English Word Formation Processes: Types and Examples

Posted on May 24, 2025 in Naval Architecture and Marine Systems Engineering

Key Word Formation Processes in English

This document outlines the primary strategies for creating new words in the English language. These processes include:

  • Derivation (Affixation): Prefixation, Suffixation, Pseudo-affixation
  • Compounding
  • Conversion
  • Clipping and Blending
  • Alphabetisms
  • Acronyms
  • Back-formation
  • Eponyms

Derivation (Affixation)

Derivation is one of the most common word-formation strategies in English, dating back to Old English (OE). It involves creating new words by adding affixes (bound morphemes), either prefixes or suffixes, to existing roots. For example: friend, friendly, friendliness, unfriendly.

Some affixes have developed out of independent native words that have undergone grammaticalization. For instance, the Old English word lic (meaning ‘body’) evolved into the suffix -ly, as seen in words like homely.

Prefixation

The English lexicon has been significantly influenced by languages with which it had the closest cultural contact, notably Latin, Greek, and French. Consequently, many affixes are of foreign origin. Affixes of foreign origin are typically introduced into English as part of loanwords containing the affix. This process usually occurs in two stages:

  1. Initially, words containing the affix are introduced into the language.
  2. Subsequently, these words become analyzed as derived words, and the affixes are then used to form new words.

Suffixation

While prefixes primarily change only the meaning of the root to which they are attached, suffixes can either change the meaning of the root or alter its grammatical category.

Pseudo-Affixation

As Lass (1987) describes this process, pseudo-affixation involves using the second part of a word as if it were a suffix to form new terms. This word-formation strategy is now very popular and frequently used to coin informal terms. For example: Marathon > -(a)thon (as in walkathon, telethon).

Back-Formation

Back-formation is the creation of a new word from an older one, which is mistakenly analyzed as being formed by a root and an affix. The supposed affix is then deleted to form the new word. For example: Old English gredig > greedy > greed.

Compounding

Compounding involves combining two or more bases to form a new lexical unit. The meaning of this new unit is often different in some way from the sum of its parts.

Types of Compounds

  • Endocentric Compounds

    An endocentric compound consists of a head and modifiers, which restrict the meaning of the head. The head typically determines the grammatical category and core meaning of the compound.
    Example: bedroom (a type of room)

  • Exocentric Compounds

    Exocentric compounds do not have a clear head, and their meaning often cannot be guessed directly from their constituent parts.
    Example: The English compound white-collar is neither a kind of collar nor simply a white thing; it refers to a type of worker.

  • Transparent Compounds

    This type of compound has a clear and transparent meaning relation with its constituent parts.
    Example: Dishwasher (a machine that washes dishes)

  • Lexicalized Compounds

    Lexicalized compounds have no transparent meaning relation with their constituent parts or are only loosely related to one of their elements. Their meaning is often idiomatic or specialized.
    Example: Acid house (a genre of electronic music, not a house made of acid)

Conversion (Zero Derivation)

Conversion, also known as zero derivation, is the process of converting words from one grammatical category to another with no changes in form.
Example: The verb to show can be converted into the noun show.

Clipping and Blending

Clipping

Clipping is the shortening of a longer word, where the shortened form sometimes completely replaces the original.
Example: microphone > mic.

Clipping can shorten a form by cutting:

  • Between words: soap opera > soap
  • Between morphemes: biology > bio
  • In the middle of a morpheme: It can also ignore lexical and morphemic boundaries and cut in the middle of a morpheme, as in rehabilitation > rehab.

Blending

Blending is not a new phenomenon, but in past centuries, it was primarily limited to the coinings of creative writers. Today, it is highly productive. Blends are words formed by fusing elements of two other words.
Example: flexitarian (from flexible + vegetarian).

Acronyms and Alphabetisms

Both acronyms and alphabetisms are types of contractions formed from the initial letters or syllables of other words. Although these types of contractions existed in the Middle Ages, they have become highly productive since World War I.

Acronyms

Acronyms are abbreviations formed from the initial letters or syllables of a series of words and are pronounced as an ordinary word.

  • Prototypical Acronyms:
    • laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
  • Other (Informal) Acronyms:
    • OPALS: older people with active lifestyles

Alphabetisms

Alphabetisms are pronounced as sequences of individual letters.

  • Prototypical Alphabetisms:
    • CD: Compact Disc
    • PC: Personal Computer
  • Less Prototypical or Marginal Alphabetisms:
    • B2B: Business to Business
    • B2C: Business to Consumer

Eponyms

Eponyms are common nouns derived from the name of a person or a place.
Example: Sandwich (named after the Earl of Sandwich).