Word formation

In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or the creation of new lexemes in a particular language A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivational affixes. Morphological derivation Examples include: the words governor, government, governable, misgovern, ex-governor, and ungovernable are all derived from the base word (to) govern Inflection Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence. For example: manages and managed are inflected from the base word (to) manage worked is inflected from the verb (to) work talks, talked, and talking are inflected from the base (to) talk Examples includes: etc. from et caetera Acronym An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words. For example: NASA is the acronym for National Aeronautics and Space Administration IJAL (pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym for International Journal of American Linguistics Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, like radar, are now treated as common nouns. Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example: ATM for Automated Teller Machine SIA for Singapore International Airlines Back-formation In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base. Examples include: the verb headhunt is a back-formation of headhunter the verb edit is formed from the noun editor the word televise is a back-formation of television The process is motivated by analogy: edit is to editor as act is to actor. This process leads to a lot of denominal verbs. The productivity of back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation being hypocoristics. Blend word Portmanteau A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments.