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Word Formation II
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Introduction
The
expansion of vocabulary in modern English depends chiefly on word-formation.
There is a variety of means being at work now. The most productive are
affixation,
, compounding,
and conversion,
. According to Pyles and Algeo (1982), words produced through affixation
constitute 30% to 40% of the total number of new words; compounding yields
28% to 30% of all the new words; conversion gives us 26% of the new vocabulary.
The rest of the new words come from shortening,
including clipping,
and acronymy,
, amounting to 8% to 10%, together with 1% to 5% of words born out of
blending,
and other means.
Talking
about word-forming patterns means dealing with rules. But a rule of word-formation
usually differs from a syntactic rule. Not all the words that are produced
by applying the rule are acceptable. For example, the existence of the
actual English words unclean, unwise, unfair does not ensure the
acceptance of * unexcelled. Therefore, rules only provide a constant
set of models from which new words are created from day to day. Rules
themselves are not fixed but undergo changes to a certain extent. For
instance, affixes and compounding processes may become productive on one
time, e.g. de-, non-, -teria, -wise (defog, non-hero, cafeteria,
weatherwise) or lose their productivity, e.g. the Old English -th
which is found in warmth, length, depth, width, breadth derived
from adjectives warm, long, deep, wide, broad is no longer used
to form new words, * coolth (Quirk, et al 1985). By word-formation
processes, we concentrate on productive or on marginally productive rules.
While applying the rules, we should remember that there are always exceptions.
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Affixation
4.1
Affixation.
Affixation
is generally defined as the formation of words by adding word-forming
or derivaional affixes to stems. This process is also known as derivation,
, for new words created in this way are derived from old forms. The words
formed in this way are called derivatives. According to the positions
which affixes occupy in words, affixation falls into two subclasses: prefixation,
and suffixation,
.
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Prefixation
4.1.1
Prefixation
Prefixation
is the formation of new words by adding prefixes to stems. Prefixes do
not generally change the word-class of the stem but only modify its meaning.
However, present-day English finds an increasing number of class-changing
prefixes, e.g. asleep a. (a- + v), encourage
v. (en- + n), unearth v. (un- + n), de-oil
v. (de- + n), postwar a. (post- + n), intercollege
a. (inter- + n) and others. These make up only an insignificant
number in the huge contemporary vocabulary.
The majority of prefixes are characterized by their non-class-changing
nature. Their chief function is to change meanings of the stems. Accordingly,
we shall classify prefixes on a semantic basis into eight groups.
1.Negative
prefixes: a-, dis- in-(il-,ir-,im-), non-, un-,
e.g. amoral (nonmoral), apolitical (not political); disloyal (not
loyal), disobey (not obey); injustice (without justice), illegal (not
legal), irresistible (not to be resisted), immature (not mature); non-smoker
(not a smoker), non-classical (not classical); unfair (not fair), unwilling
(not willing). Of this group, un- is by far the most productive and can
usually replace in- or dis- with adjectives for actual use
as in unreplaceable, unmovable for irreplaceable and immovable.
2.Reversative
prefixes: de-, dis-, un-, e.g. decentralize (give greater
powers for self-government), de-compose (separate into parts); disunite
(become separate), disallow (refuse to allow); unhorse (cause to fall
from a horse), unwrap (open). The prefixes of this group can all be found
in the previous class. The reason for their separation lies in the meaning.
3.
Pejorative prefixes: mal-, mis-, pseudo-, e.g. maltreat
(treat badly), malpractice (wrongdoing); misconduct (bad behaviour), mistrust
(not to trust); pseudo-friend (false friend), pseudo-science (false science).
4.
Prefixes of degree or size: arch-, extra-, hyper-, macro-, micro-,
mini-, out-, over-, sub-, super-, sur-, ultra-, under-, e.g.
archbishop (a priest in charge of bishops in a large area); extra-strong
(very strong), hyperactive (extremely active); macrocosm (the universe);
microcomputer (very small computer); mini-election (small-scale election);
outlive (live longer than); overweight (weighing more than normal); subheading
(secondary heading); superfreeze (freeze to a very low temperature); surtax
(tax too much); ultra-conservative (extremely conservative); underdeveloped
(less developed).
5.
Prefixes of orientation and attitude: anti-, contra-, counter-,
pro-, e.g. anti-nuclear, anti-government; contraflow (the arrangement
for the traffic to go on both directions on one side of the road); pro-student
(on the side of the student), pro-democracy (supporting democracy).
6.
Locative prefixes: extra-, fore-, inter-, intra-, tele-, trans-,
e.g. extraordinary (more than ordinary), extramarital (outside marriage);
forehead, forearm; inter-city (between cities), interpersonal (concerning
relations between people); intra-party (within the party); telecommunication
(communication by telephone, radio, television, etc.); trans-world (across
the, world), transcontinental (across the continent).
7.
Prefixes of time and order: ex-, fore-, post-, pre-, re-, e.g.
ex-professor (former professor), ex-student (former student); foretell
(tell before happening), foreknowledge (knowledge before happening); post-election
(after election); pre-prepared (prepared beforehand); reconsider (consider
again).
8.
Number prefixes: bi-, multi-(poly_), semi-(hemi-),
tri-, uni-(mono-), e.g. bicycle, bilingual (concerning two
languages); multi-purpose (more than one purpose), polysyllable (more
than one syllable); semi-naked (half naked), hemisphere (a half of the
earth on either side of equator); tricycle (a vehicle with three wheels);
uniform (not different), monorail (one rail).
9.
Miscellaneous prefixes: auto-, neo-, pan-, vice-, e.g.
autobiography (biography written by oneself), neo-Nazi (new Nazi); pan-European
(the whole of Europe); vice-chairman (deputy chairman).
Some
highly productive prefixes:
de-:
meaning "negation, reversal, removal"
decentralize,
depenalize, defocus, depoliticize, defrost,
defog, deschool (abolish traditional
schools), devalue
(lessen the value of), defeather, depost, deplane,
detrain (get
off)
non-:
added to nouns, adjectives and adverbs, meaning "not, not important,
of little value, not traditional"
non-scientific,
non-musician, non-additive, non-book, non-friend, non-hero, non-novel,
non-topic,
con-conversation
anti-:
traditionally meaning "against, preventing"
anti-crime,
anti-fat, anti-noise
newly
meaning "against traditional characteristics"
anti-art,
anti-music, anti-novelist, anti-theatre
E.g.
In my happier nightmare," he adds, "I see myself attending an
anti-play with an anti-audience
after a dinner prepared by an anti-cook."
mini-:
meaning "very small"
mini-cinema,
min-crisis, mini-war, mini-election, mini-boom, mini-lecture, mini-bikini,
mini-by-pass
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