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4. Blending
This combining of two separate forms to produce a
single new term is also present in the process called
blending. However, blending is typically accomplished
by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it
to the end of the other word. In some parts of the
United States, there's a product which is used like
gasoline, but is made from alcohol, so the "blended"
term for referring to this product is gasohol. If you
wish to refer to the combined feels of smoke and fog,
there's the term smog. In places where they have a lot
of this stuff, they can jokingly make a distinction
between smog ,smazv (smoke + haze) and smurk
(smoke + murk). Some other commonly used examples
of blending are brunch (breakfast/lunch), motel
(motor/hotel), telecast (television/broadcast) and the
Channel (channel/ tunnel),connecting England and
France.
The recent phenomenon of fund-raising on television
that feels like a marathon is typically called a telethon
and if you are excessively crazy about video, you may
be called a videot. Infotainment (information/entertain-
ment) and simulcast (simultaneous/broadcast) are also
new blends from life with television. To describe the
mixing of languages, people refer to franglais
(French/English) and Spanglish (Spanish/English). In
order to send information Cast, you may use a telex
(teleprinter/exchange) or, via computer, a modem
(modulator/demodulator), or you may decide to send a
fax. But that's not a blend. It's an example of our next
category.
5. Clipping
The element of reduction which is noticeable in
blending is even more apparent in the process
described as clipping. This occurs when a word of
more than one syllable (facsimile) is reduced to a
shorter form (fax), often in casual speech. The term
gasoline is still in use, but occurs much less frequently
than gas, the clipped form. Common examples are ad
('advertisement'), bra ('brassiere'), cab ('cabriolet'),
condo ('condominium'), fun ('fanatic'), flu, perm,
phone, plane.pram, pub and sitcom ('situation come-
dy"). English speakers also like to clip each other's
names, as in Al. Ed, Li. Mike, Ron, Sam. Sue and Tom.
There must be something about educational
environments that encourages clipping because just
about every word gets reduced, as in chem, exam.
Gym, lab, math, phys-ed, poly-sci, prof and typo.
6. Backformation
A very specialized type of reduction process is known
as backformation. Typically, a word of one type
(usually a noun) is reduced to form another word of a
different type (usually a verb). A good example of
backformation is the process whereby the noun
television first came into use and then the verb televise
was created from it. Other examples of words created
by this process are: donate (from 'donation'), opt (from
'option'), emote (from 'emotion'), enthuse (from
'enthusiasm'), liaise (from 'liaison') and babysit (from
'babysitter'). Indeed, if you backform anything, you
have used a backformation.
One very regular source of backformed verbs in
English is based on the pattern: worker, work .The
assumption seems to have been that if there is a noun
ending in -er (or something close in sound), then we
can create a verb for what that noun-er does. Hence, an
editor must edit, a sculptor must sculpt and burglars
peddlers and swindlers must burgle, peddle and
swindle.
A particular type of backformation, favored in
Australian and British English. produces forms
technically known as hypocorisms. First, a longer
word is reduced to a single syllable, then -y or -ie is
added to the end. Perhaps the most familiar versions of
this process are the words movie ('moving pictures')
and tellv ('television'). It has also produced Aussie
('Australian'). barbie ('barbecue'),bookie
('bookmaker'),brekky ('breakfast') and hankie
('handkerchief'). You can probably guess what Chrissy
pressies are.
7. Conversion
A change in the function of a word. as. for example,
when a noun comes to be used as a verb (without any
reduction), is generally known as conversion. Other
labels for this very common process are 'category
change' and 'functional shift'. A number of nouns,
such as paper, butter, bottle, vacation, am. , via the
process of conversion, come to be used as verbs, as in
the following sentences: He's papering the bedroom
walls.
Have you buttered the toast?
We bottled the homebrew last night.
They're vacationing in France.