Back-Formation or Reversion

Semantic Relationships in Converted Pairs

There are several typical relations between members of converted pairs:

N → V

1. To fulfill the action characteristic of a noun: “to father”, “to ape”, “to pussycat”, “to wolf”.

2. To act with the help of a thing described by a noun” “to chain”, “to finger”.

3. To provide with a thing described by a noun: “to curtain”, “to cuff”.

4. To place the object: “to blacklist”, “to pocket”.

5. To deprive of the object: “to skin”, “to dust”, “to weed”.

V → N

1. A singular action: “to jump – a jump”, “to move – a move”.

2. The action of object or person: “to drill – a drill”, “to dig – a dig”.

3. The place of action: “to forge – a forge (кузница)”, “to ride – a ride” (место для верховой езды).

4. The object or result of action: “to find – a find”, “to tear – a tear (дыра)”, “to peel – a peel (кожура)”.

5. The distance covered: “to sweep – a sweep” (величина взмаха), “to pace – a pace (величина шага)”.

A word coined by conversion is capable of further derivation: view (to watch TV) → viewable, viewer, viewing.

Conversion may be combined with composition forming nouns out of verb-adverb combinations: a breakdown – to breakdown, to make up – a makeup, to setback – a setback.

Semantically such nouns are connected with verbal phrases.

Among semantic criteria which are used to establish the direction of derivation in conversion we distinguish the frequency criteria. A less frequent word is usually a derived word. “Thus “to author” is derived from “author”, “to waterproof” – from “waterproof”. The semantic structure of a derived word (“dog” – “to dog”) is more simple.

Occasional conversion has a certain stylistic value:

“She has out – Barbared Barbara herself”.

“I shall diamond you!”

“Don’t now-then me!“

Minor Ways of Word-Building

is a morphological way of word-building by subtracting a real or supposed affix from words through misinterpretation of their structure. The most frequent is the pattern V_stem + er. The process is viewed diachronically. On the synchronic plane we may not feel any difference between butler and painter. But painter appeared from to paint while the verb to butle - “to act or serve as a butler” is derived by subtraction of - er from a supposedly verbal stem in the noun butler. A very productive type of back-formation in present-day English is derivation of verbs from compounds with – er and - ing as final elements.

E.g. to air–condition (from air-conditioner), to thought-read (from thought-reader), to baby-sit (from baby-sitter), to house-clean (from house-cleaner), to tape-record (from tape-recorder), to beach-comb (from beach-comber). Structural changes in back-formation are preceded by semantic changes (demotivation). The latter influences the morphological structure.

Butler appeared from OFr boutiller “bottle bearer” – the man-servant in charge of wine. Now it means “the chief servant of a rich household who is in charge of other servants, he receives guests and directs the serving of meals.”

Shortening (Clipping or Curtailment)

is the reduction of a word to one of its parts, building new words with the help of subtraction of a part of the original word. It exists in English from the XV-th century and has gained a special productivity. A lot of neologisms are formed in this way: detox (detoxification) – часть больницы или клиники, где лечат алкоголиков и наркoманов, lib (liberation), scrip (prescription). A shortened word is different from its prototype in meaning, style and usage. We classify shortenings according to the position of the clipped part:

apocope – the final part of the word is clipped:

gym – gymnasium, photo - photograph, lab – laboratory, prep –preparation, exam – examination (this type is numerous).

apheresis – the initial part of the word is clipped:

cute – acute, story – history, sport – disport, chute – parachute (this type is less numerous).

syncope – the middle part of the word is clipped: maths – mathematics, specs – spectacles, fancy – fantasy, ma’am – madam.

a combination of initial & final clipping: fridge – refrigerator, tec – detective, flu – influenza.

Clipped forms exist in the language alongside with prototypes. Shortening produces words in the same part of speech. the majority of clipped words are nouns *. Sometimes it is very difficult to establish a connection between the two words: chap + chapman, fan – fanatic. It is typical of curtailed words to render only one of the secondary meanings of a polysemantic word:

· to double (умножить, увеличить в 2 раза, сыграть в октаву, сбежать – военный термин);

· to dub – дублировать фильм.

What are the reasons for the considerable role of shortening in Modern English word-building? Linguistic causes – analogical extension, modification of form on the basis of analogy – English monosyllabism. Extralinguistic causes – rapid tempo of modern life.

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