7. Other Types of Word Formation
Affixation, compounding, and conversion are the three major types of word-formation. They play a crucial role in the formation of new words in English. Apart from these a number of other ways of forming words are referred to word formation, such as:
— back-formation or disaffixation (baby-sitter — to baby-sit). Back-formation is a process that creates a new word by removing a real or supposed affix from another word in the language. Resurrect was originally formed in this way from resurrection, enthuse from enthusiasm, donate from donation, orient or orientate from orientation, and self- destruct from self-destruction. Words that end in -or or –er have proven susceptible to back-formation in English. Because hundreds of such words are the result of affixation (runner, walker, singer, etc.), any word with this shape is likely to be perceived as a verb + er combination. The words editor, peddler, and swindler were misanalyzed. The result was the creation of the verbs edit, peddle, and swindle. Back-formation continues to produce new words in modern English, for instance, the form attrit was formed from attrition, the verb lase from laser, liposuct from liposuction;
sound interchange (speak — speech, blood — bleed), and sound imitation (walkie-talkie, brag rags, to giggle);
distinctive change ('conduct — to con 'duct, 'increase — to in crease, 'subject — to subject);
blending: these are words that are created from parts of two already existing items, usually the first part of one and the final part of the other: brunch from breakfast and lunch, smog from smoke and fog, spam from spiced and ham, chunnel (for the underwater link between Britain and the continent) from channel and tunnel, and infomercial from information and commercial. Some blends have become so integrated into the standard vocabulary of English that speakers are unaware of their status, for example, motel from motor and hotel, bit (in computer jargon) from binary and digit, modem from modulator and demodulator. Sometimes a word is formed by a process that is on the borderline between compounding and blending. It combines all of one word with part of another, e.g. workaholic, medicare, Eurotunnel, slanguvge, guesstimate;
clipping is a process that shortens a polysyllabic word by deleting one or more syllables: prof for professor, burger for hamburger. The word zoo, for instance, was formed from zoological garden; fax was formed from facsimile (meaning "exact copy or reproduction"). Some of the most common products of clipping are names — Liz, Bob, Sue, and so on. Many clipped forms have been accepted in general usage: bike, phone, specs, fancy, doc, ad, auto, lab, sub, deli, condo;
acronymy: NATO, NASA, WAC, UNESCO. Acronyms are formed by taking the initial letters of the words in a phrase and pronouncing them as a word. This type of word formation is especially common in names of organizations and in terminology. NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NA TO — North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NOAA — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Such commonly used words as radar (from radio detecting and ranging), and laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) originated as acronyms;
onomatopoeia, i.e. formations of words from sounds that resemble those associated with the object or action to be named, or that seem suggestive of its qualities. Examples of such onomatopoeic words in English include hiss, buzz, meow, cock-a-doodle-doo, and cuckoo.