Word Formation Terms (Subset T438 Quiz 2)

Front 1

Coinage

Back 1

the invention of new words (e.g. Xerox)

Front 2

Eponyms

Back 2

a word derived from the name of a person or place (e.g. sandwich)

Front 3

Borrowing

Back 3

the process of taking words from other languages (e.g. karaoke)

Front 4

Loan-translation

Back 4

a type of borrowing in which each element of a word is translated into the borrowing language, also called calque (e.g. grate-ciel “scrape- sky” for skyscraper)

Front 5

Calque

Back 5

a type of borrowing in which each element of a word is translated into the borrowing language, also called loan-translation (e.g. grate-ciel “scrape- sky” for skyscraper)

Front 6

Compounding

Back 6

the process of combining two (or more) words to form a new word (e.g. waterbed)

Front 7

Blending

Back 7

the process of combining the beginning of one word and the end of another word to form a new word (e.g. brunch from breakfast and lunch)

Front 8

Clipping

Back 8

the process of reducing a word of more than one syllable to a shorter form (e.g. ad from advertisement)

Front 9

Hypocorisms

Back 9

a word-formation process in which a longer word is reduced to a shorter form with –y or –ie at the end (e.g. telly, movie)

Front 10

Backformation

Back 10

the process of reducing a word such as a noun to a shorter version and using it as a new word such as a verb (e.g. babysit from babysitter)

Front 11

Conversion

Back 11

the process of changing the function of a word, such as a noun to a verb, as a way of forming new words, also known as “category change” or “functional shift” (e.g. vacation in They’re vacationing in Florida.)

Front 12

Analogy

Back 12

a process of forming a new word to be similar in some way to an existing word (e.g. hippie, yippie, yuppie, yappie)

Front 13

Derivation

Back 13

addition of an affix to form a new word (e.g. clean > cleanly > cleanliness)