The Word Formation in English

 The English language is dynamic and flexible enough to adapt itself and create the words its needs through different means. English is a language alive and has the ability to evolve over time. The formation of words in English can be divided in the main following process:

1-DERIVATION/AFFIXATION: derivation involves creating a new word by adding prefixes or suffixes to a base word, sometimes it also changes the meaning or grammatical category of the original word, the adding of syllables before or after the root of the word are usually of Latin or Greek origin related to a specific meaning.

-Prefixation: the formation of new words adding of syllables before of the root of the word.

-Negative prefixes:

-Prefixes of degree or size:

-Locative prefixes:

-Prefixes of time and order:

-Number prefixes:

-Conversion prefixes:

-Suffixation: the adding of syllables after the root of the word. 

-Noun suffixes:

-Noun/Adjectival suffixes:ç

-Pejorative prefixes:

2-COMPOUNDING: creation of new word out of two or more root morphemes, they can be either native or borrowed. The meaning is often derived from the meanings of the individual components. There are rhyming

-Composition of compound nouns:

-Compound adjectives:

-Compound verbs:

3-CONVERSION: also known as Zero Derivation, it occurs when a word changes its grammatical category without any change in form. This often happens with nouns and verbs.

Examples: nouns converted into verbs: google, email, run, etc.

4-BLENDING: it merges parts of two or more words to forma new word, often taking sounds and meanings from both.

Example: smoke + fog= smog                      breakfast + lunch: brunch

5-ACRONYMS and INITIALISM (or Alphabetism): they are abbreviations formed from the initial letters of a series of words and are pronounced as single words, while initialism are pronounced letter by letter.

Example: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), UN (United Nations), EU (European Union), USA (United States of America), UK (United Kingdom).

6-CLIPPING: it shortens a longer word by removing one or more syllabes, often resulting in a more informal version of the original term.Example: advertisement = ad              mathematics= maths  

6.1.back-clipping or apocopation: it´s more common in the beginning is the shortening; ad, maths, gym (<gymnasium), pub (<public house), exam (<examination), lab (laboratory).

6.2. fore-clipping or apharesis: it retains the final part, phone (<telephone), chute (<parachute), pike (<turnpike), coon (< racoon). These are also named Aphetic words, i.e. lone (< alone).

6.3. middle-clipping or syncope: the middle of the word is retained, flu (<influenza), tec (<detective), jams (<pyjamas), polly (<apollinians), refridgerator (<fridge). 

6.4. complex clipping: clipped forms in which one part of wor of the original compound remains intact. cablegram (cable+telegram), op art (optical + art), sci-fi (science fiction), sitcom (situation comedy), Intelsat, bodbiz, midcult, org man (organization man).

According to Bauer (1993) the easiest way to draw the distinction  is to say that those forms that retain compound stress are clipped compounds whereas those that take simple word stress are not. They come also from slang and youngsters language like spec (speculation), vet (veteran).

7-BACK FORMATION: it involves creating a new word by removing an affix from an existing word, typically changing its part of speech.

Example: noun editor= verb edit                  noun donation= verb donate

8-BORROWING: words taken from other languages which are not changed.

Example: café, ballet, bouquet, cuisine, rendezvous (French), democracy, hyperbole, metamorphosis, philosophy, symphony (Greek), hamburger, kindergarte, poltergeist, schnitzel, rucksack, wanderlust, doppelganger (German), pundit, shampoo, pundit, jungle, guru, bungalow (Hindi), balcony, pizza, macchiato, balcony, graffitti, opera, stiletto, piano, pasta (Italian), anime, emoji, karaoke, sushi, tsunami (Japanese), agenda, mass, virgin, puritan, bonus, data, veto, alibi, villa, curriculum (Latin), fiesta, plaza, tapa, mosquito, guerrilla, armada, canyon, patio, alligator, avocado, breeze, cockroach, macho, ranch, siesta, bonanza, cafeteria, cargo, cigar, embargo, corral, hurricane, junta, rodeo, renegade, desperado, savanna, puma, jalapeño, tornado, stampede, vanilla, vigilante, taco, adobe, aficionado, alpaca, armadillo, alfalfa, albino, solo, bandoleer, bajada, bravo, bronco, buckaroo, burrito, canary, caldera, chaparral, castanet, chaps, chili, cilantro, churro,creole, dago, dorado, fajita, , flan, flotilla, guacamole, frijol, flauta, hacienda, habanero, lasso, machete, maize, matador, mestizo, nada, mustang, mulatto, nopal, negro, olé, paella, papaya, peccadillo, peso, picaresque, pinta, piñata, pueblo, pronto, quesadilla, remuda, reefer, quirt, salsa, rumba, sarsaparilla, serrano, silo, sombrero, spaniel, tamale, tango, tamerillo, tortilla, una, vamoose, vaquero, wrangler, venegarroon, toreador, zapateado (Spanish).

9-COINAGE or NEOLOGISM: the creation of words to describe something previously nonexistent. The creation of new words by companies are called brand or trade names in which a company invents a name for an invention or its product such as nylon, lycra,  kleenex, google, aspirin, zipper, teflonn frisbee, vaseline, granola, xerox, robot, laser, escalator. 

The creation of new words, sometimes from proper names of places and people´s   names are called eponyms, for example boycott (< British land agent Charles Boycott), marerick (< Texas rancher Samuel Maverick), machiavellian (< political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli), saxophone (< Belgian musician Adolphe Sax), teddy bear (< US president Theodore Roosevelt), sandwich ( < Earl of Sandwich). There are words derived from places such as jeans (< Genes or Genoa), denim (de Nimes), tuxedo (< Tuxedo Park contry club in New York), mecca (the holy islamic city).

10-ONOMATOPEIA: they are words imitating natural sounds in a sound symbolism such as "meow, bump, bang, crash, thudm pop, smack, whack, splash, drip, slurp, gurgle, whoosh, rustle, sizzle, crackle, buzz, woof, chirp, tick-tock, clink, hiss, ding, zoom, beep, ahem, cough, burp, hiccup, chomp, hum, hush, nah, nay,  sigh, yawn, ouch, beep, ching, clink, fizz, flutter, ring, slosh, splash, twang, zap, flip flops, tuk tuk, tweeter, woofer,  cricket, cuckoo, curlew, hoot owl, kea, pewee, weero, bark, bleat, buzz, gobble, moo, purr, quack, roar, bebop, boom bap, hip hop, doof doof, ratatat, ska, vroom vroom, whaam, kapwing."

11-CONVENTION: interjections or conventionalised response cries such as "ha-ha, bye, cheerio, eh, goshm hooray, aye, amen, alas, adieu, hurray, yum, yummy, yuck, zap, what, well, tush, shoo, whoopee, whoosh, phew, oops, oi, oh, och, nah, huh, humph, hhey, hi, ho, blimey, boo, blah, bingo, aw, ack, ach.