The basic ways of word formation. Modern word formation

The vocabulary of any language is constantlyExpanding at the expense of new lexical units. Word formation is the main way to replenish it. This process has its own characteristics and types. The basic ways of word formation are individual for each specific language. It depends on the structure, characteristics and compatibility of parts of speech.

The concept of

By word formation is understood the emergence of newlexical units by means of suffixation, prefixation, and other methods. A person who knows the ways of word formation in languages ​​can quickly replenish his lexical stock, and also read and understand phrases without having to use a dictionary.

There are several classifications of methodsword formation. Some linguists use the concept of synchrony and diachrony to typologize, but the most common variant is the distribution of this process to morphemic and non-morphogenic subspecies. Classification also depends on the language where word formation takes place. The table below illustrates the features of this process for the Russian language.

Morphemic	Nemorfemny
Affixation Suffixing Prefixing Prefix-suffix and its combinations Abbreviation Addition	Morphological-syntactic Lexico-syntactic Lexico-Semantic

Each subspecies has its own characteristics and characteristics.

Word formation with the help of morphemes

Morphemic way is characterized by the fact that newwords in the language appear due to the use of already existing lexical units and specific affixes. This type has its own basic ways of word formation:

• The suffix.
• Prefix.
• Different combinations of prefix, suffix and postfix types.
• Addition.
• Abbreviation.

Each variant has distinctive characteristics, features and certain rules of education.

Suffix type

The basic way of word formation for Russianlanguage is the process of suffixation. In this case, new lexical units appear by adding to the basis of the word suffix of the word-formative type. For example, learn, teacher. Suffixation covers almost all parts of speech, but the most common word formation is nouns, adverbs and adjectives.

This process is accompanied by a variety of morphemic changes, which are divided into several subspecies:

• Alternation of morphemes: friend - to be friends (Ms).
• Truncation of the producing morpheme: high - height.
• The imposition of several morphemes: pink - pinkish.
• Change of stress: green - greens.

This is not a complete list of changes that word formation can lead to. The suffixes also affect other morphemic characteristics. The level of change depends on the specific language.

Prefix Type

If a new word is formed by addingto the basis of the corresponding prefix, then we are talking about the process of prefixation. Unlike the suffix, the prefix usually forms new lexical units within one part of the speech. For the Russian language, the word-formation of verbs is traditional with the help of this method. For example: cook - cook - prepare; write - sign - unsubscribe, etc.

Despite the sufficient prevalence of this type, most often prefixation is used in parallel with other types of word formation. Quite often this is suffixation, postfixation, etc.

The combination of suffixing, prefixing and postfixation

Modern word formation is characterized bypresence of words with simultaneous use of suffixation, prefixation and other similar options, as well as a variety of their combination. In Russian, the following methods are distinguished:

• Prefix-suffix. A new word is formed simultaneously with the help of a prefix and a suffix. For example, the road is plantain; border - foreign.
• Postfixical. The emergence of a new word with the addition of postfix: -sa, -or-, -tow, -a, etc. For example, who - anyone - anyone.
• Prefix-postfix. In this case, a new word is formed using the prefix and the postfix at the same time. Most often, such a variant is present in the same part of the speech. Accordingly, in this way, the word formation of adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc. is possible. For example, to call - to call; sleep - get enough sleep, etc.
• Suffix-postfix. The word appears simultaneously with the help of the suffix and postfix. For example, fuss - fuss; the crowd is crowded. Word formation of verbs is the only sphere in the Russian language where this method is used.
• Prefix-suffix-postfix. This option is characterized by the formation of a new word with the help of simultaneous suffixation, prefixation and postfixation. For example, whispering - whispering; talk - talk.

These types of word formation are very active not only in Russian, but also in many other languages.

Addition

Quite common for the Russian languageis the presence of addition as a way of word formation. In this case, a new lexical unit appears as a result of combining two or more separate words into one whole. Depending on which words are combined and in which way, the following basic ways of word formation are distinguished by addition:

• The basis. New lexical units appear after the addition of two or more words with the application of the interfix. The main component is the last component of the combination. For example, fertilize, everyday, etc.
• Addition of two or more words, which is characterized by the presence of meaningful equality. For example, a sofa bed, a prime minister, etc.

Addition is actively used in Russian and other languages ​​and is most often responsible for the word formation of nouns and verbs.

Abbreviation

The method of formation, which isthe construction of new tokens by splicing parts of other words is called an abbreviation. Depending on the method of combination and features of the parts of the word used, the following abbreviations are distinguished:

• Initsialnaya. In this case, new words appear by using separate sounds or letters. Accordingly, the initial abbreviation can be sound (for example, MKhAT, high school) or alphabetic (for example, UFO, CIS, etc.).
• Syllable. This type involves the use of separate parts of different words (for example, department store, trade union committee, etc.).
• Mixed. This type is a combination of the initial part of one lexical unit and the other unit completely (for example, salary, trade union, etc.).

The abbreviation is especially relevant in modern lexicology, as there is a worldwide trend towards ensuring maximum accuracy and shortness of the language.

Nemorfemnye word formation

As for the construction of new lexical units without the use of morphemes, the following basic ways of word formation are distinguished:

• Lexico-syntactic.
• Morphological-syntactic.
• Lexico-semantic.

In such cases new words appear due to the transition of one part of speech to another, the splicing or dismemberment of the lexical meaning of the word into separate components.

The lexico-syntactic method

This option is also called fusion,Since new words in this case are formed by merging a specific word combination. This leads to the fact that not only the lexical meaning of the word changes, but also its syntactic role. For example, forever green - evergreen: crazy - crazy, etc.

Most often a dependent lexical unitspeaks an adverb, and the fusion itself is often the word-formation of adjectives or participles. From synonyms, such lexical units differ in that they have an accent and a strict order of arrangement of all their parts.

Morphological-syntactic method

This option is characterized by the formation of new words by moving one part of the speech to another. There are the following subspecies of this method:

• Substantivization. The transition of one part of speech into a noun. For example, a leading specialist and host show, a wounded fighter and a silent wounded, etc.
• Adjectivation. The transition of parts of speech into an adjective. For example, a novice singer, a painted table, etc.
• Adverbialization. The transition of a noun into an adverb. For example, in the winter morning - come in the morning.

There are also other variants of the morphological-syntactic method. Each language has its own characteristics, variants of compatibility and distinctive features.

Lexical and semantic method

In this case, the new lexical unitsappear after a particular word splits its base value and receives additional ones. For example, the satellite - as a companion and as a heavenly body; titanium - a mythical giant and metal and many others. Thus, the composition of the vocabulary of the language varies due to the variation of the semantics of the word.

For word-formation in a similar way, certain conditions and the similarity of two phenomena or objects are necessary. This often requires a fairly large amount of time.

Word formation in English

Construction of new words in Englishis carried out in different ways. Traditionally, linguists distinguish composing and word-production as word formation in English. The table below illustrates this:

Synthesis	Derivation
Noun + noun (toothpaste) Adjective + noun (high way) Preposition + noun (underworld) Noun + verb (to babysit) Adverb + noun (to downgrade)	Conversion Change stress Alternating sounds Affixation

As for the composition, this methodis also characteristic of the Russian language. Similarly, in English almost any part of speech is formed. For example, to blackmail, girlfriend, dark-blue, somebody, etc. Word-production is characterized by the formation of some lexical units from others. This can be done by converting one part of the speech into another (answer-to answer), changing the place of stress (conflict-to conflict), alternating sounds (advice-to advise) or affixing using suffixes and prefixes. Combination and transition is the foundation that word formation in English has. This table demonstrates.

The main way to expand the dictionary is toword formation, which has its own types, as well as features, depending on the part of speech. The process of formation of new lexical units never stops and has its own distinctive features in different languages.