3. conversionConversion is the formation of new words by converting words of one class to another. Since the words that are made do not change in morphological structure but in function, this process is alsoknown as functional shift.▪ Words produced by conversion are primarily nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The most productive, however, is the conversion that takes place between nouns and verbs.▪ Conversion is not only a change of grammatical function of the item involved but with it the different range of meaning it originally carried.▪1). Conversion to nounss▪Deverbal. Almost all monomorphemic verbs can be used as nouns, which are semantically related to the original verbs in various ways according to Quirk et al:▪State (of mind or sensation)doubt the state of doubtingwant what is wanteddesire, love , hate , smell, tasteb. Event or activitysearch the activity of searchinglaugh the act of laughingattempt, hit, release, swim, shut-down,etcc. Result of the actioncatch what is caughtfind what is foundreject , buy, hand-out, answer , betd. Doer of the actionhelp one who helpscheat one who cheatsBore, coach, scold, stand-in(替代)e. Tool or instrument to do the action withcover used to cover somethingwrape used to wrap somethingcure, paper, etc.f. Place of the actionPass where one has to passWalk a place for walkingDivide , turn, drive, lay-down▪ Many simple nouns converted from verbs can be used with have, take, make. Give; e.g. to have a look▪ words like hand-out, stand-by, are converted from phrasalverbs. The verb and particle are following the same order, but there are some contradictory .e.g. overflow, outbreak, downfall.▪De-adjectival: full conversion and partial conversion▪ A noun fully converted from an adjective has all the characteristics of nouns,such as, a white , a crasy, a gay, angries, finals, a drunk, two unknowns, offerings, new-borns, etc.▪Nouns partially converted from adjectives do not possess all the qualities a noun does. They must used together with definite articles as nouns while retaining some of the adjective features. The gradable adjectives can keep their comparative or surplative degrees, e.g. the poorer, the more affluent, etc. ▪Words in this category generally denotes a group of the kind, but such nouns can also refer to a single as well.Miscellaneous conversion: this covers nouns converted from other classes such as conjunctions, modals , finite verbs, propositions, etc,Life is full of ups and downs,Rubber gloves are a must if your skin is sensitive to washing powders.2). Conversion to verbsCompare the following pair of the sentences:▪They now eat better food, live in better houses, and wear better clothes than ever before.▪They are better fed, better housed, and better clothed than before. Denominal: verbs converted from nouns are semantically related to the original nouns in a variety of ways.▪to put in or on Nto pocket the money,to put money into the pocketTo can the fruit to put the fruit into cansBottle, garage, corner, shelve, etc.▪to give N or to provide with Nto shelter the refugees, to give shelter to the refugees.To oil the machine, to provide the machine with oil▪To remove N fromto skin the lamb, to remove the skin from the lambTo juice the oranges, to remove the juice from the oranges▪To do with Nto pump water to bring water with a pumpto knife the steak, to cut the steak with a knifeto finger, hammer, shoulder glue, etc.▪To be or act as Nto nurse the baby, to be the nurse for the baby.to captain the team, to act as the capitain for the team.father, pilot, referee, tutor, etc.▪To make or change into Nto cash the cheque, to change the cheque into cashto orphan the boy, to make the boy an orphancripple, fool, widow, etc▪To send or go by NTo mail the letter, to send the letter by mailTo bicycle, to go by bicycleDe-adjectival:Conversion of adjectives into verbs is not as productive as that of nouns. They can be used either transitively to mean “to make…” or intransitively “tobecome”.e.g.▪He walked carefully so as not to wet his shoes.▪the photograph yellowed with age.Some more words: dim, dirty, warm, cool, slow, clear, dry.Converted verb from adj and derived verbs from adj, through suffixation are interchangeable.▪Boon got in and quieted the engine.▪Can’t you do anything to quieten the children a bit?Miscellaneous conversion▪The intellectuals are muched again.▪We downed a few beers.▪The students tut-tut the idea.▪But me no buts.3). Conversion to adjectivesThis type of conversion occurs mostly between nouns and adjectives.generally, mass and material nouns can be used as adjectives. E.g. a chalk board, a silver coin, a brick house.There is not much difference between the noun-form adjective and the adjective as far as meaning is concerned. E.g. prestige(prestigious) university, gold(golden)cross, affluence(affluent)socity. But there are some that show a great discrepancy.Stone house vs stony cushionBankruptcy lawyer vs bankrupt businessmanEfficient expert vs efficiency expertRiot police vs riotous policeObesity specialist vs obese specialistQuestions and task▪What is conversion? What do you think of the alternatives functional shift and zero derivation?▪In what way is conversion different from suffixation?▪Explain partial conversion and full conversion with examples.▪Pick out the words which you think are converted in the following sentences and tell how they are converted.▪We can’t stomach such an insult.▪Robert Acheson roomed right next to me.▪He wolfed down his lunch.▪There is no come and go with her.▪I’m one of his familiars.▪Come to the fire and have a warm.▪Is Bill Jackson a has-been or a might-have-been?▪He Hamleted at the chance and then he regretted for it.▪These shoes were an excellent buy.4.blendingBlending is the formation of new words by combing parts of two words or a word plus a part of another word as in flush is the combination of flash and blush.。