Mention briefly the main process of word formation in the English language illustrate your answer with examples.

1 Answer

Jessica Pope | College Teacher | (Level 1) Educator

Posted on January 5, 2012 at 7:38 AM

Word formation is the creation of a new word. Common processes of word formation include , eponym formation, blending, backformation and agglutination. Eponym formation is the use of a proper name in a new word, typically an adjective. The word "Orwellian" is an eponym formation related to the author and political philosopher George Orwell. Blending is the combination of two or more words into a new word. The word smog" is a blended form of "smoke" and "fog." Backformation is taking away prefixes or suffixes to create a new word. Agglutination is adding prefixes or suffixes to create a new word. New words can also enter the English language through other langauges. These words are called loanwords. Most English loanwords are taken from Romance languages. Words like cafe, chic, and pizza fall into this category.

Sources: