CHAPTER 5
Word formation
DESCRIPTION REFLECTIONS
In linguistics, word formation is the creation
of a new word. Word formation is sometimes
contrasted with semantic change, which is a
change in a single word's meaning. The
boundary between word formation and
semantic change can be difficult to define: a
new use of an old word can be seen as a new
word derived from an old one and identical
to it in form. See 'conversion'. This is a chapter where I teach the use of
words such as, The study of the origin and
history of a word is known as its etymology, a
term which,
like many of our technical words, comes to us
through Latin, but has its origins in
Greek (e´tymon “original form” + logia “study
of”), and is not to be confused with
Etimology, also from Greek (e´ntomon
“insect”). When we look closely at the
etymologies
of less technical words, we soon discover
that there are many different ways in
Which new words can enter the language.
Word formation can also be contrasted with
the formation of idiomatic expressions,
although words can be formed from multi-
word phrases.