BLENDINGS

 afterthoughtful (afterthought +  Jazzercize (jazz + exercise)

thoughtful)  moped (motor + pedal)

 agitprop (agitation + propaganda)  motorcade (motor + cavalcade)

 alcopop (alcohol + pop)  palimony (pal + alimony)

 bash (bat + mash)  pornacopia (pornography +

 Breathalyzer (breath + analyzer) cornucopia)

 camcorder (camera + recorder)  pulsar (pulse + quasar)

 clash (clap + crash)  sexcapade (sex + escapade)

 docudrama (documentary + drama)  slanguage (slang + language)

 electrocute (electricity + execute)  smash (smack + mash)

 emoticon (emote + icon)  smog (smoke + fog)

 faction (fact + fiction)  sportscast (sports + broadcast)

 fanzine {fan + magazine)  stagflation (stagnation + inflation)

 flare (flame + glare)  staycation (stay home + vacation)

 flirtationship (flirting + relationship)  telegenic (television + photogenic)

 glimmer (gleam + shimmer)  textpectation (text message +

 guitarthritis (guitar + arthritis) expectation)

 infotainment (information +  transistor (transfer + resistor)

entertainment)  workaholic (work + alcoholic)

 CLIPPING

 Some of the most common products of clipping are names--Liz, Ron, Rob, Sue, and so on.
Clipping is especially popular in the speech of students, where it has yielded forms
like proffor professor, phys-ed for physical education, poli-sci for political science,
and burger forhamburger. However, many clipped forms have also been accepted in general
usage: doc, ad, auto, lab, sub, deli, porn, demo, and condo.

"A more recent example of this sort that has become part of general English vocabulary isfax,
from facsimile (meaning 'exact copy or reproduction')."
(W. O'Grady, J. Archibald, M. Aronoff, and J. Rees-Miller, Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction,
4th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001)

 Other examples of clipped forms in English include biz, caps, celebs, deli, exam, flu, gator, hippo,
hood, info, intro, lab, limo, mayo, max, perm, photo, ref, reps, rhino, sax, sitcom, stats, temp, thru, tux,
ump, veep, and vet.

 As time-savers and breath-savers, clipped words defy the pedants and win their way to
respectability. This has been true for a long time--
witness piano from pianoforte and cellofrom violoncello."
(Theodore Bernstein, Miss Thistlebottom's Hobgoblns, 1971)

 "Clipping. A part of a word which serves for the whole, such as ad and phone. These examples
illustrate the two chief types: the first part is kept (the commoner type, as in demo, exam, pub, Gill)
and the last part is kept, as in fridge and flu. There are also several clippings which retain material
from more than one part of the word, such asmaths (UK), gents, and specs. . . . Several clipped
forms also show adaptation, such as fries(from French fried potatoes), Betty (from Elizabeth),
and Bill (from William)."
(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge Univ.
Press, 2003)

BORROWING
Borrowing is the word formation process in which a word from one language is borrowed directly
into another language. For example, the following common English words are borrowed from foreign
languages:
 algebra – Arabic  galore – Irish  paprika – Hungarian
 bagel – Yiddish  haiku – Japanese  pizza – Italian
 cherub – Hebrew  kielbasa – Polish  smorgasbord – Swedish
 chow mein – Chinese  murder – French  tamale – Spanish
 fjord – Norwegian  near – Sanskrit  yo-yo – Tagalog
Borrowed words are also referred to as loanwords.
 COINAGES
Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or
accidentally without using the other word formation processes and often from seemingly nothing. For
example, the following list of words provides some common coinages found in everyday English:
  aspirin  Google  nylon
 escalator  kerosene  psychedelic
 heroin  Kleenex  quark
 band-aid  Laundromat  Xerox
 factoid  linoleum
 Frisbee  muggle

BACK FORMATION
Back-formation is either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new
"word") by removing actual or supposed affixes, or to the neologism formed by such a process.
Back-formations are shortened words created from longer words, thus back-formations may be
viewed as a sub-type of clipping.

Each back-formation in this list is followed by the original word from which it was back-formed.

Word Formation: Conversion

Part two of "Word Formation: Creating New Words in English" covers the process of
conversion, which is the word formation process whereby a word of one part of speech converts
into a word of another part of speech, e.g., the noun Google changing into the verb to google.

 Conversion
Conversion is the word formation process in which a word of one grammatical form becomes a
word of another grammatical form without any changes to spelling or pronunciation. For
example, the noun email appeared in English before the verb: a decade ago I would have sent
you an email (noun) whereas now I can either send you an email (noun) or simply email (verb)
you. The original noun email experienced conversion, thus resulting in the new verbemail.
Conversion is also referred to as zero derivation or null derivation with the assumption that the
formal change between words results in the addition of an invisible morpheme. However, many
linguistics argue for a clear distinction between the word formation processes of derivation and
conversion.

Noun to Verb Conversion

The most productive form of conversion in English is noun to verb conversion. The
following list provides examples of verbs converted from nouns:
 access – to access  eye – to eye  knife – to knife
 bottle – to bottle  fiddle – to fiddle  microwave – to
 can – to can  fool – to fool microwave
 closet – to closet  Google – to google  name – to name
 email – to email  host – to host  pocket – to pocket
 salt – to salt  ship – to ship  torch – to torch
 shape – to shape  spear – to spear  verb – to verb

For example:

 My grandmother bottled (verb) the juice and canned (verb) the pickles.
 My grandmother put the juice in a bottle (noun) and the pickles in a can (noun).
 She microwaved (verb) her lunch.
 She heated her lunch in the microwave (noun).
 The doctor eyed (verb) my swollen eye (noun).

Verb to Noun Conversion

Another productive form of conversion in English is verb to noun conversion. The
following list provides examples of nouns converted from verbs:

 to alert – alert  to experience –  to rise – rise

 to attack – attack
 to call – call
 to clone – clone
 to command –
command
 to cover – cover
 to cry – cry
experience
 to fear – fear
 to feel – feel
 to hope – hope
 to increase – increase
 to judge – judge
 to laugh – laugh
 to run – run
 to sleep – sleep
 to start – start
 to turn – turn
 to visit – visit
 For example:

 The guard alerted (verb) the general to the attack (noun).

 The enemy attacked (verb) before an alert (noun) could be sounded.
 Sometimes one just needs a good cry (noun).
 The baby cried (verb) all night.
 We need to increase (verb) our productivity to see an increase (noun) in profits.

Verb to noun conversion is also referred to as nominalization.

Other Conversions. Conversion also occurs, although less frequently, to and from other
grammatical forms.
For example:
 adjective to verb: green → to green (to make environmentally friendly)
 preposition to noun: up, down → the ups and downs of life
 conjunction to noun: if, and, but → no ifs, ands, or buts
 interjection to noun: ho ho ho → I love the ho ho hos of Christmastime.

Word Formation: Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Eponyms

In order to understand word formation fully, the processes of abbreviation, acronym, and
eponym need to be included. Also linked to in this article are downloadable vocabulary lists of
common English abbreviations, acronyms, and eponyms.

 Abbreviations
Abbreviation is the word formation process in which a word or phrase is shortened.
Initialisms are a type of abbreviation formed by the initial letters of a word or phrase. Although
abbreviation is largely a convention of written language, sometimes abbreviations carry over into
spoken language. For example:

Written Abbreviations
 Apr. – April  Dr. – doctor  Sun. – Sunday
 cm – centimeter(s)  Jr. – Junior  yd – yard(s)
 d. – died, died in  Mr. – Mister
 dept. – department  oz – ounce(s)

Spoken-Written Abbreviations
 A.M. – ante meridiem [in the morning]
 B.C.E. – Before Common Era
 GOP – Grand Old Party (Republican
Party)
 HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus
 i.e. – id est [that is]
 JFK – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
 OJ – orange juice
 PMS – premenstrual syndrome
 RSVP – répondez s'il vous plait
 VIP – very important person
Abbreviation is related to both the word formation processes of clipping and blending.

 Acronyms
Acronyms are words formed by the word formation process in which an initialism is pronounced
as a word. For example, HIV is an initialism for Human Immunodeficiency Virus that is spoken as the
three letters H-I-V. However,AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome that is
spoken as the word aids. Other examples of acronyms in English include:

 ASAP – as soon as possible

 AWOL – absent without leave
 laser - light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
 NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
 NASDAQ - National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations
 PIN – personal identification number
 radar - radio detection and ranging
 scuba - self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
 TESOL – Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
 WASP – White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
Acronyms are related to the word formation process of abbreviation.

 Eponyms
Eponyms are a word form by the word formation process in which a new word is formed from the
name of a real of fictitious person. For example:
 atlas – Atlas
 boycott – Charles C. Boycott
 cardigan – James Thomas Brudnell, 7th
Earl of Cardigan
 cereal – Ceres
 dunce – John Duns Scotus
 guillotine – Joseph Ignace Guillotin
 jacuzzi – Candido Jacuzzi
 luddite – Ned Ludd
 malapropism – Mrs. Malaprop
 mesmerize – Franz Anton Mesmer
 mirandize – Ernesto A. Miranda
 narcissistic – Narcissus
 nicotine – Jean Nicot
 pasteurization – Louis Pasteur
 poinsettia – Noel Roberts Poinsett
 praline – César de Choiseul, Count
Plessis–Praslin
 sadistic – Marquis de Sade
 salmonella – Daniel Elmer Salmon
 sandwich – John Montagu, 4th Earl of
Sandwich
 volcano – Vulcan