Word formation

In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term^[1] that can refer to either:

the processes through which words can change^[2] (i.e. morphology), or
the creation of new lexemes in a particular language

Morphological

A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivational affixes.

Derivation

Examples include:

the words governor, government, governable, misgovern, ex-governor, and ungovernable are all derived from the base word (to) govern^[3]

Inflection

Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence.^[4] For example:

manages and managed are inflected from the base word (to) manage^[1]
worked is inflected from the verb (to) work
talks, talked, and talking are inflected from the base (to) talk^[5]

Nonmorphological

Abbreviation

Examples includes:

etc. from et cetera

Acronyms & Initialisms

An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words.^[6] For example:

NASA is the acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
IJAL (pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym for International Journal of American Linguistics

Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, like radar, are now treated as common nouns.^[7]

Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example:

ATM for Automated Teller Machine
SIA for Singapore International Airlines^[1]

Back-formation

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base.^[5] Examples include:

the verb headhunt is a back-formation of headhunter
the verb edit is formed from the noun editor^[5]
the word televise is a back-formation of television

The process is motivated by analogy: edit is to editor as act is to actor. This process leads to a lot of denominal verbs.

The productivity of back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation being hypocoristics.^[5]

Blending

A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments. For example:

smog is a blend of smoke and fog
brunch is a blend of breakfast and lunch.^[6]
stagflation is a blend of stagnation and inflation^[1]
chunnel is a blend of channel and tunnel,^[1] referring to the Channel Tunnel

Although blending is listed under the Nonmorphological heading, there are debates as to how far blending is a matter of morphology.^[1]

Compounding

Compounding is the processing of combining two bases, where each base may be a fully-fledged word. For example:

desktop is formed by combining desk and top
railway is formed by combining rail and way
firefighter is formed by combining fire and fighter^[5]

Compounding is a topic relevant to syntax, semantics, and morphology.^[2]

Hashtagging as word formation

Linguists argue that hashtags are words and hashtagging is a morphological process.^[8]^[9] Social media users view the syntax of existing viral hashtags as guiding principles for creating new ones. A hashtag's popularity is therefore influenced more by the presence of popular hashtags with similar syntactic patterns than by its conciseness and clarity.^[10]

Word formation vs. Semantic change

There are processes for forming new dictionary items which are not considered under the umbrella of word formation.^[1] One specific example is semantic change, which is a change in a single word's meaning. The boundary between word formation and semantic change can be difficult to define as a new use of an old word can be seen as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bauer, L. (1 January 2006). "Word Formation". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition). Elsevier: 632–633. doi:10.1016/b0-08-044854-2/04235-8. ISBN 9780080448541. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
^ ^a ^b Baker, Anne; Hengeveld, Kees (2012). Linguistics. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 978-0631230366.
^ Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition): 642–645. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5. ISBN 9780080448541.
^ Linguistics : the basics. Anne, July 8- Baker, Kees Hengeveld. Malden, MA.: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-631-23035-9. OCLC 748812931.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Katamba, F. (1 January 2006). "Back-Formation". Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition): 642–645. doi:10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00108-5. ISBN 9780080448541.
^ ^a ^b Aronoff, Mark (1983). "A Decade of Morphology and Word Formation". Annual Review of Anthropology. 12: 360. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.12.100183.002035.
^ Carstairs-McCarthy, Andrew (2018). An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure (2nd ed.). Edinburgh University Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-4744-2896-5.
^ Caleffi, Paola-Maria. "The 'hashtag': A new word or a new rule?" (PDF). Skase Journal of Theoretical Linguistics.
^ Calude, Andreea S.; Long, Maebh; Burnette, Jessie (2024-06-07). "#AreHashtagsWords? Structure, position, and syntactic integration of hashtags in (English) tweets". Linguistics Vanguard. doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0044. ISSN 2199-174X.
^ Wan, Ming Feng (2024-03-12). "The role of syntax in hashtag popularity". Linguistics Vanguard. doi:10.1515/lingvan-2023-0051. ISSN 2199-174X.