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c. Word Building
Gaims and Redman 1998:47 state that there are three main forms of word building which characterize English, namely:
1 Affixation
Affixation is the process of adding prefixes and suffixes to the base item; in this way items can be modified in meaning and or changed from one part
of speech to another. Based on the types of constructions they form, there are word which is formed by derivation and word which formed by inflection.
2 Words formed by derivation
Derivation is the construction of word which is result in the change of word class or the meaning of the stem. There are two derivational, suffixes
and prefixes. Derivational suffixes are syllables or group of syllables such as - ion, -able,-less. that are joined to the end of the word or morpheme to change
its meaning. Example: powerless, understandable. Derivational prefix is a syllable or group syllables such as un-, im-, mis-,
dis-, and pre-, which is joined to the beginning of a word or morpheme to change its meaning. Example: impatient, disappeared, unemployment,
misunderstanding. 3
Words formed by inflection Inflection is the construction of words which does not result the change of
word class. There are four kinds of inflection: a
Plural forms, such as pen-pens, glass-glasses, child-children. b
Possession , such as Sarah’s bag, Pete’s car.
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c Pronoun, such as John teaches his brother to read.
d Third singular verb, such as I go to school and she goes to school.
d. Compounding
Compounding is the formation of words which can stand independently in other circumstances. In other words, compound words are words derived
from two or more words into one unit with a perceptible lexical meaning. For example:
1 Bookstore book + store 2 Moonlight moon + light
e. Conversion
Conversion is the process by which an item may be used in different parts of speech, yet does not change its form.
For example: 1 We have just had a lovely
swim.
I can’t
swim
very well. 2 He works in the
export
market. We
export
a lot of goods. Besides the three above, there are some words building that are included in
the kinds of words.
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f. Blending
One of the ways in improving vocabulary is by studying blends. Blends are words that are created from parts of two already existing lexical items. In
other words, blending is the fusion of two words into one, usually the first part of one word with the last part of another.
For example: 1
Brunch: breakfast + lunch 2
Midday: middle + day 3
Infotainment: information + entertainment 4
Smog: smoke + fog
g. Clipping
Clipping is a process whereby a new word is created by shortening a polysyllabic word. Clipped form are usually appropriate in informal
conversation. For example:
1 Zoo clipped forms of „zoological garden’
2 Phone from „telephone’
3 Exam from „examination’
4 Ads from „advertisement’
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