Compoundin g Morphology Definition Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.

Compounding

Morphology

Definition

Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed.

Morpheme:

It is the smallest meaningful unit of language.

Types of morphemes:

Free morphemes:

Free morphemes are the morphemes which are free in the sense that they are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves.

Bound morphemes:

Bound morphemes are those that cannot be used independently , but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word.

Word Formation

Compounding, Blending, Backformation, Shortening

Compounding is a process of word formation by which two independent words are put together to make one word. The word formed in this way is called compound

A. According to orthographic criterion, compounds are written in three ways:

1) solid, such as bedtime

2)hyphenated, such as above-mentioned

3) open, such as reading material

Phonologically, compounds can often be identified as having a main stress on the first element and a secondary stress on the second element.

`old /friends

`new /friends

`pure /scientists

Semantically, compounds can often be identified as “ having a meaning which may be related to but can not simply be inferred from the meaning of its parts.

A darkroom is not just a room that is dark, rather a room used for photographic processing.

1.

Noun Compounds

In politics:

a hot line: a telephone line for swift communication in emergencies between Moscow and Washington.

(热线 )

hard-liner: a person following an

uncompromising or extreme policy

In economics:

unit pricing: the pricing of a commodity expressed per unit of weight, volume,etc. ( 单价与兑价分标法 )

siege economics: extremely strict economical measures (极其严格的节约措施 )

In military fields:

cruise missile: a low-flying subsonic guided missile ( 巡航导弹 )

laser bomb: bomb guided by laser 激光导弹

fox-bat (狐蝠式战斗机 )

In science and technology:

black hole: a hypothetical celestial region formed from a collapsed star. (黑洞 )

biological clock: inherent mechanism that regulates cyclic physiological process in a living organism.(生物钟 )

strobe light: higher intensity flashing light频闪放电管

In social life:

identity crisis: a state of psychological confusion in one's personality.个性危机

group therapy: the treatment of a group of patients in regular sessions where problems are shared in group discussion:

小组疗法

encounter group: a group of people who meet to develop understanding of others by honest exchange of feelings, opinions, etc.交朋友小组

shield law: a law that pretexts journalists from forced disclosure of confidential news sources.新闻来源保障法

answering service: a commercial service that answers telephone calls for its clients.营利性的代客接听电话的服务处

demand scheduling: flight scheduling on the part an airline according to the specific demand of a passenger.按乘客要求安排航空旅行日程 .

silence vow: a vow to keep silence about something secret保守秘密誓词

heartbeat: The heart beats. revolving door: the door that revolves

The analysis of the noun compound structures:

1. subject + predicate:

2. predicate + object: pickpocket: to pick the pocket housekeeping: to keep the house

3. Verb + adverbial:

There are five kinds in this type:

a) a prepositional phrase used as an adverbial

(a)The adverbial relation of place:

diving board: diving from the board

living room: live in a room

waiting room: wait in a room

(b)The instrumental relation of an adverbial:

sewing machine: sew with a machine

walking stick: walk with a machine

4. subject + object:

steamboat: The steam powers the boat.

honey bee: The bee produces honey

5. appositive:

a peasant girl: a girl who is a peasant

a: an off-the-cuff opinion 临时想起的意见b: round-the-clock discussion 连续 24 小时的讨论会c: on-the-spot observation

2. Compound Adjectives:

1) the compound adjectives coming from adverbials:

d: the ahead-of-schedule general election 提前举行的大选e: an off-camera announcer 影屏外的播音员f: the first on-scene attempt to detect life on Mars 实景考察

a: a back-up generator 备用发电机b: a stand-up collar 竖领c: a walk-in closet 人可以走进去的大壁橱d: a see-through shirt 透明的衬衫

2) the compound adjectives coming from the phrasal verbs:

3) the compound adjectives coming from infinitive phrases:

a: take-home payb: a cross-border raidc: a keep-fit class （保健班）

a: an easy-to-paint portrait

b: a difficult-to-operate machine

c: hard-to-get-at volumes

4) compound adjectives coming from the compressed attributive clauses:

d: a can't-be-put-down book

e: a never-to-be-forgotten event

f: his higher-than-average wages

The women have outgrown the jumping-onto-the-chair-at -the-sight-of -a-mouse era.

1) The common way to form a �compound verb is by means of back -formation. The back-formation is a process of word formation by which a word is �created by dropping the supposed or imagined affixes:

3: Compound Verbs:

d: air-condition: from air-conditioning

a: mass-produce: from mass production

b: window-dress: from window-dressing 布置橱窗

c: proof-read: from proof-reader

e: edit: from editor

f: automate; automation

g: gloom: from goomy

h: greed: from greedy

I: to window-shop: from window-shopping: look at displays of goods in store windows without entering the stores to buy anything.

j: baby-sit: from baby-sitting: care for children, usually during a short absence of the parents.

2) A compound verb can also be formed by means of analogy:

a: chain-drink: from chain-smoke

b: bottle-feed: feed from a bottle. from breast-feed: � �feed from a �mother's breast

From the stylistic point of view:

1. usu. used as colloquialisms:

e.g. a: Don't nit-pick with me. ( find fault with me )

b: He sweet-talked her into not being so sore. ( coax by flattery )

2. usu. used in news reports:

e.g. After leaving Washington he job-hopped, serving briefly as operating vice-president of the bank.

(job-hop: change jobs frequently)

hand-wash: to wash by hand

cold rinse: to rinse in the cold water

3. in advertisements:

warm iron: to iron with moderate heat

Line dry （一晾就干）

drip-dry （滴干；易快速晾干）

e.g. Leave all that out and remember only that Hugh Hefiner is a man who chain-drinks Pepsis.

From the viewpoint of communicative function and communicative value:

1) humorous:

2) terse:

a: Cans are flash-cooked for six seconds rather than sterilised for 60 �minutes. ( flash-cook: to cook by a very short exposure to intense heat )

b: So far I have press-shown 18 films. ( press-show: show to the press before public presentation )

e.g. He announced a series of surprise summit meetings that will have him jet-hopping from island to island.

( jet-hop: travel from place to place by jetcraft )

3) vivid and impressive

Blending is a process of word formation by which a word is created by combining parts of other words. Words formed in this way are called blends. From morphological viewpoints, there are four types of blending:

Blending

botel: boat + hotel 汽艇游客旅馆smaze: smoke + haze 烟霾advertistics: advertising + statistics 广告统计学

1. The first part of the first word + the last part of the second word:

autocide: automobile + suicide 撞车自杀altiport: altitude + airport 高山短距起落机场ballute: balloon + parachute 减速汽球chunnel: channel + tunnel 海峡隧道lunacast: lunar + telecast 登月电视广播

carbecue: car + barbecue 一种用火烤法处理废弃车辆 的熔车装置jazzotheque: jazz + discotheque 爵士音乐夜总会lunarnaut: lunar + astronaut 登月宇宙航行员

2. the whole part of the first word + last part of the second word:

Nixonomics: Nixon + economics 尼克松的经济政策

workfare : work + welfare 工作福利

helipad: helicopter + pad 直升飞机升降场medicaid: medical + aid 美国的医疗补助方案medicare: medical + care 医疗照顾方案

3. the whole form of the second word + the first part of the first word:

Eurasian: Europe + Asian 欧亚混血儿

motown: motor + town 汽车城

psywar: psychological + warfare 心里战Amerind: American + Indian 美洲印第安人memcon: memorandum + conversation 谈话记录

4. the first part of the first word + the first part of the second word:

sitcom: situation + comedy 情景喜剧comint: communications + intelligence 通讯情报humint: human + intelligence 间谍情报comsat: communications + satellite 通讯卫星

The words formed in this way are often regarded as nonce words. However , some words have been accepted into standard English such as brunch, smog, motel.�

It seems in scientific fields, this � �process of word formation is especially useful in lexicalizing a � �scientific concept:

telex: teleprinter + exchange 用户直通电报

pulsar: pulse + quasar 脉冲星

skylab: sky + laboratory 空中实验室

biorhythm: biological + rhythm 生理节奏

mascon: mass + concentration 质量密集

Some of the blends are especially effective in certain contexts:

e.g A longtime Nixon backer, he assumes a dawk stance on the problem. dawk: dove + hawk介乎鸽派和鹰派之间的中间人物

e.g. The whole area have been turned into one huge autopia.

autopia: auto + utopia

轿车适宜行驶的地区

Backformation

Backformation is a process of word formation by which a word is formed by deleting the supposed affixes:

1. From nounsa: peddle: from peddlerb: burgle: from burglarc: beg: from beggard: orate: from orator

e: auth: from authorf: emote: from emotiong: caretake: from caretakerh: free-associate: from free-associationi: enthuse: from enthusiasm

2. From adjectives

a: peeve: from peevishb: gloom: from gloomyc: frivol: from frivolousd: cose or coze: from cosy

e: laze: from lazy f: greed: from greedy

g: grue: from gruesome

3. By dropping the supposed prefix

a: flappable: from unflappable 易惊慌的b: ept: from inept

Shortening ( Abbreviation )

1. Clipped words

1) to clip the front part of a word

a: phone: from telephone

b: varsity: from university

c: chute: from parachute

2) to clip the back part of a word

a: ad: advertisement

b: exam: examination

c: mod: modern

d: pro: professional

e: demo: demonstration

f: exp.: exposition

g: memo: memorandum

h: lib: liberation

3) to clip both the front and the back parts of a word

a: flu: influenzab: Tec: detectivec: fridge: refrigerator

4 ） Phrase clippings:

pub: public house

pop-singer: popular song singer

lube: lubricating oil

Initialises:

Initialisms are words formed by the initial letters of words and pronounced as letters:

C.O.D: cash on delivery

EEC: European Economic Community

FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation

e.g.: exempli gratia: for example

Acronyms are words formed by the initial letters of words and pronounced as words:

Acronyms:

OPEC: Organisation of Petroleum Export Countries

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks