Word Formation

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 (Japanese)
• Yogurt (Turkish)
• Zebra (Bantu), etc.

Loan-transaction / Calque:

A special type of borrowing is described  as loan-transaction /calque. In this process, there is a direct translation of the elements of a word into the borrowing language. An interesting example is the French term 'ungrateciel', which literally translates as 'a scrape-sky', or the German Wolkenkratzer (cloud scraper).

Compounding:

The process of joining of two or more separate words to produce a single form is known as compounding. For example:

• Bookcase
• Lipstick
• Fingerprint
• Sunburn
• Wall-paper
• Doorknob
• Textbook
• Wastebasket etc

Blending:

This combining of two separate forms to produce a single new term is also present in the process called blending. However, blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word. For example:

• Smog (smoke + fog)
• Smaze (smoke + haze)
• Smurk (smoke + murk)
• Bit (binary + digit)
• Brunch (breakfast + lunch)
• Motel (motor + hotel)
• Telecast ( television + broadcast)
• Chunnel (channel + tunnel), etc.

Clipping:

The element of reduction which is noticeable in blending is even more apparent in the process described as clipping. This occurs when a word of more than one syllable is produced to a shorter form, often in casual speech. For example:

• Ad (advertisement)
• Bra (brassiere)
• Cab (cabriolet)
• Condo (condominium)
• Fan (fanatic), etc.

English speakers also like to clip each other's names.

Backformation:

A very specialized type of reduction process is known as backformation. Typically, a word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form another word of a different type (usually a verb). For example:

• Televise (television)
• Donate (donation)
• Opt (option)
• Emote (emotion)
• Enthuse (enthusiasm)
• Babysit (babysitter)
• Act (action), etc.

Hypocorism:

A particular type of backformation, favored in Australian and British English, produces forms technically known as hypocorism. First, a long word is reduced to a single syllable, then -y or -ie is added to the end. For example:

• Movie (moving pictures)
• Telly (television)
• Barbie (barbecue)
• Bookie (bookmaker)
• Brekky (breakfast)
• Hankie (handkerchief), etc.

Conversion:

A change in the function of a word, as ,for example, when a noun comes to be used as a verb (without any reduction), is generally known as conversion. For example:
Paper, butter, bottle, vacation, can etc

1. He is papering the bedroom walls.
2. Have you buttered the toast? 
3. We bottled the home-brew last night.
4. They are vacationing in France.  

Acronyms:

Acronyms are formed from the initial letters of a set of other words. They can remain essentially "alphabetisms". For example: NUML, CD, VCR, NATO, NASA, UNESCO etc

• NUML (national university of modern languages)
• CD (compact disk)
• VCR (video cassette recorder)

Names for organizations are often designed to have their acronym represented as appropriate term.

• MADD (mothers against drunk driving)
• WAR (women against rape)
• ATM (automatic teller machine)
• PIN (personal identification number)

I sometimes forget my PIN number when I go to the ATM machine.

Derivation:

It is the creation of words by modification of a root without the addition of other roots. Often the effect is a change in part of speech and it is accomplished by means of a large number of small "bits" of the English language which are not usually given separate listings in dictionaries. These small "bits"are called affixes. For example:

• Un-                         unhappy
• Mis-                       misrepresent
• Pre-                        prejudge
• -ful                         joyful
• -less                       careless 
• -ish                         boyish
• -ism                        terrorism
• -ness                       sadness, etc

There are three types of affixes.

1. Prefixes

The affix forms which are added to the beginning of a word. These are called prefixes. For example:

• Un-                         unhappy
• Mis-                       misrepresent
• Pre-                        prejudge

      2. Suffixes

The affix forms which are added to the end of a word. These are called suffixes. For example:

•  -ful                         joyful
• -less                       careless 
• -ish                         boyish
• -ism                        terrorism
• -ness                       sadness

      3. Infixes

The affixes forms which are added in the middle of a word. These are called infixes.

It is not normally to be founded in English, but fairly common in some other languages. It is possible to see the general principle at work in certain expressions, occasionally used in fortuitous or aggravating circumstancing by emotionally aroused English speakers. For example:

• Hallebloodylujah!
• Absogoddamlutely!
• Unfuckingbelievable!

In the movie Wish You Were Here the main character expresses her aggravation:

"Tell him I've gone to Singabloodypore"!

Conclusion:

To sum up the whole debate, we may infer that these word formation processes are very helpful in formatting the words in a particular language. By using  these processes we can inter new words in a particular language. These processes are quite useful in entering new words in vocabulary area. Vocabulary can be enriched by using the word formation process.