2. Etymology – the origin and history of a word
Lexicon – the vocabulary of a person, language,
or branch of knowledge
Lexicography – the compiling, writing, and editing
of dictionaries
TED Talks: Erin McKean, The Joy of
Lexicography:
http://www.ted.com/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_t
he_dictionary.html
3. Can you think of any new words that have
entered the English language in your
lifetime?
When a new word enters a language, it is
called a neologism.
4. The invention of a
totally new term
Often comes from
a product name
Examples:
6. Eponym – a new word based on the name of a
person or place
Sandwich – named after
the Earl of Sandwich
Fahrenheit – named after
Gabriel Fahrenheit
9. Russian: спорт [spɔrt]
Korean: 스포츠 [ʃəpɔtʃə]
Japanese: スポーツ [spɔtsɛ]
Cognates are “borrowed” words!
10. The direct translation of the elements of a word
into another language
gratte-ciel (“scrape sky,” French)
wolkenkrabber (“cloud scratcher,”
Dutch
Wolkenkratzer (“cloud scraper,”
German)
skyscraper (English)
12. Joining two different words to make a new word
compound nouns
13. Compound Adjectives
◦ good-looking
◦ low-paid
◦ fast-food
She is a good-looking,
low-paid, fast-food
restaurant employee.
14. Combining two forms to produce a new word
Done by joining the beginning of one word with the
end of another
smoke + fog = smog
breakfast + lunch = brunch
information + commercial = infomercial
Spanish + English = Spanglish
15. Occurs when a long word is shortened, typically
to its first syllable
ad vertisement
deli catessen
demo nstration
condo minium
lab oratory
16. When a word of one type is reduced to form a
word of another type
◦ Usually a noun is reduced to form a verb
television (n) – televise (v)
donation (n) – donate (v)
babysitter (n) – babysit (v)
worker (n) – work (v)
editor (n) – edit (v)
17. When the function (part of speech) of a word
changes
We think of bottle, butter, and chair as nouns…
18. Bottle, butter, and chair can also be verbs!
◦ I bottle my own wine.
◦ Butter your toast!
◦ He chairs the committee meetings.
Verbs can become nouns
◦ to spy (v) – a spy (n)
◦ to take over (v) – a takeover (n)
Verbs can become adjectives
◦ to see through (v) – see-through (adj)
Adjectives can become verbs
◦ empty (adj) – to empty (v)
19. New words formed by using the first letters of a
set of words
Laser: “light amplification by stimulated emission
of radiation”
Zip (in zip code): “zone improvement plan”
20. When a word is changed by adding an affix to it.
Affix – small groups of letters added to a word to
change its meaning
In English we have two types of affixes: prefixes
and suffixes
◦ Prefixes come at the beginning of a word (misguide)
◦ Suffixes come at the end of a word (respectful)
Some other languages also use infixes
◦ Infixes are inserted into the middle of a word
◦ In English these are rarely used, and only with profanity:
◦ “absof@#$%inglutely!”
