(The Three Major Processes of Word-formation)
1. General Remarks
Various ways of forming words can be classified on the basis of frequency of usage, into major or minor processes. The major processes are three, namely, compounding, derivation and conversion.
The minor processes are eight, namely, acronymy, blending, clipping, words from proper names, back-formation, reduplication, neo-classical formation and miscellaneous.
A. Percentage of new words coined by the different word-formation processes after World War II
The percentage of firmly established new words coined by the above processes since World War II is shown in the following table:
1. The three major processes of word-formation: [l1] 
(a)
(b)
Suffixation: hawkish, modernize;
(c) Conversion (about 10.5%):
bottle (verb), buy (noun).
Note that words formed by these processes account for 55% of the new vocabulary.
2. The eight minor processes of word-formation: [l2] 
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e) Back formation
(f)
(g)
(h) Others (about 3%): pizzazz, gazump.
Words formed by these minor processes account for 26.5% of the new vocabulary. The remaining 18.5% is from borrowing, e.g. discotheque, ombudsman and many others.
B. Some basic concepts of word-formation
Before we deal with word-formation proper, we will first explain some of the terminology to be used in the study of word-formation.
1. Word-formation rules: The rules of word-formation define the scope and methods whereby speakers of a language may create new words; for instance, the –able word-formation rules[l3]  says, "-able is to be added to verbs to form an adjective meaning 'fit to be', or to nouns to form an adjective with the sense showing the quality of." And one of the noun compound formation is noun plus noun.
However, any rule of word-formation is of limited productivity in the sense that not
all the words which result from the application of the rule are acceptable. Thus readable, fashionable are acceptable, but writable, deskable are not acceptable.
2. Root, stem, base: [l4] The three are terms used in linguistics to designate that part of a word that remains when all affixes have been removed.
A root( 词根)[l5]  is a form that is not further analysable, either in terms of derivational or inflectional morphology. It is that part of a word-form that remains when all the inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed.
Thus in the word undesirables, the root is desire, to which first the suffix –able, then the prefix un- and finally the inflectional suffix –s have been added. In a compound word like greenhouse, there are two roots, green and house.
A stem（词干）[l6]  is of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology. It is the part of word form which remains when all inflectional affixes have been removed. Thus in the word undesirables, the stem is undesirable; but in the word desired, the stem is desire; in the word greenhouses the stem is greenhouse, even though the stem consists of two roots.
A base（词基）[l7]  is any form to which affixes of any kind can be added; it may also be defined as "a form to which a rule of word-formation is applied." Therefore, this means that any root or stem can be termed a base. But a base differs from both a root or a stem, because they have their own special features as we have discussed before.
2. Compounding （composition ）
A. Definition: Compounding or composition is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to form a new unit, a compound word.
It
(b)
(c) open: air force, air raid.
The general tendency nowadays is for compounds to be written "solid" as soon as they have gained permanent status; otherwise they are written open.
B. Classification of Compounds
Compounds are here classified according to parts of speech of the compounds, i.e. as noun compounds, adjective compounds and verb compounds, which are then subdivided by the syntactic relation of the compounding elements (this relation is indicated by syntactic paraphrase).
1. Noun compounds: This is the commonest type, and new specimens are constantly being formed. Noun compounds are subclassified according to the syntactic relation of the compounding elements:
(a) Subject and verb: The verb may take the form of the base or that of the base plus –ing. Examples are headache "the head aches", heartbeat "the heart beats"; revolving door "the door revolves".
(b) Verb and object: The verb may take the form of the base or that of the base+-ing.
For example: birthcontrol "to control birth"; housekeeping "to keep house"; and dressmaking "to make dresses". The type housekeeping and dressmaking is very productive.
(c) Verb and adverbial: Verbal noun in –ing +adverbial (consisting of a prepositional phrase) e.g. swimming pool "to swim in the pool or a pool for swimming"; typing paper "to type on paper". It is a very productive type.
(d) Subject and object: steamboat "steam powers the boat"; honeybee "the bee produces honey."
(e) Restrictive relation: the first element restricts the meaning of the second: raindrop "a drop of rain"; evening school "a school in the evening"; tablecloth "a cloth for table"; breakfast time "time for breakfast". The types of words like tablecloth and breakfast time expressing purpose is very productive.
(f) Appositive relation: the first element is in apposition to the second one: e.g. a peasant girl "the girl is a peasant"; a pine tree "the tree is a pine".
When the first element of a noun compound is
itself a compound, such a compound is called a string compound. e.g. test-tube baby "one conceived by artificial insemination, or developed elsewhere than in a mother's body."
Compound nouns can also be formed from phrasal verbs. This type is very common in contemporary English. Examples are: sit-in, dropout, phone-in, breakdown, setback and take-off.
2. Adjective compounds: Adjective compounds are also subclassified according to the syntactic relation of the compounding elements:
(a) Subject and verb: The verb is in the form of past participle. Examples are thunder-struck (houses) "thunder struck the houses"; suntanned (skin) "sun tanned the skin". This type is highly productive.
(b) Verb and object: the verb is in the form of present participle, e.g. fault-finding "to find fault"; peaceloving "to love peace". e.g. taxfree "free from tax"; seasick "sick due to sailing on the sea"; fireproof "proof against fire".
The noun denoting the thing with which the adjective is compared (as+adjective+as+noun, adjective like noun); e.g. ocean green "as green as ocean"; crystal-clear "as clear as a crystal"; shoulder-high "as high as shoulders".
(e) Coordinating relationship: The two adjectives are in a coordinating relationship, e.g. bittersweet "sweet but bitter"; Sino-U.S. relations "relation between China and the U.S."
3. Verb compounds:
Verb compounds fall into two main groups according to their method of formation:
(a) Those formed by back-formation: Back-formation is a "reversal" to babysit (from babysitting and babysitter); to windowshop (from window-shopping).
(b) Those formed by conversion. In this case, the verb compounds are converted from noun compounds; e.g.
to nickname to honeymoon to outline
to machine-gun to snowball, etc.
These verb compounds are very often used in colloquial speech.
What might be more useful for a non-native speaker to do is to become familiar with some of the productive types as indicated in this chapter, and when examples of a certain type are found in context, to associate them with other examples of the same type, so that his reading vocabulary will be enlarged.
Compounds are very often used because of their brevity and vividness. e.g. "up-to-the-minute information" is more vivid than "the latest information."
3. Derivation
A. Definition:
Derivation or affixation is a process of forming new words by the addition of a word element, such as a prefix, suffix or combining form, to an already existing word.
A combining form is a bound morpheme, which was originally a full word in Latin or Greek.
e.g. auto (Gk autos self); hydro (Gk hydor water); tele (Gk tele far off).
But they now occurs only in derivatives.
Derivation is subdivided into prefixation and suffixation.
B. Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding a prefix or combining form to the base.
Prefixes modify the lexical meaning of the base, but do not generally change the word-class of the base. e.g. fair---unfair.
However, in current English, prefixes do convert words to a different word-class in comparison with their original bases.
e.g. be- adj.----v. becalm, belittle
de- n.-----v. deform, debug
en- n.-----v. enslave, endanger
un- n.-----v. unleash, unearth
anti- n.-----adj. anti-war, anti-craft
inter- n.-----adj. inter-state, inter-laboratory
post- n.-----adj. postwar, postliberation
pre- n.-----adj. prewar,preplant
Classification of prefixes: They can be classified into the following eight categories by their meaning:
1) "negative" prefixes (un-, non-, in-, dis-, a-);
2) "reversative or privative"("非" "缺") prefixes (un-, de-, dis-);
3) "pejorative" prefixes (贬损) (mis-, mal-);
4) Prefixes of size or degree (arch-, super-, out-, sub-, over-, under-, hyper-, ultra-, mini-)
5) Prefixes of attitude (co-, counter-, anti-, pro-)
6) "locative" prefixes (super-, sub-, inter-, trans-)
7) Prefixes of time and order (fore-, pre-, post-, ex- re-)
8) "number" prefixes (uni-/mono-, bi-/di-, multi-/poly-)
There is also a miscellaneous category (auto-, neo-, pan-, proto-, semi-, vice-).
Anti-, de-, mini-, non-, re-, super-, and un- are some of the most productive prefixes today, which should be closely observed.
B. Suffixation
Suffixation is the formation of a new word by adding a suffix or a combining form to the base, and usually changing the word-class of the base. e.g. boy---boyish. But there are exceptions: e.g. boy---boyhood.
Classification of suffixes: Since suffixes usually change the word from one part of speech to another, it is convenient to classify them not only according to the word-class of the word they form (as noun-forming suffixes, adjective-forming suffixes, etc.), but also according to the kind of base to which they are typically added. For example, a de-verbal suffix like –able or –er is one that typically added to a verb; -ed in pointed and simpleminded; -al in cultural, -ic in atomic and -ous in ambitious. They are either de-verbal or de-nominal.
(d) Adverb(-forming) suffixes: e.g. -ly in happily,
-ward(s) in backward(s), and –wise in clockwise.
4. Conversion
A. Introductory remarks:
1. Conversion and suffixation: Conversion is a word-formation process whereby a word of certain word-class is shifted into a word of another word-class without the addition of an affix. e.g. the verb attack (as in "The enemy attacked us at night.") corresponds to the noun attack (as in "The enemy launched an attack on us at night.")
verb de-verbal noun
SUFFIXATION: invade------invasion
CONVERSION: attack-------attack
Other terms for conversion are "functional shift" and "derivation by zero suffix."
2. Conversion as a result of the almost entire loss of inflection (屈折变化) in modern English: The vocabulary of contemporary English is exceedingly rich in conversion pairs. As shown at the beginning of this chapter, the percentage of converted words in the vocabulary of
Contemporary English is about 10.5%. As a word-formation process, conversion is extremely productive. This is so mainly because English had lost most of its inflectional endings by the end of Middle English period, which facilitated the use of words interchangeably as verbs or nouns, verbs or adjectives and vice versa. Indeed, the free interchange of a word from one word-class to another is a significant feature of Modern English.
Sometimes a word may undergo multiple conversion, which enables it to function as a member of several word.
Notice how the word-class of round varies in accordance with its use in the following sentences:
The second round was exciting. (n.)
Any round plate will do. (adj.)
Some drivers round corners too rapidly. (v.)
The sound goes round and round. (ad.)
He lives round the corner.
The above examples tell us a very important fact: because word order is more fixed in Modern English than ever before, functional shifts within sentence structures are possible without causing
any confusion in intelligibility.
B. Types of conversion:
There are various types of conversion but conversions from noun to verb and from verb to noun are the most productive.
1. Noun----verb conversion: Today the large number of words formed by conversion is constituted by verbs from nouns. This noun to verb conversion may be subdivided into the following groups, based on A Grammar of Contemporary English by R. Quirk et al.
(a) "to put in/on N": The noun are usually locative nouns denoting a place, a container or a specified location; e.g. can v. as in "The workers canned apples." Other examples: bottle, floor, cage, corner and pocket.
(b) "to give N, to provide N": e.g. shelter as in "They shelter the orphans." Other examples: coat, wax, sugar, label, plaster and grease.
(c) "to deprive of N; or to remove the object denoted by the noun from something". e.g. weed as in "Bill weeded the garden." Other examples: core, dust, skin, gut and peel.
(d) "To…with N": More precisely, the meaning of the verb is "to use the referent of the noun as an instrument for whatever activity particularly associated with it"; e.g. brake, as in "John braked the car."; finger as in "She fingered the soft silk." Other examples: screw, glue, elbow, knife, x-rays and head.
(e) "to be/act as N with respect to…":
1) Verbs from human nouns: e.g. mother as in "She mothered the orphan." Other example: nurse, boss, pilot, referee and usher.
2) Verbs from animal nouns: e.g. parrot as in
"Tom parroted what the boss had said." monkey (to fool about); dog (to follow closely behind); wolf (to eat greedily).
3) Verbs from inanimate nouns: e.g. shadow as in "The police shadowed the suspected spy." (The police followed the suspected spy closely like a shadow.) Other examples: balloon (to swell out like a balloon), flood, ghost (to act as a ghost), mushroom, and snowball (to grow quickly in size or importance).
(f) "to make/change …into N": e.g. cash as in
"Please cash this check for me." damage or weaken seriously), feature (to have a prominent part for), orphan, fool, and group.
(g) "to send/ go by N": e.g. mail as in "Will you please mail the parcel " Other examples: ship, telegraph, and telephone. Or bicycle as in "We bicycled to the Summer Palace." Other examples: motor, boat, ski, etc.
(h) "to spend the period of time denoted by N": e.g. summer as in "We summered in Qingdao." Other examples: holiday, winter, weekend, vacation, etc.
2. Verb----noun conversion: Nouns converted from verbs are not as numerous as verbs converted from nouns, because the English speaking people are inclined to employ derivation by means of de-verbal suffixes (as in arrangement from arrange).
This verb to noun conversion may be subdivided into the following groups, based on A Grammar of Contemporary English by R. Quirk et al.
(a) "state" (generally 'state of mind' or 'state of sensation') e.g. desire as in "He had a desire to be a scientist." Other examples: doubt, disgust,
want, surprise.
(b) "event/ activity" (from dynamic verbs): The converted noun indicate a single instance or occasion. e.g. The noun commute means "an act or instance of commuting" as in "his usual morning commute to work".
Examples
To have a look, swim, ride, try, drink;
To make a dash, dive, guess, search, an attempt;
To take a peep, stroll, turn.
Such expressions are informal and colloquial.
(c) "object or result of V": e.g. find n. "something found, esp. sth. valuable or pleasing" as in "This little restaurant is quite a find." Other examples: catch (of fish), answer, cough, import and reject.
(d) "agent of V": e.g. bore as in "He is a great bore." Other examples: cheat, spy, coach, help and rebel.
(e) " instrument of V": e.g. cover as in "The cloth is good cover for the table." Other examples: cure, wrap and polish.
(f) "place of V": e.g. divide as in "This is the divide between the two rivers." More examples: turn, rise, return and dump.
3. Adjective----verb conversion: Verbs converted from adjectives fall into two groups:
(a) Intransitive verbs meaning "to be, become, the quality denoted by the adjective," such as pale, slim, sour, mellow, dim (out) and idle (away).
(b) Transitive verbs meaning "to cause someone or something to be, become, the quality denoted by the adjective," yet these converted nouns take on only some of the feature of the noun; i.e. they do not take plural and genitive inflections, nor can they be
preceded by determiners like a, this, my, etc. Therefore, such adjective to noun conversion is partial. This partial conversion may be subdivided into following groups:
1) "Adjectives (including participles) denoting a quality or a state common to a group of people may be used without an accompanying noun to denoting such people as a group."
e.g. one can say: a native, two natives, the native's language, and a returned native.
Complete conversion of adjectives to noun is not very productive.
5. Other conversions:
Tom went home early. (n.---ad.)
I will take a through train. (prep.---adj.)
My father was the then president. (ad.---adj.)
The department head pooh-poohed our plan. (interj---v.)
He knows all the ins and outs of the whole business. (ad.---n.)
Is Joan's new baby a he (pron.---n.)
His talk contains too many ifs and buts. (conj.---n.)
She feels very under-the weather. (phrase---adj.)
This book is a must for the students of physics. (aux. v.---n.)
Notice that the above conversion are not very common.
Conclusion
As a subject, word-formation is that branch of lexicology which studies the patterns on which a language, in this case, the English language, coins new words. Compounding, derivation, and conversion are the three major types of word-formation in contemporary English.
Compounding consists of combining two or more words into one which now expresses a single idea and functions as a separate lexical unit. Compounding is the most productive word-forming process in contemporary English. Compounds are classified into noun, adjective, and verb compounds. Each kind is subdivided according to the syntactic relations of the component parts of a compound. Two compounds may be similar in structure, yet the syntactic relations of their elements may be quite different.
The process of derivation or affixation forms new words by the addition of a word element, such as a prefix, suffix or combining form, to an already existing word. Words formed in this way are called derivatives as distinguished from compounds, which are formed by combining separate words. Prefixation and suffixation are the two processes of derivation.
Prefixation is the addition of a prefix to the base. Prefixes modify the meaning of the base, but they do not generally alter its word-class. Every prefix has a specific meaning of its own;
prefixes are therefore classified according to their meaning.
Suffixation refers to the addition of a suffix to the base. Suffixes frequently alter the word-class of the base. Therefore, suffixes are classified according to the class of word they form into noun-forming suffixes, verb-forming suffixes, etc.
Conversion means the transfer of a word from one word-class to another. The converted words are new not in form but in function. By functional shift, an old noun may come to be a new verb. Today the commonest conversions are from nouns into verbs, and from verbs into nouns. In this way old words are rejuvenated. The English language is thus endowed with a fresh vitality, variety, and power.

Questions and Exercises
I. Explain:
1. Word-formation rules.
2. Roots, stem and base.
II. Compounding:
1. What are the relative criteria of a compound
2. Express the following in one compound word:
1) Someone who writes songs;
2) Someone who cleans windows;
3) The race for arms;
4) The train in the morning;
5) A mine for gold;
6) To bathe in the sun;
7) As cheap as dirt;
8) Tanned by the sun.
III. Derivation:
1. What is derivation
2. What is the difference between prefixation and suffixation
IV. Conversion:
1. What is the difference between conversion and suffixation
2. In a conversion pair, how can you determine which of the two is the base and which the derived word
3. Why is the conversion from to noun to verb the most productive process of conversion

Chapter IV Word formation (II)

(The Minor Process of Word-Formation)
Apart from the three major types of word-formation, there are also minor types of word-formation, a number of which have attained some importance in contemporary English.
1. Acronymy----Initialisms and Acronyms
[l8] A. Initialisms[l9] 
Initialism is a type of shortening, using the first letters of words to form a proper name, a technical term, or a phrase; VIP (for a very important person) is likewise pronounced /vi:ai`pi:/.
There are three types of initialisms:
1. The letters represent full words. This is main type. e.g. CIA=the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. ISBN=International Standard Book Number.
2. "The letters represent elements in a compound or just part of a word" (Quirk et al 1972). e.g. (card).
3. A letter represents the complete form of the first (or the first two) word, while the second word (or the third word) is in the full form. e.g.
H-bomb=hydrogen bomb.
B. Acronyms
[l10] Acronyms are the words formed from the initial letters of the name of an organization or a scientific term, etc. Acronyms differ from initialisms in that they are pronounced as words rather than sequences of letters. e.g NATO=the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is pronounced /`neit u/, not /`en`ei`ti:` u/.
UNESCO/ju`nesk u/ the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Both initialisms and acronyms have become extremely popular since World War II, especially within the past few years.
2. Clipping
[l11] The process of clipping involves the deletion of one or more syllables from a word (usually a noun), which is also available in its full form.
e.g. plane from airplane, phone from telephone, gym from gymnastics and taxi from taxicab.
Clippings may be divided into four main types:
A. Back clippings:
The deletion may occur at end of the word. This is the most common type of clipping. e.g. ad (=advertisement), auto (=automobile), etc.
B. Front clippings:
The deletion occurs at the beginning of the word. e.g. chute (=parachute), plane (=airplane), scope (=telescope; microscope).
C. Front and back clippings (not a common type of clipping):
The deletion occurs at both ends of a word. e.g. flu (=influenza), fridge (=refrigerator), etc.
D. Phrase clippings:
This involves the shortening of a phrase. e.g. perm (=permanent wave), pop (=popular music or record), etc.
The above two types of word-formation---acronyms and clipping are processes of shortening. They show a typical characteristic of the vocabulary of contemporary English: the tendency to shorten the English words, reflecting the tense, fast-paced and competitive modern life.
3. Blending
[l12] Blending is a process of word-formation in which a new word is formed by combining the meanings and sounds of two words, one of which is not in its full form or both of which are not in their full forms. e.g. newscast (news+broadcast),
brunch (breakfast+lunch), etc.
Blending is a process of both compounding and abbreviation. Like acronyms, new blends are freely produced in contemporary English. Structurally blends may be divided into four types:
A. The first part of the first word+the last part of the second word. This is most productive type:
e.g. boat+hotel=botel n. ship serving as hotel.
smoke+fog=smog n. fog intensified by smoke.
stagnation+inflation=stagflation n. persistent inflation with high unemployment.
B. The first part of the first word+the first part of the second word:
e.g. communication+satellite=comsat n. communications services involving an artificial satellite.
science+fiction=sci-fi n. of, relating to, or being science fiction.
C. Whole form of the first word+last part of the second word:
e.g. air+hotel=airtel n. hotel located at or close to an airport.
slim+gymnastics=slimnastics n. exercises designed to reduce one's weight.
D. First part of the first word+whole form of the second word:
e.g. medical+care=medicare n. a government program of medical care esp. for the aged.
The frequent use of blends by newspapers and magazines, the coinage of blends for the names of new inventions, and the close relationship of some blends to daily life have contributed to the popularization of this type of word-formation, but only a few have established themselves in the language. Most are short-lived novelties.
4. Back-formation
[l13] Back-formation is a term used to refer to a type of word-formation by which a shorter word is coined by the deletion of a supposed affix from a longer form already present in the language.
e.g. typewrite was formed from the noun typewriter by removing the supposed derivation suffix -er, and the verb edit formed from editor by dropping the suffix -or. Back-formation is therefore a process of shortening, too. The majority of back-formed words are verbs. Back-formation has a long and recognized standing as one of the
Traditional sources of new words.
5. Words From Proper Names
Another minor type of word-formation an Italian, Alessandro Volta; a German, Georg Ohm; and a Frenchman, Andre Ampere. The verb pasteurize comes from the name of Louis Pasteur (1822---1895), the famous French chemist and the father of modern bacteriology.
B. Words from the names of politicians and statesmen
e.g. McCarthyism was derived from the name of a
U.S. Senator J. R. McCarthy (1909---1957), means "policy of hunting out (suspected) Communists and removing them esp. from Government departments". McCarthy was closely associated with this notorious policy.
C. Words from the names of places
e.g. china n. fine semi-transparent or white earthenware, porcelain, originally imported from China; champagne n. a sparkling white wine made in the region of Champagne, France.
D. Words from trademarks
e.g. xerox, xeroxer and xeroxable were all derived
from the trademark---Xerox.
E. Words from literature
e.g. catch-22 means "a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule." which came from the title of a novel (1961) by the American writer Joseph Heller.
6. Reduplication
[l14] Reduplication is a minor type of word-formation by which a compound word is created by the repetition (1) of one word like go-go; (2) of two almost identical words with a change in the vowels
such as pingpong; (3) of two almost identical words with a change in the initial consonants, as in willy-nilly "willingly or unwillingly".
Other zigzag (a line which turns right and left alternatively at sharp angles); fiddle-faddle (trifling matters); yo-yo (a stupid or foolish person); no-no (sth. that is unacceptable or forbidden).
7. Neoclassical Formation
[l15] Neoclassical formation denotes the process by which words are formed from elements derived from Latin and Greek (as in telephone).
The majority of neoclassical formations are scientific and technical.
e.g. astrochemistry n. "the study of chemical composition of heavenly bodies and the regions of outer space".
centisecond n. "one hundredth of a second".
Noeclassical formation plays a prominent role in word-formation today, esp. in creating new scientific terms.
8. Miscellaneous
[l16] Genuine coinage is rare.
An American physicist Murray Gell-Mann coined the word quark as the name of an imaginary particle bearing a charge of electricity.
Some new words are coined by analogy (类推法):
earthquake-----youthquake
air pollution-----environment pollution
handbag-----airbag
sunrise-----earthrise
future shock-----culture shock
nightmare-----daymare
Conclusion
Side by side with the proliferation of polysyllabic compounds and derivations, there is the opposite tendency to use monosyllabic words. These two contrary tendencies operate simultaneously in word-formation in the English language. Hence we have the process of shortening.
Acronyms (including initialisms) and clipping are all processes of shortening words or word groups. Acronymy is a process in which a new word is formed from the first letters of its component words; clipping is a type of shortening to coin a new word by subtracting one or more syllables from a word without change in its word-class. So acronymy and clipping are the opposite of compounding and derivation, where a base is added to another base in the former, and an affix or a combining form is added to the base in the latter. As a result of compounding and derivation,
words become longer and longer in form, whereas by the processes of acronymy and clipping, words are made shorter.
These shortening processes have become increasingly productive in modern English, esp. since the beginning of the 20th century. Initialisms and acronyms are based on the written language. New initialisms and acronyms are coined at an exceedingly rapid rate for the technical terms and the names of organizations. Clippings, although not very numerous, are commonly used in colloquial English. They are space and time saver.
Blending is to make a new word by using a part of two component words (or with one word retaining its full form). Blends are on the rise, too.
Back-formation is also a process of shortening, and plays a significant role in the coinage of verbs and compounds. Proper names have become another source of new words in general use. Neoclassical formation is quite productive in Modern English; it is an important process in creating new scientific terms. Reduplication is not very productive, but when used appropriately, can produce very effective words.
These minor types of word-formation, together with the three major types of word-formation are the means by which new words are created in the English language. Genuine coinages are rare.
A knowledge of word-formation is, therefore, one of the most effective aids to the expanding of one's vocabulary, and is of great value in inferring word-meaning.

Questions and Exercises
I. Explain the following terms and provide examples:
1. Initialism
2. Acronym
3. Blend
4. Front and back clipping
5. Back-formation
6. Reduplication
II. Initialisms and Acronyms:
Tell meaning of the following initialisms and acronyms.
1. ID
2. VIP
3. NASA
4. TOFEL
III. Clippings:
Give clippings for the following:
1. bicycle
2. gymnasium
3. dormitory
4. gasoline
5. kilogram
6. Influenza
IV. Blends:
Explain the formation