It is the creation of a new word. It is sometimes contrasted with 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: 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. Coinage: The invention of totally new terms is known as coinage. The most typical sources are invented trade names for one company's products which become general terms (without initial capital letters) for any version of that product. For example: nylon, zipper, teflon etc. But after their first coinage, they tend to become everyday words in the language. Borrowing: One of the most common sources of new words in English is the process simply labeled borrowing, that is, the taking over of words from other languages. For example: Alcohol (Arabic) Boss (Dutch) Croissant (French) Lilac (Persian) Piano (Italian) Pretzel (German) Robot (Czech) Tycoon (Japa...
Edward Sapir (1954) maintains that language is purely human and non-instinctive of communicating ideas,emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. Human language is a rare blessing from above. Unlike the language of animals, it is highly complex. It is system of systems. It always remains on the move. Its variations are of multifarious (various/numerous) steps. Some of these variations are mentioned as follows: Pidgin Creole Dialect Idiolect Register Diglossia Jargon/argot Slang Euphemism Taboos Lingua Franca Isogloss Pidgin: It is sort of lingua Franca. It is a variety of a language that developed for some practical purpose, such as trading among people who had a lot of contacts, but who did not know each other's language. As a contact language, pidgin would have no native speakers. Some linguists hold the view that pidginisation probably requires a set-up that entails at least three languages, one of which dominant over the others. There are b...
