As in all the world languages, affixation is definitely the most common way of forming new words in the English language. However, the capacity of human language is so enormous and creative that it goes beyond affixation and provides new ways of forming words. Speakers frequently use these new processes of creating new words, also referred to as neologisms, and “under the right conditions these can be adopted by
the larger linguistic community and become part of the language” (Akmajian et al. 2010, p. 27).
Consequently, in this part we will explore some of the basic processes other than affixation by which new words are created.
Coinage:
Though not a very common word formation process, coinage refers to the creation of entirely new, previously nonexistent words or terms in a language. It is simply that speakers invent or coin new words to denote previously nonexistent objects or concepts. The most common examples are invented trade names for commercial products which gradually become general terms (mostly without using capital letters) for any form of that product (Yule, 2010, p. 53; Fromkin et al. 2011, p. 501). The word google is currently the most noticeable example of coinage in English. As the name of a company (Google), the word originated from a misspelling of googol, which means the number represented by a 1 followed by one-hundred zeros, in the creation of the word Googleplex. When used without the capital letter, the term google has today become a commonly used expression meaning “to use the Internet to find information about what you are searching.” Consequently, morphological awareness of coinage will help learners better understand everyday uses of such words as ebaying, xeroxing and googling. |
Borrowing
Borrowing, which means the taking over of words from other languages, is one of the most common processes of word formation in English. Due to the rapid advances in technology and communication, languages have borrowed numerous words from one another. Borrowed words, also known as loanwords are common in English and other languages around the world. Throughout history, English has borrowed a great number of words from other languages. Typicalexamples of the words English has directly borrowed from other languages include: algebra (Arabic), yogurt, aslan, shish kebab, (Turkish), bergamot (from French bergamote, from Italian bergamotta, ultimately from Turkish bey armudu, literally, “the bey’s pear”), croissant (French), piano (Italian), lilac (Persian), shish kebab (Turkish), sofa (Arabic), tattoo (Tahitian), tycoon (Japanese), zebra (Bantu). |
Compounding
The joining of two or more separate words to produce a single form is technically known as compounding and very common in such languages as English, Turkish and German. Common examples of English compounds are notebook, textbook, bookcase, girlfriend, footprint, fingerprint, wallpaper and waterbed. Some compound words introduced recently into English are Facebook, YouTube, power nap, and carjack.
In English, The White House, school bus, and decision making are also compounds but written as two words. These examples of English compounds are mostly nouns, but it is also possible to produce compound adjectives (icy-cold, bittersweet) and compound words consisting of noun (spoon) plus verb (feed) as in Start to spoonfeed your baby at around six months.
As the following table of compounds words shows, English is pretty much flexible in the types of compounds allowed. A variety of similar combinations can be generated from the entries given in the table.