Word formation is an integral part of the language. Without it, there would be no new words, professional jargons, names of new inventions and much more. Without word formation, the modern language would not have been so rich and convenient for communication, many words would not have sunk into oblivion, they would not have become historicisms. Through this process, our everyday speech is complicated and improved. That is why you need to know the laws of word formation and be able to do word-formation analysis of the word.
Bit of theory
Word formation (derivation) is the process of creating new, often more complex words from simpler ones. This process is an integral part of such a science as linguistics. In the word formation section, words are divided into primary (from which a new word is obtained) and derivatives (which are obtained using word formation). Word formation is a complex process, and that is why there are several methods for it. We will talk about them (or some of them) in this article, and in the end we will learn how to perform word-formation analysis of the word and much more. In addition, we will learn much more than what they told us at school, in the lessons of the Russian language. And maybe you can explain to the child something that the teacher could not clearly explain.
The addition of two fundamentals
In the modern world, due to the abundance of words and their specifications, such a method of word formation as the addition of two bases is increasingly used. Most often, this addition occurs as follows: in two words, for example, "water" and "conduct", the root stands out. It turns out: "water" and "wire". These roots are connected using the connecting vowel “o”. It turns out a new word: "water supply", meaning a system of structures, most often located underground, delivering water from the place of "production" to the place of its consumption. This is one of the simplest word formation methods.
Addition of a basis and a word
Of course, there are ways and more complicated than the first. Suppose the addition of the foundations and the whole word. Take the word "hydroelectric power station" and break it down into the basics. Hydr, Electr, and Station. As you can see, the vowels “o” are connecting, from the word “electricity” they took only the root “electron” (from “electron”). But the word "station" has remained fully live in this derivative. So with the help of word-formation analysis of the word, you can determine the method of its formation.
Abbreviation
Often we use abbreviations in our speech, rather than whole words. For example, the name of organizations, educational institutions and even countries. For example, "Moscow State University" - Moscow State University. This method is called letter abbreviation, that is, when pronouncing the abbreviation, we are obliged to pronounce the letters of the word. However, there is a sound abbreviation, for example, "NATO", "UN" and "university". With this abbreviation, we pronounce sounds, not letters. Creating abbreviations will also help in word-formation analysis of the word.
Substantiation
Do not be afraid of this term, because substantiation is just such a property of words as a transition from one part of speech to another. For example, “ice cream” (as a noun and as an adjective), “day off” (the same), “dental”, “fries”, etc. It is worth noting that in Russian, the transition usually occurs just between nouns and adjectives . Of course, the morphemic and word-formation analysis of a word that has passed from one part of speech to another will change.
Prefixal
We know this method from the school bench. “I ran - ran,” “walked - left”, “road - roadside”, etc. Everything is simple and clear here. A prefix with the meaning of approximation, incompleteness of actions, proximity to the subject, etc. is added to the word base. Often, by the prefix method adjectives (not involved - participial) and pronouns (nowhere where) are formed.
Suffix
Typically, these two word-formation methods are studied in parallel. Often in this way nouns are formed (from verbs) and such parts of speech as the sacrament and participle. For example: "position - to put" and "running - to run." Here, in order not to get confused, you can learn the suffixes of different parts of speech. This will help you make word-formation analysis and word analysis much faster and easier. For example, the word-formation analysis of the word “pocket” will be: “pocket-pocket” (using the suffix adjective -n-).
Attachment suffix
One of the most difficult ways of word formation. After all, here you need to look not only at the derivative word, but also at the lexical meaning of each of its morphemes. For example, the word "seaside" is formed from the word "sea". But the "seaside" is formed from the "sea", and already it is from the "sea". Here is such a complex word-formation chain. But to understand it is quite simple: if a word without a prefix or a suffix is ​​not used separately, then the method of education is a prefix-suffix. If the word can easily exist without a prefix, but with a suffix, then the prefix method. If a word is used without a suffix, but with a prefix, then the method is suffix. That’s all you need to remember and understand.
Affixless
Let's talk about such a method of word formation as non-suffix. In this way, many nouns are formed in the Russian language. Of course, they are formed from verbs. How? Take the verb “sprinkle” and remove the ending “t” and the suffix of the verb “a”. We will have a feminine noun, the third declension “mound”. That is, the non-suffix way of education is the way in which the verb ends with the ending and suffix, and in the end a noun is obtained. Thus formed nouns: "tan" and "clearing". But in this way nouns can also be formed from adjectives, for example: “depth”, “quiet”, “intellectual”, etc.
Root truncation
Everything is clear here too. "Dance + floor = dance floor." That is, in this way the word is cut to a bare bone - the root - and lives in that form. Nothing unusual, complex or specific. Often this method is used to create slang words: "teacher - teacher", "doctor - dock", etc. This is perhaps the easiest way to bring new words into the world.
How to do word-formation analysis of a word?
After we have analyzed the main ways of word formation in the Russian language (and those that we described are really only basic, but not all methods), you need to figure out how to do word-formation analysis of the word. This is what we will do. In order to make everything clearer, as an example, we will make a word-formation analysis of the word “melt”. All data about this word will be placed in brackets of each item.
Phased word-formation analysis plan
- So, to start the analysis, we determine the part of speech (in our case, it is a verb).
- We analyze the word by composition, that is, divide it into morphemes. (“Ras” is the prefix, “tap” is the root, “l” is the verb suffix, “willow” is the suffix, “t” is the ending).
- Now we look at whether the word can exist without a prefix (in our case, the non-existent word “heat” is obtained).
- We determine the method of education (we have a suffix-suffix).
- We compose a word-formation chain, that is, from which word is formed. It should turn out the word that remains after the separation of prefixes, suffixes, etc. ("melt - drown").
So, with a simple example, you can easily and simply figure out how to do word-formation analysis. The main thing is to know all the methods of word formation. But this is not our written lesson.
What mistakes can be avoided by making a word-formation analysis of a word by its composition?
Word-formation analysis will help you understand what part of the speech is in front of you, and not make a mistake by inattention. For example, everyone knows the rule that in the suffixes –an- and –yan- the adjectives write one letter –n–, and the full passive participles formed from a perfect verb have two letters –nn–. If you made up a word-formation chain, then you will immediately understand what part of the speech is in front of you, and you will not make a stupid mistake.
Oddly enough, word formation is closely related to punctuation. This again applies to adjectives, participles and participles. After all, the penultimate ones are marked with commas if they are after the word being defined, and the latter are always.
The word-formation chain will help you determine the meaning of the word, and this, in turn, will make it possible to clothe it in a competent, stylistically neutral design, organically fit into the text and skillfully beat the word. This will help you a lot when compiling speeches for public speaking and beautiful, confident speech in everyday life. Indeed, each morpheme has its own semantic load that it carries. And you can’t forget about this important role of prefixes and suffixes.
Interesting facts about word formation
There is a word to be spoken for three and a half hours! And in order to write it, you need one hundred eighty nine thousand eight hundred nineteen characters of the alphabet (letters). This is the name of one of the titanium proteins. The simplified name for this protein is relatively easy to read: Connectin.
English is officially recognized as the richest language in the world. It has four hundred and ninety thousand words and another three hundred thousand professional and technical terms. This is several times more than in any other language of the world. Learn to form new words with the English, ladies and gentlemen!
There are aspect dictionaries that reflect the morphemic composition of a word, all kinds of particular features of this word, including its derivational derivative. I wish everyone had such a dictionary! Then no one would have had problems writing words and getting grades.
And in conclusion, I would like to say ...
As you can see, word formation is the most important section of the Russian language, ignorance of which can lead to elementary and even ridiculous mistakes from the section of spelling, punctuation, vocabulary and even stylistics.
Learn and love your native language! Do not make silly mistakes!