Few techniques of word formation in English

1. WORD FORMATION IN
ENGLISH
A BRIEF NOTE ON MAJOR TECHNIQUES
DONE BY.
SOWBARRNIKA A
ACADEMIC WRITING
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2. Different techniques of word formation- addition of prefixes, suffixes, compounding of
words, borrowing, acronyms etc.,
PREFIXES:
letters added in the beginning of already existing word are called ‘prefix’
Eg: ‘in’, ‘un’, ‘ig’ etc.
Words formed using prefixes are ‘ignoble’, ‘underestimate’, ‘disrespect”
Few prefixes are Latin derivatives like ‘pro’ – ‘proactive’
SUFFIXES:
letters added to the end of a word are called ‘suffix’
Eg: ‘tion’, ‘ment’ etc.,
Words formed using suffixes are ‘addition’, ‘attachment’ etc.,
NOTE: Many words in English are formed using prfiexs and suffixes.

3. COMPOUND WORDS:
Two individual words are added together and thus compound words are formed
There are 12 different types of compound words available.
Eg: verb+ noun- washing machine, walking stick;
adjective+ noun- young boy, handsome man
Few compound words are written with a hyphen in the middle like in ‘lounge- room’
BORROWING:
A few words are internally borrowed in English meaning dialectical words are added to
Standard English. Words like ‘Leprechauns’, ‘bog’, ‘scone’ are words from the Irish English
dialect.

4. ACRONYMS:
New words are formed by this technique where a letter is taken from the series of
words which forms a word by itself.
Eg: ‘ISRO’ stands for Indian Space Resarech and Organisation
‘ATM’ stands for Automated Teller Machine

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