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.
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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
Among the different types of conversion, the formation of a verb by converting a noun, adjective or other word is very common. For example, the noun chair becomes the verb to
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).
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?
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.
Some of the most common words include access, aim, bed, beer, brave, clean, cup, deck, e-mail,Байду номын сангаасfool, 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.
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.
Among the better-known blends are smog (from smoke and fog), fruice (from fruit and jiuce), glasphalt (from glass and asphalt), modem (from modulator and demodulator) and urinalysis (from urine and analysis).
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?
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.
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.
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.
There are four major kinds of conversion: from noun to verb, from verb to noun, from adjective to noun and from adjective to verb.
Noun → verb: to air, to arm, to bottom, to cup, to fish, to mouth, to tooth, e.g.
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.
Structurally, there are four common types of blends.