Recommended Reading Obligatory:

1. Arnold I.V. The English Word/ И.В. Арнольд. Лексикология современного английского языка. Изд. 3-е – М.: Высшая школа, 1986. – C. 77–107.

2. Ginzburg R.S., Khidekel S.S., Knyazeva G.Y., Sankin A.A. A Course in Modern English Lexicology – M.: Higher School Publishing House, 1979. – P. 23–25, 89–114.

3. Смирницкий А.И.. Лексикология английского языка. – М.: Изд-во литературы на иностр. языках, 1959. – С. 48–70.

4. Харитончик З.А. Лексикология английского языка. – Минск: Вышэйшая школа, 1992. – С. 110–148.

5. Readings in Modern English Lexicology / C.С. Хидекель, Р.З.Гинзбург, Г.Ю. Князева, А.А.Санкин. Английская лексикология в выдержках и извлечениях. – Л.: Просвещение Ленинградское отделение. 1969. – С. 86–116.

6. Heatherington M.E. The Forms of Language – In: Texts on English Word Formation. Reader in English Lexicology. – Minsk, 2005. – P. 5–20.

7. Beard R. The Agenda of Morphology. – In: Texts on English Word Formation. Reader in English Lexicology. – Minsk, 2005. – P. 21–37.

Optional:

1. Кубрякова Е.С. Основы морфологического анализа. – М.: Наука, 1974. – С. 118–131.

2. Spencer A. Morphological theory. – Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993. – P. 3–61.

3. Anderson S. A. Morphous Morphology. – Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. – P. 7–72.

4.2 Word Formation

Key words: derivative relations, simplexes, complex (derived) words, derivational (underlying) base, productivity, activity, creativity, word-formation pattern, affixation, compounding, conversion. Look up these terms in the glossary or in the sources indicated in the bibliography to the glossary. Compare the definitions given in English and in Russian.

Problems for Discussion

1. Word formation as a derivational process. Its function and role in the processes of naming (verbalization).

2. Principles and units of word formation. Derivational bases (stems), devices and patterns.

3. Derivational potential of the lexicon. Activity, productivity and creativity as different aspects of the derivational potential of the lexicon.

4. Word formation and language acquisition.

Questions and Tasks

1. Dwell on the role of word formation in the processes of verbalization. Compare the use of word formation to that of borrowing. Take into account the following statistics: of 6000 new English items given in the supplement to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language 199 are borrowed, 1443 are formed by affixation, 1365 by compounding, 179 are shortenings, 26 are back formations, 97 are functional shifts, etc. (see for details G. Cannon. 6000 words. – In: Language, vol.54, No 2, 1978. – P. 446 – 448).

2. Name the derivational bases of the following complex words and say what changes they have undergone in the processes of derivation: humanity, snowflake, blue-eyed, four-wheeler, smog, T-shirt, aircraft-carrier,doc, UNESCO, televise. Find analogous examples of your own.

3. Compare the morphemic and derivational structure of the following words: comradeship, vet, BBC, wildanimal-tamer, eligibility, prep, math, V-day, lemon- squeezer, weekender, instruct. Write the patterns of the derivatives within the list if possible.

4. Compare the derivational potential of the words animal, wolf, dog, kangaroo; man, woman, person, agent, teacher, student; friendliness, beauty, significance. Comment on the parameters which influence the derivational potential of words.

5. Write in part-of-speech symbols the patterns of the following words: differentiation, antivirus, coinage, nuclear physicist, exceptionality.

6. Give examples of recently coined words and say how they were formed.

7. Compare the patterns of the following English words with those of their Russian equivalents: builder, antiwar, humanity, brotherhood, bearish, yellowish, cleverness. Name the correlative patterns in both the languages.