the speaker
- starts to be used regularly by other people in the speech community
- frequently used and fully integrated
