Minor Types of Word-Building

I. Back-Formation —a process of verb-building by substraction of an affix from correlated nouns through misinterpretation of their structure.

to beg< beggar to cobble< cobbler

to burgle < burglar to swindle< swindler

to butle< butler to televise< television

The process of B-F. has only diachronic relevance. For synchronic approach butler - butle is equivalent to painter-paint, so that the present-day speaker may not feel any difference between these relationships. The fact that butle is derived from butler through misinterpretation is synchronically of no importance. (Antrushina p.119)

to aggress, to automate, to enthuse, to obsolesce, to reminisce

to baby-sit< baby-sitter, to housekeep< housekeeper, to thought-read< thought-reader< thought-reading, to tape-recorder< tape-recorder, to beachcomb< beachcomber.

II Shortening / Contraction —more active than B-F.—the process of subtraction in ~ part of the original w-d is taken away, that leads to appearance of such a w-d, ~ by its form reflects the original base:

Lab< laboratory, plane< airplane, sub< submarine, subordinate, subway, subaltern, sublieutenant, subscription, subscriber, substitute.

According to the place of the subtracted part we distinguish:

1) final clipping (apocope)—the beginning of the prototype is retained:

advert<advertisement, doc<doctor, vegs<vegetables, ed<editor, fab<fabulous, mike<microphone, coke<coca-cola;

2)initial clipping (aphesis)—the final part is retained:

phone<telephone, cute<acute, cause<because, story<history, chute<parachute;

3) medial clipping (syncope)—the middle part is subtracted, the borders are retained

specs<spectacles, maths<mathematics, fancy<fantasy, ma’am<madam;

4) the borders are taken away, the middle part is retained:

tec<detective, flu<influenza, fridge<refrigerator;

Initial Shortening —a new w-d is formed from the initial letters of a w-d-group:

U.N.O. [΄ju:nəu]<the United Nations Organization

B.B.C.<the British Broadcasting Corporation

U.N.E.S.C.O.<the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization

M.P.—the Member of Parliament

Ellipsis —the omission of a w-d/w-s considered essential for grammatical completeness but not for the conveyance of the intended lexical meaning:

daily<daily newspaper, weekly<weekly newspaper, pop<popular music,

pub<public house, vac<vacuum cleaner, sit down<sitdown demonstration,

put to sea<put the ship to sea, prefab< a prefabricated house/structure

The reasons for shortening: brevity, ever-increasing tempo of modern life. Confusion & ambiguousness—natural consequences of the modern overabundance of shortened w-s.

Blending —the process of w-d-building→w-d formed from the initial part of one w-d & the final part of another w-d: brunch=breakfast+lunch, Oxbridge=Oxford+Cambridge, motel=motor+hotel, smog=smoke+fog, mimsy=miserable+flimsy, galumph=gallop+triumph, glaze=glare+gaze, fruice=fruit+juice, zebrule=zebra+mule

Sound Imitation(Onomatopoeia) —the naming of an action or thing by a more or less exact reproduction of a sound associated with it:

babble (журчать), blob (капать), bubble (пузыриться), flush (бить струёй, хлынуть), gurgle (журчать, булькать), gush (хлынуть, литься, разразиться потоком), splash (брызгаться, плескаться, шлёпать по грязи)—w-s naming sounds & movement of water.

Sound-imitative w-s form a considerable part of interjections: bang! Hush! Pooh!

Many verbs denote sounds produced by human beings in the process of communication or in expressing their feelings: babble (бормотать, лепетать), chatter, giggle, titter (хихикать), murmur (шептать, ворчать), whisper, mutter (бормотать), grunt (ворчать, мычать), grumble (ворчать, жаловаться), whine (скулить, хныкать, плакаться, подвывать).

Sound Interchange —relatively non-productive—a new w-d is formed due to an alternation in the phonemic composition of the root:

food—feed, speak—speech, life—live, strong—strength, prove—proof etc.

Distinctive Stress —relatively non-productive—pairs of homographs:

Conduct—to conduct, accent—to accent, compress—to compress, import—to import, export—to export, present—to present.

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