I. Brainstorming

Can you list some ways to form some new English words?

II. Formation of new words

1. Derivation 

Derivation forms a word by adding an affix to a free morpheme. Since derivation can apply more than once, it is possible to create a derived word with a number of affixes. For example, if we add affixes to the word friend, we can form befriend, friendly, unfriendly, friendliness, unfriendliness, etc. This process of adding more than one affix to a free morpheme is termed complex derivation. 

Derivation does not apply freely to any word of a given category. Generally speaking, affixes cannot be added to morphemes of a different language origin. Derivation is also constrained by phonological factors. Some English suffixes, most of which are Latin origin, also change the word stress.

2. Compounding 

Compounding is another common way to form words. It is the combination of free morphemes. The majority of English compounds are the combination of words from the three classes – nouns, verbs and adjectives – and fall into the three classes.

In compounds, the rightmost morpheme determines the part of speech of the word while the leftmost morpheme takes the primary stress of the word. 

The meaning of compounds is not always the sum of meaning of the components.

3. Conversion 

Conversion is the process putting an existing word of one class into another class. This often happens between nouns and verbs. 

Conversion is usually found in words containing one morpheme. •

4. Clipping 

Clipping is a process that shortens a polysyllabic word by deleting one or more syllables. 

Clipped words are initially used in spoken English on informal occasions. 

Some clipped words have become widely accepted, and are used even in formal styles. For example, the words bus (omnibus), vet (veterinarian), gym (gymnasium), fridge (refrigerator) and fax (facsimile) are rarely used in their complete form. •

5. Blending 

Blending is a process that creates new words by putting together non-morphemic parts of existing words. For example, smog (smoke + fog), brunch (a meal in the middle of morning, replacing both breakfast and lunch), motel (motor + hotel). There is also an interesting word in the textbook for junior middle school students – “plike” (a kind of machine that is like both a plane and a bike). •

6. Back-formation 

Back-formation is the process that creates a new word by dropping a real or supposed suffix. For example, the word televise is back-formed from television. Originally, the word television is formed by putting the prefix tele- (far) to the root vision (viewing). At the same time, there is a suffix –sion in English indicating nouns. Then people consider the –sion in the word television as that suffix and drop it to form the verb televise. •

7. Acronyms and abbreviations 

Acronyms and abbreviations are formed by putting together the initial letters of all words in a phrase or title. 

Acronyms can be read as a word and are usually longer than abbreviations, which are read letter by letter. This type of word formation is common in names of organizations and scientific terminology. •

8. Eponyms 

Eponyms are words that originate from proper names of individuals or places. For example, the word sandwich is a common noun originating from the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who put his food between two slices of bread so that he could eat while gambling. Many scientific terms are eponyms. •

9. Coinage 

Coinage is a process of inventing words not based on existing morphemes. 

This way of word formation is especially common in cases where industry requires a word for a new product. For example, Kodak and Coca-cola.