Submorphemic elements in the formation of acronyms, blends and clippings
Mainstream word-formation is concerned with the formation of new words from morphemes. As morphemes are full linguistic signs, the resulting neologisms are transparent: speakers can deduce the meanings of the new formations from the meanings of their constituents. Thus, morphematic word-formation pr...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3
2008-11-01
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| Series: | Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/713 |
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| Summary: | Mainstream word-formation is concerned with the formation of new words from morphemes. As morphemes are full linguistic signs, the resulting neologisms are transparent: speakers can deduce the meanings of the new formations from the meanings of their constituents. Thus, morphematic word-formation processes can be analysed in terms of their modifier/head relationship, with A + B > AB, and AB = (a kind of) B. This pattern applies to compounding and affixation. There are, however, certain word-formation processes that are not morpheme-based and that do not have a modifier/head structure. Acronyms like NATO are formed from the initial letters of word groups; blends like motel ‘mix’ or conflate submorphemic elements; clippings like prof shorten existing words. In order to analyse these word-formation processes, we need concepts below the morpheme level. This paper will analyse the role played by elements below the morpheme level in the production of these non-morphematic word-formation processes which have been particularly productive in the English language since the second half of the 20th century. |
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| ISSN: | 1951-6215 |