What is back-formation and examples?

What is back-formation and examples?

Back-formation is the reverse of affixation, being the analogical creation of a new word from an existing word falsely assumed to be its derivative. For example, the verb to edit has been formed…

Which of the following is an example of back-formation?

An example of back-formation is the word babysit from babysitter. A new word created by removing an affix from an already existing word, as vacuum clean from vacuum cleaner, or by removing what is mistakenly thought to be an affix, as pea from the earlier English plural pease.

What are the examples of word formation?

Word formation in English

  • Noun + noun. Examples are: master-piece, table-cloth, maid-servant, bread-winner, shoe-maker etc.
  • Noun + gerund. Examples are: wool-gathering, snake-charming, bull-baiting, sooth-saying etc.
  • Noun + adjective.
  • Gerund + noun.
  • Adverb + noun.
  • Verb + noun.
  • Adjective + noun.
  • Present participle + noun.

Why is it called back-formation?

In etymology, back-formation is the process of creating a new lexeme by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889. (OED online preserves its first use of ‘back-formation’ from 1889 in the definition of to burgle; from burglar.)

WHAT ARE BACK formed words?

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word (a neologism) by removing actual or supposed affixes from another word. Put simply, a back-formation is a shortened word (such as edit) created from a longer word (editor).

What is back formation in English grammar?

Back-formation is either the process of creating a new lexeme (less precisely, a new “word”) by removing actual or supposed affixes, or a 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.

What is a back formation word?

Is donate back formation?

Consider donation. You might think it derives from donate, but the noun is several centuries older; donate is the back-formation. Another everyday example is burgle, a back-formation from burglary. In U.S. English, burglarize (or -ise) is by far the more common verb, but burgle dominates in British English.

Is LOL a word formation?

Coleman (2012) notes ‘LOL’, which is an initialism created from the phrase ‘laughing out loud’, as being a good example of a slang initialism. It can either be an abbreviation or an acronym, depending on whether you choose to spell the word out or pronouncing it like words typically are pronounced (Coleman, 2012: 39).

What are the 3 word formation?

There are four main kinds of word formation: prefixes, suffixes, conversion and compounds.

What is the example of compounding?

When two words are used together to yield a new meaning, a compound is formed. Compound words can be written in three ways: as open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term).

What is back formation in word formation process?

Which is an example of a back formation?

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word (a neologism) by removing actual or supposed affixes from another word. Put simply, a back-formation is a shortened word (such as edit) created from a longer word ( editor ).

When do you use back formation in writing?

Back-formation is especially frequent in the creation of new verbs. Some writers use the verb “to back form,” a back-formation of back-formation; so far, this coinage hasn’t made it into either the OED or M-W. Sometimes the coinage is intentionally jocular, as with the verb buttle from butler: “Nobody could buttle like James…”

How are affixes removed in the back formation process?

Instead of adding affixes to words, in the back-formation process, affixes are removed from original words to create new words. This results in new, shorter, and less complex words of the English vocabulary.

When does a lexeme become a back formation?

Back-formation is when a shorter word ( lexeme) is created from a longer word. Back-formation occurs when an affix (prefix, suffix) is taken away from a word to create a new one. The term back-formation refers to this process.