Word Formation and Inflection

Derivational morphology

Derivational morphology is the part of word formation in which a derivational affix attaches to a base to create a new lexeme. A derivational affix can change the meaning of the base, its word class, or both, so the output is a different word rather than another form of the same word. Adding a suffix to happy gives happiness, a noun, and adding the prefix un- gives a word with the opposite meaning.

Derivation must be distinguished from inflection. Inflection marks grammatical categories such as number, tense, or case within one lexeme and does not change the word class. Walk and walks are two forms of one lexeme, whereas teach and teacher are two different lexemes. Any affix that produces a new word with a changed meaning or class is therefore derivational.

Derivational affixes are productive when speakers can attach them freely to new bases. The suffix *-able* is productive with transitive verbs, as in wash to washable, but it is restricted with intransitive verbs, so many such formations are rare or unacceptable.

Derivational affixes sit closer to the stem than inflectional affixes. In modernizes, the derivational suffix *-ize* comes before the inflectional *-s*. English does not normally place an inflectional suffix before a derivational one, so an inflectional suffix ends the word.

English affixes are also classified as primary (Level I) or secondary (Level II). Primary affixes such as *-ity* and *-ian* tend to shift stress and attach first, next to the stem. Secondary affixes such as *-ness* and *-ism* are stress-neutral and attach outside them. Under level ordering, a Level I affix cannot attach after a Level II affix, so a form with a secondary suffix placed inside a primary one is ungrammatical.

Compounding

A compound is a word formed by combining two or more free forms, as in blackboard or bus stop, and the result is one lexeme. Compounding is recursive, so a compound can be an element of a larger compound. In lighthouse keeper, the first element is itself a compound, so the whole word is a compound built from a compounded word.

Compounds are classified by the relation between their elements.

• Endocentric — one element is the head that determines the category and core meaning of the whole, e.g., blackboard is a kind of board.
• Exocentric — no element is the head and the meaning lies outside the parts, e.g., pickpocket denotes a person, not a pocket.
• Copulative — the elements are coordinate and combine in parallel, e.g., bittersweet.
• Appositional — the second element names the same kind of referent as the first and specifies it further, e.g., actor-manager.

The label compound verb applies to a verb made by combining two verbs that together express one composite meaning, as in stir-fry, where the two verbs describe one cooking event. Two verbs describing separate events are not a compound verb, and a main verb with a modal auxiliary, as in will go, is a verb group. A noun or adjective combined with a verb, as in brainwash, belongs to a different type of formation.

Word formation processes (calque, eponym, blend)

Word formation processes are the ways new lexemes enter a language, and several of them are tested by matching terms with examples.

• Calque — a loan translation in which the parts of a foreign word are translated into native material, e.g., English superman is a calque of German *Übermensch*.
• Eponym — a word derived from the name of a real person, e.g., sandwich from the Earl of Sandwich.
• Blend — a word formed by fusing parts of two words, e.g., smog from smoke and fog.
• Coinage — a newly invented word, often a brand name that becomes a common noun.
• Borrowing — a word taken whole from another language, e.g., bungalow from Hindi.

Backformation creates a new word by removing a supposed affix from an existing word. Speakers take scavenger to contain the agent suffix *-er* and derive scavenge, and they take emotion to contain *-ion* and derive emote. Backformation applies only to words that appear to contain a removable affix.

An acronym, such as laser, is formed from the initial letters of a phrase, and a word borrowed whole without an affix to remove, such as the Greek noun kudos, cannot be a backformation.

Conversion changes the word class without any overt affix, as when the noun doctor becomes the verb doctor.

A zero morpheme is an unpronounced marker that carries a grammatical meaning, as in a plural form that is identical to the singular, such as deer.

A hypocorism is an affectionate shortened form, often with a suffix such as *-ie* or *-y*, as in brekkie from breakfast.

Derivation adds a derivational affix that changes the word class, as in the noun arrival from the verb arrive.

Circumfixation

A circumfix is a discontinuous affix made of a prefix and a suffix that attach to a base together and express one morphological meaning. Neither part carries the meaning alone, so the two parts must be analyzed as a single affix. The German past participle is the standard example: the circumfix ge-...-t forms ge-sag-t from the stem sag-, meaning 'said'.