CONVERSION,COMPOUND FORMATION, ACRONYMS, BLENDS

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                                                               CONVERSION  

  Some words can be used as nouns, verbs, adverbs or adjectives without any change in the form of the word, without the addition of an affix or prefix. This process of derivation is called a conversion. 

EXAMPLES;

 Light: Switch on the light (noun)

 Light the lamp (verb) Round: 

The earth is round like a ball (adjective) 

The principal went on a round (noun)

 You must round all the sharp corners (verb)

 Back: He is carrying a bag on his back (noun)

 You must back me up (verb)

 The plane flew back in no time (adverb)

 He left by the back door (adjective)

 Other types of conversion: Please give me two coffees (An uncountable noun used as a countable noun) This instrument is a must for you (A closed system word being used as a noun) I do not like this touch me not policy (A phrase being used as an adjective) I do not believe in any ism bothering the society today (A suffix being used as a noun) 

    He is only being nice (stative verb used as a dynamic verb) In some words of two syllables, a change of accent from the first two to the second syllable changes a noun/adjective to a verb Noun/Adjective Verb ‘Conduct con’duct ‘Subject sub’ject ‘Object ob’ject ‘Present pre’sent ‘Contrast con’trast There are some words, in which there is a change in the meanings of words if the final consonant is voiced. Word Final sound Word Final sound Advice (n) \s\ advise (v) \z\ Thief (n) \f\ thieve (v) \v\ House (n) \s\ house (v) \z\ 

                                                 COMPOUND FORMATION 

    Compounds are formed by joining two or more bases. These bases are in some cases, separated by a hyphen, while in other cases, the hyphen appears to have disappeared with the passage of time. There is no row governing the presence or absence of the hyphen. Here are some examples of compound words: Noun+Noun Motor cycle Girl friend Fire engine Noun+Adjective Trustworthy Beauty conscious Home sick Adjective+Noun Paleface Greenhorn fathead Compounds with verbs/adverbials/verbal nouns Sight- seeing Birth- control Record- player Reduplication: Some words are formed out of two such elements as are almost alike. These Elements may either be identical or only slightly different. 

                        Eg: Criss-cross Doodle-doo Wishy-washy Walkie-talkie Clippings: 

Some words are used in shortened form by subtracting one or more syllables from a word. This shortening sometimes occurs at the beginning of a word, at the end of a word, or at both ends of a word. Eg: Shortened word Full word Photo photograph Plane aeroplane Pram perambulator Bus omnibus 

                                                                    ACRONYMS

An acronym is formed by joining together the initial letters. Of other words and is pronounced as a word. 

Eg: AIDS: Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome B2C: Business 2Customer 

LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation The difference between an acronym and an abbreviation is that the latter may be formed by the initial letters in a phrase on the name and i.e read letter by letter, e.g. IBM, BA, M.Sc., AD and so on, while the former is formed from the first letter of each word and is normally pronounced as a word e.g. LASER, BASIC. 

                                                                          BLENDS

    Two words are sometimes clipped and the clippings are joined to form a new word. Eg: Brunch from breakfast and lunch Smog from smoke and fog Motel from motorists and hotel Borrowings: English generally borrows words from other languages with which it comes into contact. English continues to enrich its store of words by such borrowings. Eg: Guru from Hindi Bazaar Persian Sheikh from Arabic Tycoon Japanese Dame from French Inventions:

     New words have to be given to new inventions. Such words (as other words of the language) are arbitrary but in the course of time, they come to stay as a part of the language. Eg: x- rays laser sputnik astronaut Echoism: Some words are formed by the sounds that suggest their meaning.

 Eg: Clang Whisper Thunder Click Murmur Language, as everybody knows, is dynamic. It continues to acquire new words with the passage of time. Some words also go on disappearing, as time passes, due to a variety of reasons. Thus language is open- ended and modifiable.

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