common words include access, aim, bed, beer, brave, clean, cup, deck, e-mail, fool, impact, pension, ship, train and so on.
The formation of a noun by converting a verb, adjective or other word is also very common. This process is often referred to as a type of nominalization.
You can adjust the blinds to keep out the glare.
I’d booked two single rooms, but they gave us a double.
Auxiliary verbs, adverbs, modal verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and even affixes can all act as bases for conversion, e.g.
In the formation of a blend, the first part of the first element is added to the second part of the second element. Most blends are nouns, but a few are adjectives such as glitzy (from glitter and ritzy), and verbs such as skyjack (from sky and hijack).
In other words, conversion is a process by which a word belonging to one word class is transferred to another word class without any change in form.
It is a productive device for the creation of new words since there is no restriction on the form.
It was time to brave the rush hour traffic again.
Adjective → noun: best, poor, rich, blind, convertible, daily, double, e.g.
I’ll do my best to help you.
Blends are often found in advertising, product names, and magazine and newspaper headings. Blending often results in the creation of new morphemes or in the addition of new meanings to old ones.
The fourth type of blends is involves the embedding of one word in another, e.g. entreporneur (from entrepreneur + porn).
A very small number of blends consist of three source words, e.g. intelevisionary (from Intel + television + visionary).
Although it is very difficult to tell which form arose first, these two types of conversion do exist.
Sometimes when a word consisting of two or more syllables undergoes conversion, there is a change in the stress pattern.
In other cases, both splinters are the beginnings of words, e.g. sitcom (from situation + comedy).
The third type of blends consists of complete overlap, in which a part of the blend belongs to both words, e.g. sexploitation (from sex + exploitation), palimony (from pal + alimony).
The second type of blends consists of two splinters. There are two subtypes. In some cases, the beginning of one word is followed by the end of another word, e.g. psychergy (from psychic + energy).
English Lexicology
Lecture Six
Other Word-formation Processes
Conversion Blending shortening
Conversion
A change in word class without the addition of an affix is known as conversion.
For example, the verb run is used as the noun run, as in I went for a run after work. This type of nominalization is widely used as one of the most flexible and creative linguistic devices in English.
He downed his beer and left.
The company has had its share of ups and downs.
Good binoculars are a must for any serious birdwatcher.
Are you out to your parents?
Verb → noun: a call, a command, a count, a go, a guess, a look, a walk, e.g.
Don’t try to eat the whole thing in one go. Hold your breath for a count of ten. Can you wait while I make another call?
Adjective → verb: to better, to blind, to bold, to brave, to dirty, to empty, e.g.
The low sun blinded her as she drove up the hill.
You can use your bold to make the information stand out a little more.
We hold meetings where the residents’ problems can be aired.
They quickly armed themselves with sticks.
Prices are stilling falling, but show no signs of bottoming out.
chair, as in ‘chair the meeting’. This process is
known as a type of verbification.
This type of verbification often involves simple conversion of a non-verb to a verb. Verbified words are often found in colloquial English, where the speaker needs to describe common actions or experiences.
Structurally, there are four common types of blends.
The first type of blends is a full word followed by a splinter, e.g. wintertainment (from winter + entertainment), chatire (from chat + satire). Blends can also begin with a splinter, followed by a full word, e.g. cinemenace (from cinema + menace).
Blending
Blending refers to the process of combining parts of two words to form a third word which contains some of the meaning of each part. Blends are compounds that are less than compounds.