Noun formation

Name: ________________________
1. Topic: Noun formation (1.5)
2. Grammar Overview:
In English, we can see five different processes of word-formation:
a. Functional shift or conversion
Thisprocess is the use of a part of speech as if it were a different part of speech, without any change of form. For example, in the sentence it is a big if. Although the word if is generally aconjunction, in this case it functions as a noun. No doubt, the most obvious instance of conversion occurs when a word is cited (e.g. ‘The’ is an article). This means that, given the right context, any word ispotentially a noun. But conversion also affects other parts of the speech. Note the following example: I got a 20% discount (verb noun); I haven’t watered the plants (noun verb)
b. ClippingAs its name suggests, this process consists in shortening a word, the result being a ‘clipped word’ or ‘shortening’ which retains the same meaning but which is usually colloquial.
Types
| Word |Clipped word |
First part of the word | Laboratory | Lab |
Last part of the word | Hamburger | Burger |
Middle part of the word (quite rare) | Influenza | Flu |

c. DerivationDerivation is a process of word-formation by which a complex word is formed by adding an AFFIX (SUFFIX / PREFFIX) to an already existing word. The new Lexeme resulting from this process is called a‘derivative’ which may or may not belong to the same part of the speech as the word from which derives.
Prefixes | Auto- | Self | Autopilot |
| com-, con- | with | companion, contact |
| de- | off,away from | Degradation |
| dis- | Not | Disadvantage |
| ex- | out of, former | Ex-Girlfriend |
| hyper- | over, more | Hyperspace |
| post- | after | Postmodernism |
| pre- |before, forward | Preface |
| Sub- | under | Submarine |
| uni- | one | Unicorn |
Suffixes | -ity | Mobility |
| -ery | Slavery |
| -hood | Childhood |
| -ment | Argument |...