Lexical Change Flashcards
coinage
The creation of words that are completely new and not derived in any way from other words. Very rare as almost all new words are related in some way to previously existing ones.
Borrowing
the internet sux, loanword and/or calques. (me snatchy from other language)
loan words
Directly snatched (at least mostly directly one would presume) from another language.
Calque
Directly translated from other language.
Affixing
Most common source of new words. Adding a suffix into an existing word. (-ism)
compounding
when words are combined to make larger word or expression (blackbird, blue-eyed, happy hour) (smashed together :), hyphenated :), separate words :))
Blends
Similar to compounding: smushed not smashed. (only parts of the words have been combined) (Smog)
Abbreviation
also called clipping. shortening an existing word in some way (this does not change meaning although separate semantic change can also occur) (burger is short for hamburger making cheeseburger backformation! Also, Hamburger came from a proper noun because of the city Hamburg, honestly a wild story. Many twists and turns.)
Backformation
A particular kind of shortening when one type of word (normally a noun) is shortened to become another type of word (normally a verb). (donate from donation, televise from television, etc.)
To turn into an Acronym
word formed from the original letters in existing words (basically never happened before 20th C) (ASAP- as soon as possible)
Initialisms
Basically the same things as Acronyms but the letters are pronounced individually rather than being treated like a whole word (PM for Prime Minister)
From Proper Nouns
If they derive from a proper noun (Sandwich being from that absolute nutter the Earl of Sandwich) (trade names such as Hoover)
Archaisms
Words that become obsolete or fall out of use
