Word-formation processes

Word formation in linguistics refers to the process by which new words are
created or existing words are modified in a language. Several word-formation
processes exist, and these processes are fundamental to language evolution. The
word-formation processes include the following;

1. Coinage
2. Borrowing
3. Compounding
4. Blending
5. Clipping
6. Back-formation
7. Conversion
8. Acronyms
9. Derivation

Coinage:
The invention of a completely new term is called coinage. In this process, a new
word is created deliberately or accidentally without using the other
word-formation processes. Coinage can occur from two sources

Trade name:
A new word can be created from the trade name of a commercial product that
becomes a general term (usually without capital letters) later on.
Examples: aspirin, nylon, soda, dumpster, escalator, heroin, vaseline, zipper,
granola, kleenex, teflon, xerox, and Google.

Eponyms:
New words based on the names of people or places are called eponyms.
Common eponyms are watt from the name of James Watt, Fahrenheit from the
name of European physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, jeans from the Italian city
of Jenwa, and sandwich from a person (John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich)
who makes his meal between two slices of bread.

Borrowing
The borrowing process is one of the most common sources of new words in
English. Here, borrowing means taking over words from other languages.
Throughout its history, the English language has adopted a vast number of words
from other languages, including the following examples:
Dope (Duch), Piano (Italian), Tattoo (Tahitian), Jewel (French), Sofa (Arabic),
Yoghurt (Turkish), Karma (Sanskrit), Guru (Sanskrit), Pyjamas (Hindi/Urdu),
Sari/Saree (Sanskrit), Shampoo (Hindi), Tycoon (Japanese), Zebra (Bantu),
tsunami (Japanese)
A special type of borrowing is described as loan-translation or calque. In this
process, there is a direct translation of the elements of a word into a borrowed
language.
● The English word “Superman” is thought to be a loan translation of the German
"Ubermensch.”
● The American concept of “Boyfriend” was borrowed, with sound change, into
Japanese as “boyifurendo”, but as a calque into Chinese as “Male friend” or
“nan pengyu.”

Compounding:
Compounding involves combining two or more existing words to create a new
word. For example, combining "tooth" and "paste" creates the compound word
"toothpaste."
● In English, we can create a compound by combining two nouns—for example,
bookcase, doorknob, fingerprint, sunburn, textbook, wallpaper, waterbed, etc.
● Two adjectives can create a compound adjective. For example, good-looking,
low-paid, bitter-sweet, dark-red, fast-paced, hard-working, etc.
● An adjective and a noun can create a compound adjective. For example,
fast-food, full-time, blood-red, heart-shaped, high-tech, home-cooked,
left-handed, long-sleeved, water-resistant, etc.

Blending
This involves combining parts of two existing words to create a new word.
However, in blending, we typically take only the beginning of one word and join it
to the end of another word. For example, combining "breakfast" and "lunch"
creates the blend "brunch."
Some common examples of blending are;
Smog (smoke + fog)
Smaze (smoke + haze)
Bit (binary + digit)
Motel (motor + hotel)
Telecast (television + broadcast)
Oxbridge ( Oxford + Cambridge)
Chunnel (channel + tunnel)

Clipping:
Clipping, also known as shortening, is a word-formation process where a new
word is created by snipping off a part of an existing long word in English. For
example, "phone" is a clipped form of "telephone."
Other common examples are;
Ad (Advertisement)
Bra (brassiere)
Gas (gasoline)
Cab (cabriolet)
Fan (fanatic)
Flu (influenza)
Plane ( Aeroplane)
Porn (pornography)
Photo ( photograph)
Exam (Examination)
Lab (laboratory)
Math ( Mathematics)

Back-formation
Back-formation is a very specialised type of reduction process. Typically, a word
of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another type (usually a
verb). For example, the noun "television" was formed first and then the verb
"televise" was derived from it using backformation.
Other examples of words created by this process are:
Donate ( from the donation)
Emote ( from emotion)
Enthuse ( from enthusiasm)
Opt ( from option)
Automate ( from automation)
Bulldoze (from bulldozer)
Mix ( from the mixture)
Babysit ( from babysitters)
Edit ( from the editor)
Beg (from beggars)
Burglars ( from burgle)

Conversion:
This involves changing the grammatical category of a word without changing its
form. For example, the noun "email" can be converted into a verb by using it in a
sentence like "I'll email you the document."
Some other examples of conversion are listed here.

Noun→ Verb
Dust→ Did you dust the living room?
Butter → Have you buttered the toast?
Dog → Why are you dogging me?
Water→ I have to water my garden today.
Chair→ Someone has to chair the meeting
Glue → I’ll have to glue it together
Referee→ Who will referee the game?
Stomach→ I cannot stomach him

The conversion can involve verbs becoming nouns.

Verb → Noun
To guess have a guess
Must English is a must for higher education
To spy He is a spy
To cheat He is a cheat
To doubt We had some doubts

Acronyms:
Acronyms are new words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.
CD (compact disc),
SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
Laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)
Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging)
Scuba ( Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus)
A sim (Subscriber Identity Module) card
Zip ( Zone Improvement Plan) code
PIN ( Personal Identification Number)
ATM ( Automated Teller Machine)

Derivation:
This involves adding affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes, or circumfixes) to an existing
word to create a new word with a different meaning or grammatical category. For
example, adding the suffix "-er" to the verb "teach" creates the noun "teacher."