Table of contents
It takes a few minutes to master the basic English word formation, and there is a certain benefit in memorizing words. The article is compiled from English Rabbit Video: English Word Formation , I hope that after reading it, you can deepen your understanding of the development of English words.
English word formation
1. Derivation
- derivation ≠ word formation
1. Derivation: let a fixed combination of letters express a certain meaning → Chinese radicals
eg. hydr- means related to water
2. English has two sets of vocabulary: ①Germanic vocabulary (often appearing alone) ②Greek and Latin (often appearing as part of a word, similar to Chinese radicals)
- Such "substantial" foreign words have become the "core" of some English words-roots ( expressing the core meaning of words)
- A spelling with a modifying function that can express meaning and attributes together with the root - affixes:
- prefixes (change the meaning of a word)
- Suffix (the core meaning remains the same, but the part of speech changes)
Small summary:
Usually:
- A word can form a word by itself (French), often with the suffix -able
- If it cannot be a word by itself (Greek, Latin), the suffix -ible is often added
- Multiple prefixes may indicate a single meaning
- A prefix can also represent multiple meanings
- Not all words are related to roots
- Not all derivatives contain: prefix + root + suffix
- Some roots, prefixes, and suffixes will change spelling for the convenience of pronunciation
2. Synthesis
Usually Germanic words simply joined together (not always)
- waterfall water + drop → waterfall
- waterproof water + resistance → waterproof
- underwater is below + water → underwater
- outbreak outside + shattered → outbreak; riot
- oneway one + road → one-way; one-way
- highclass high + grade → advanced; first-class
- Beforehand before... + hand → in advance; in advance; in advance
3. Mixing
Since sometimes two words may be too long to be synthesized directly, the first subsection of the first word and the last subsection of the second word are put together, that is, "lazy" word formation.
Four, cut off
If a word itself is too long, only a part of it is intercepted, that is, "read half", such as:
5. Abbreviations
Abbreviations are used when reading more than one word at a time, especially proper nouns. Usually acronyms are used:
But there are also special cases where a part of the contained word is intercepted to form an easy-to-read word:
Instead of simple acronyms:
6. Transformation
A word has different parts of speech and can be both a verb and a noun:
fall
v. Decrease; Decrease; Weaken; Drop; Fall; Fall off
n. Waterfall; Fall; Fall; Plunge; Autumn
adj. sown in autumn; mature in autumn; used in autumn
Sometimes the part of speech can also be converted by simply changing the spelling (there is no certain part of speech when it is introduced), such as Shakespeare's verb transformation of nouns such as education:
Summarize
