Rules of word formation

Rules of Word Formation: Some Major Processes

1) Coinage: creation of new words such as names of products. Example: Kleenex (to refer to tissue paper). Kleenex is the brand name to refer tothis product. Other examples are: Xerox and Kodak, which are brand names used to name the product they refer to in English.

In Chile we usually say Confort to refer to any type of toilettepaper. We know that Confort is a brand of a particular toilette paper produced in Chile, but we also have other brands of toilette paper such as Favorita, Suave, Preferido, etc.

2) Borrowing: wordsborrowed from other languages. Example: piano (Italian); plaza (Spanish); tsunami (Japanese → meaning harbor ("tsu", 津) and wave ("nami", 波). [a. Jap. tsunami, tunami, f. tsu harbour + nami waves. -Oxford English Dictionary] ), yacht (Dutch).

3) Compounding: a word formed by two or more existing words. Example, whiteboard (white + board); coffee table (coffee + table), postcard (post +card), mother-in-law (mother + in + law), etc.

4) Blending: smog (smoke + fog); Chunnel (tunnel + channel); motel (motor + hotel)

5) Clipping: exam →exam(ination); fan →fan(atic); gym → gym(nasium);
lab → lab(oratory)

6) Acronyms: words created from the initial letters of several words. Example: NATO (North Atlantic TreatyOrganization), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), UNICEF (United Nation´s Children Fund), FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), radar (Radio Detection and Ranging), laser (Light Amplification byStimulated Emission of Radiation), scuba (self-contained underwater breathing aparatus).

7) Conversion: extension of the use of one word from its original grammatical category to anothercategory as well. Example: carpet (noun) → to carpet (verb);
must (modal verb) → must (noun)

8) Derivation: The use of derivational morphemes to form new words...