4. Ways of forming words

4.1. Inflection

Inflection vs. word formation

Given the notion of a lexeme, it is possible to distinguish two kinds of morphological rules. Some morphological rules relate to different forms of the same lexeme; while other rules relate to different lexemes. Rules of the first kind are called inflectional rules, while those of the second kind are called word formation. The English plural, as illustrated by dog and dogs, is an inflectional rule; compounds like dog catcher or dishwasher provide an example of a word formation rule. Informally, word formation rules form "new words" (that is, new lexemes), while inflection rules yield variant forms of the "same" word (lexeme).

There is a further distinction between two kinds of word formation: derivation and compounding. Compounding is a process of word formation that involves combining complete word forms into a single compound form; dog catcher is therefore a compound, because both dog and catcher are complete word forms in their own right before the compounding process has been applied, and are subsequently treated as one form. Derivation involves affixing bound (non-independent) forms to existing lexemes, whereby the addition of the affix derives a new lexeme. One example of derivation is clear in this case: the word independent is derived from the word dependent by prefixing it with the derivational prefix in-, while dependent itself is derived from the verb depend.

A derivational suffix usually applies to words of one syntactic category and changes them into words of another syntactic category. For example, the English derivational suffix -ly changes adjectives into adverbs (slow → slowly).

Examples of English derivational patterns and their suffixes:

adjective-to-noun: -ness (slow → slowness)

adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern → modernise) in British English or -ize (archaic → archaicize) in American English and Oxford spelling

adjective-to-adjective: -ish (red → reddish)

adjective-to-adverb: -ly (personal → personally)

noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → recreational)

noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify)

verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → drinkable)

verb-to-noun (abstract): -ance (deliver → deliverance)

verb-to-noun (concrete): -er (write → writer)

Although derivational affixes do not necessarily alter the syntactic category, they do change the meaning of the base. In many cases, derivational affixes change both the syntactic category and the meaning: modern → modernize ("to make modern"). The change of meaning is sometimes predictable: Adjective + ness → the state of being (Adjective); (white→ whiteness).

A prefix (write → re-write; lord → over-lord) will rarely change syntactic category in English. The inflectional prefix un- applies to adjectives (healthy → unhealthy)and some verbs (do → undo), but rarely to nouns. A few exceptions are the derivational prefixes en- and be-. En- (em- before labials) is usually used as a transitive marker on verbs, but can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verbs: circle (verb) → encircle (verb); but rich (adj) → enrich (verb), large (adj) → enlarge (verb), rapture (noun) → enrapture (verb), slave (noun) → enslave (verb).

Note that derivational affixes are bound morphemes. In that respect, derivation differs from compounding by which free morphemes are combined (lawsuit, Latin professor). It also differs from inflection in that inflection does not create new lexemes but new word forms (table → tables; open → opened).

Derivation can occur without any change of form, for example telephone (noun) and to telephone. This is known as conversion or zero derivation.

Examples of compounding from different languages

1. Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwe:

mashkikiwaaboo 'tonic': mashkiki 'medicine' + waaboo 'liquid'

dibik-giizis 'moon': dibik 'night' + giizis 'sun'

gichi-mookomaan 'white person/American': gichi 'big' + mookomaan 'knife'

2. Finnish:

sanakirja 'dictionary': sana 'word', + kirja 'book'

tietokone 'computer': tieto 'knowledge, data', + kone 'machine'

keskiviikko 'Wednesday': keski 'middle', + viikko 'week'

maailma 'world': maa 'land', + ilma 'air'

rautatieasema 'railway station': rauta 'iron' + tie 'road' + asema 'station'

3. German:

Wolkenkratzer 'skyscraper': wolken 'clouds', + kratzer 'scraper'

Eisenbahn 'railway': Eisen 'iron', + bahn 'track'

Kraftfahrzeug 'automobile': Kraft 'power', + fahren/fahr 'drive', + zeug 'machinery'

4. Italian:

Millepiedi 'centipede': mille 'thousand', + piedi 'feet'

Ferrovia 'railway': ferro 'iron', + via 'way'

5. Spanish:

Ciencia-ficción 'science fiction': ciencia, 'science', + ficción, 'fiction'

Ciempiés 'centipede': cien 'hundred', + pies 'feet'

Ferrocarril 'railway': ferro 'iron', + carril 'lane'

Paraguas 'umbrella': para 'to stop, stops' + aguas '(the) water'

Exercise

Very bad teenager joke:

Q: How do you make a cat drink?

A: Put it in a blender.

What are the verbal tricks here?

Derivation is the process of creating separate but morphologically related words. Typically, but not always, it involves one or more changes in form. It can involve prefixing, as in resaw, and suffixing, as in sawing, sawer, sawable. Another type of derivation, while not visible, is at least audible. It involves a change in the position of the primary stress in a word. Compare: