Seminar 1.2 Word Formation in Modern English Seminar overview

1. Productivity in word formation

• definition

• kinds of productivity

2. Word-formation processes in contemporary English

• affixation

• word-composition

• conversion

• shortening (abbreviation, clipping, back-formation)

• blending

• onomatopoeia

• stress and sound interchange

• sentence condensation (phrase integration)

• lexicalization of the plural of nouns

3. Word formation and lexicalization

4. Word formation and neologisms in English

Key words1:

word formation, morpheme-based morphology, word-formation rules, word-based morphology, productivity, generality, regularity, derivation, affixation, morphological head, word-composition, conversion, abbreviation, acronym, initialism, clipping, apocope, syncope, aphaeresis, fore-and-aft clipping, back-formation, aphetic form, blending, onomatopoeia, sound-interchange, stress-interchange, sentence condensation / phrasal word, lexicalization and grammaticalization, word family

Reading assignmentS

I. Read thoroughly the sources below for the seminar and be prepared to discuss the following questions in class. 

1. Jackson H. and E. Zé Amvela Words, Meaning and Vocabulary. – 2^nd Edition. – London; New York : Continuum, 2007. – P. 86-104. http://docdro.id/cQnde2q 

• What word-formation processes are observed in English?

• What is the difference between class-changing and class maintaining derivational affixes? Does the same distinction apply to inflectional affixes? Support your answer with evidence.

• How to distinguish between compounds and phrases in English?

• What features of compounds in English give grounds for their classification?

2. Carstairs-McCarthy A. An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure. Edinburgh University Press, 2002. – P. 59-69. http://docdro.id/ebCvMyi 

• Is the distinction between compounds and phrases valid in English?

• How do primary compound nouns differ from secondary compound nouns, in terms of Carstairs-McCarthy?

• Do all English compounds have a head?

• How do blends differ from compounds?

• Is the dividing line between combining forms and other bound roots sharp in English?

• How do phrasal words form their plural in English?

3. Plag I. Word-formation in English. - Cambridge University Press, 2002. – P. 229–244.

http://docdro.id/MWyPNCo

• How is the distinction between the syntagmatic and the paradigmatic axes relevant to the study of morphology?

• What problems occur with the distinction of morphological heads in English?

• How do word-based schemas differ from morpheme-based rules?

• What are the advantages of representing some word-formation processes as schemas, in the author’s view?

• What phenomena are best accounted for with the help of a morpheme-based approach?

4. Lipka L. An Outline of English Lexicology. – 2 ed. – Tübingen Niemeyer, 1992. – P. 94–98.

http://docdro.id/ihqlOtG

• How does Leonhard Lipka define lexicalization? What other approaches to lexicalization are mentioned in the chapter?

• What kinds of change can lexicalized words undergo?

II. Revise Chapter 8 on productivity in Carstairs-McCarthy A. An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their Structure. Edinburgh University Press, 2002. – P. 85-97 (http://docdro.id/iJmecSD ), which you have read for the second lecture, and answer the following questions:

• What is the difference between generality and regularity in word-formation? Does the one imply the other?

• Does the divergence between formal and semantic regularity apply to derivation and inflection in the same way?

• What is semantic blocking?

• What compounding is productive in English?

• How can productivity be measured?