Word formation in English
It is easy to guess that the word formationcalled the process of the formation of new words in a specific language. In this article, we will consider ways of word formation in the English language. So, in English to date, there are 4 such ways: conversion, composing, changing the stress in the word and affixing. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Conversion is the process of forming a new word withoutany changes in his writing and pronunciation. Conversion takes place when the word changes its meaning, becomes a new part of speech and performs a new syntactic function in the sentence. In this case, as already mentioned, neither writing nor pronunciation changes. For example, the noun water (water) formed a new word - the verb to water (water). There are a lot of such examples in English, since such a conversion is the most common and acceptable.
Word formation in English by means ofword-compound is the union of full-valued lexical units or their bases in one compound word. A new unit can be written both together and through a hyphen (this is made up historically). Examples include birthdays (birth + day), airman (air + man), and others. Complex words can also consist of two words written separately. In most cases, these are nouns, one of which acts as an adjective. For example, shop window is a shop window.
Change of stress in a word
Sometimes new words are obtained only afterchanges in stress. This way of word formation is similar to conversion. So, for example, the name noun conduct (behavior) with an accent on the first syllable turns into the verb to conduct (lead) with an accent on the second syllable.
Word formation in English has its ownfeatures. Usually affixing-adding a suffix or a prefix to the root-causes difficulties for language learners. The fact is that the prefixes and suffixes that are attached to the word basis are so diverse that it is very quick to understand them and will not be obtained forever. So, what's the point?
Prefixes are affixes (prefixes) thatjoin the root at the beginning of the word, the suffixes at the end. New lexical units, which are obtained as a result, are called derivatives. Both prefixes and suffixes are attached to different parts of speech and change their meaning. For example, from the adjective happy you can form several words by affixing: noun happiness, adjective unhappy, adverb happily (happily). Prefixing helps to slightly change the meaning of the word (for example, create the opposite in meaning), point to the negation and so on. The suffixation, in its turn, changes the part of speech more often.
Conclusion
Word formation in English is a topic,which should be studied very carefully, because the variety of options for the formation of a new word and its meaning from a specific lexical unit is very large. An improperly added ending may cause a foreign interlocutor to simply not understand you, or misunderstand. In any English textbook, you can find tables with the values of affixes, options for the formation of new words through conversion and change of stress. The main thing is to spend enough time and energy for the topic to be mastered, and you perfectly know all the nuances that has the word-formation in English! Exercise and repetition will help you in this difficult matter.
