English

Word Formation

Word Formation

To this point, we have looked at affixation

There are other, less rule governed, methods of creating new words

Shortening

Many ways to shorten a phrase that sometimes will become a word

Acronym

Using the first letter of each word to create a new word

Abbreviation

Pronouncing the first letter of each word

Acronyms

constable on patrol

cop

radar detection and ranging

radar

aquired immune deficiency syndrome

AIDS

Abbreviations

television TV

compact disk CD

very important person

VIP

unidentified flying object

UFO

Backformation

Another example of shortening

A word with a recognizable structure is stripped of an affix

television > televise

These argue that the rules that we have explored are real

Backformation

burglar burgle

beggar beg

enthusiasm enthuse

hamburger burger

Clipping

The converse of backformation

Clipping does not assume a rule but deletes material while obeying the phonological rules of the language

Clipping

professor prof

disrespect diss

gymnasium gym

mathematics math

memorandum memo

attitude tude

Blends

Blends are the compression of two words into one

smoke + fog = smog

They will obey the phonological rules of the language

smoke + fog ≠ sfog

Blends

television marathon telethon

breakfast lunch brunch

motor hotel motel

frozen cappacino frappacino

situation comedy sitcom

cranberry martini crantini

Blends

Some blending patterns become so common that they seem to create new morphemes

Watergate

Nannygate

Monicagate

-gate looks like a suffix meaning ‘scandal’

Zero Derivation

In English, it is possible to change grammatical category without a suffix

Is ‘love’ a verb or a noun?

Formally, there are two lexemes

But, practically, it is not possible to tell until it is used

Ambiguity

Sentences can be ambiguous for two reasons

Structural ambiguity

Lexical ambiguity

Structural Ambiguity

Recall ‘unfoldable’

‘John watched the boy with the telescope’

Lexical Ambiguity

Because words can have more than 1 meaning or grammatical category, they can make a sentence ambiguous in surprising ways

‘Time flies like an arrow’

Zero Derivation

Consider ‘impact’

It is a past participle, so it must originally have been a verb

But it is often used as a noun

LexN

LexV

⇒ + ∅

Brand Names

Every product needs a name

A patent restricts who can produce that product

So, the name becomes associated with the product

e.g. Kleenex

This is an example of generization

Brand Names

Some products are so successful that their name becomes generic

In the 2005 report to stockholders, Google predicted that it would lose its trademark

“google” is now a verb

Other search engines are just search engines

Examples

granola

spandex

zipper

nylon

escalator

Brand Names

Companies are required to protect brand names

Listen to Johnson & Johnson band-aid ads

“I’m stuck on band-aid brand because band-aid’s stuck on me”

Emphasizes the difference between bandage and band-aid

Quality Inn vs McDonalds

Quality Inn proposed to establish a franchise of hotels called McSleep

McDonalds sued claiming that it had the trademark of “Mc + noun”

McMuffin, McNuggets

Mc + noun

McJoblow paying, short term employment

McNewsdigested news

stories

McArtlow cost, mass produced art

What does Mc mean?

Two linguists

“basic, convenient, inexpensive and standardized”

“That’s McDonalds!”

McDonalds wins