第5章　构词法

Study questions

1What is the difference between etymology and entomology?

Key: (1) Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words.

(2) Entomology, on the other hand, is the study of insects.

2Which of the following pairs contains an example of calques? How would you describe the other(s)?

(a) footobooru (Japanese) – football l(English)

(b) tréing (Hungarian) – training (English)

(c) luna de miel (Spanish “moon of honey”) – honeymoon (English)

(d) jardin d’enfants (French “garden of children”) – Kindergarten (German ‘children garden’)

Key: (c) and (d) are examples of calques; (c) and (d) are borrowings.

Calque is a type of borrowing in which each element of a word is translated into the borrowing language.

3Can you identify the different word-formation processes involved in producing each of the underlined words in these sentences?

(a) Don’t you ever worry that you might get AIDS?

(b) Do you have a xerox machine?

(c) That’s really fandamntastic!

(d) Shiel still parties every Saturday night.

(e) These news kateboards from Zee Designs are kickass.

(f) When I’m ill, I want to see a doc, not a vet.

(g) The house next door was burgled when I was babysitting the Smiths’ children.

(h) I like this old sofa – it’s nice and comfy.

Key:

4Identify the prefixes and suffixes used in these words: misfortune, terrorism, carelessness, disagreement, ineffective, unfaithful, prepackaged, biodegradable, reincarnation, decentralization

Key: Prefixes: mis-, dis-, in-, re-, un-, pre-, bio-, de-;

Suffixes: -ism, -less, -ness, -ment, -ive, -ful, -ed, -able, -tion

5In Kamhmu, the word sal means “to put an ornament in the ear.” What would be the word for “an ear ornament”?

Key: Srnal

6More than one process was involved in the creation of the forms underlined in these sentences. Can you identify the processes involved in each case?

(a) Are you still using that old car-phone?

(b) Can you FedEx the books to me today?

(c) Police have reported an increase in carjackings in recent months.

(d) Welcome, everyone, to karaokenight at Cathy’s Bar and Grill!

(e) Jeeves, could you tell the maid to be sure to hoover the bedroom carpet?

(f) Would you prefer a decaf?

Key: (a) car-phone: clipping (from telephone) plus compounding

(b) FedEx: blending (from Federal Express) plus conversion (noun → verb)

(c) carjackings: blending (car + hijack) plus conversion (verb → noun)

(d) karaokenight: borrowing (from Japanese karaoke) plus compounding

(e) hoover: eponym (from William Hoover) plus conversion (noun → verb)

(f) decaf: clipping (from decaffeinated coffee) plus blending

Tasks

A. What are ‘initialisms’? Were there any examples in this chapter?

Key: Initialisms are a type of abbreviation. They are often confused with acronyms because they are made up of letters, so they look similar, but they can’t be pronounced as words. FBI and CIA are examples of initialisms because they’re made up of the first letters of Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency, respectively, but they can’t be pronounced as words. NASA, on the other hand, is an acronym because even though it is also made up of the first letters of the department name (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), it is pronounced as a word, NASA, and not by spelling out the letters N, A, S, A.

B. Who invented the term ‘portmanteau words’? How many examples were included in this chapter?

Key: The standard linguistic term for this type of word is a blend. It was Lewis Carroll in Through The Looking Glass who coined the word portmanteau to describe them. In the book Humpty Dumpty explains that: “Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’. ‘Lithe’ is the same word as ‘active’. You see, it’s like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed into one word.” Among several other words Carroll created chortle (a combination of ‘chuckle’ and ‘snort’) and galumph ( a combination of ‘gallop’ and ‘triumph’).

So, a portmanteau or blend word is one derived by combining portions of two or more separate words. Interestingly, portmanteau itself is a blend word, originating from the French portemanteau, a compound formed from porter (to carry) and manteau (cloak).

Or：

A portmanteau word is formed out of parts of other words. Oxbridge is made up from parts of the names of Oxford and Cambridge and refers to either of the two universities. ‘Swatch’ is a portmanteau word formed from Swiss watch, ‘brunch’ is formed from Breakfast and lunch.

A ‘chocoholic’ has a problem with chocolate that is like the addiction of an alcoholic. Portmanteau words offer a quick way of forming new words that are easily understood by virtually everybody.

Examples in this chapter: gasohol, smog, smaze, smurk, bit, brunch, motel, telecast, Chunnel, telethon, infotainment, simulcast, Franglais, Spanglish, telex, modem.

C. Using a dictionary with etymological information, identify which of the following words are borrowings and from which languages they were borrowed. Are any of them eponyms?

assassin, clone, cockroach, denim, diesel, horde, kayak, kiosk, nickname, penguin, robot, shampoo, sherry, slogan, snoop, taboo, tea, tomato, umbrella, voodoo S/No.& Word& Etymology&

Key: Etymologies

assassin: Arabic (hashishin)

clone: Greek (klón)

cockroach: Spanish (cucaracha)

denim: French (serge de Nîmes)

diesel: German (Rudolf Diesel)

nickname: Old English (an eke name)

robot: Czech (robota)

shampoo: Hindi (champo)

slogan: Gaelic (sluaghghairm)

snoop: Dutch (snoepen)

tomato: Nahuatl (tomatl)

umbrella: Italian (ombrello)

The word ‘nickname’ is not a borrowing.

The words ‘denim’ (from a place) and ‘diesel’ (from a person) are eponyms.

F. When Hmong speakers (from Laos and Vietnam) settled in the USA, they had to create some new words for the different objects and experiences they encountered. Using the following translations (provided by Bruce Downing and Judy Fuller), can you work out the English equivalents of the Hmong expressions listed below?

Key: Hmong compounds

chaw (‘place’) kho (‘fix’) mob (‘sickness’) = ‘hospital’

chaw (‘place’) nres (‘stand’) tsheb (‘vehicle’) = ‘parking lot’

chaw (‘place’) zaum (‘sit’) tos (‘wait’) = ‘waiting room’

dav (‘bird’) hlau (‘iron’) = ‘airplane’

hnab (‘bag’) looj (‘cover’) tes (‘hand’) = ‘glove’

kev (‘way’) cai (‘right’) = ‘law’

kev (‘way’) kho (‘fix’) mob (‘sickness’) = ‘medical treatment’

kev (‘way’) nqaj (‘rail’) hlau (‘iron’) = ‘railway’

kws (‘expert’) hlau (‘iron’) = ‘blacksmith’

kws (‘expert’) kho (‘fix’) hniav (‘teeth’) = ‘dentist’

kws (‘expert’) ntaus (‘hit’) ntawv (‘paper’) = ‘typist’

kws (‘expert’) ntoo (‘wood’) = ‘carpenter’

kws (‘expert’) kho (‘fix’) tsheb (‘vehicle’) = ‘mechanic’

kws (‘expert’) tshuaj (‘medicine’) = ‘doctor’

tsheb (‘vehicle’) nqaj (‘rail’) hlau (‘iron’) = ‘train’

daim (‘flat’) ntawv (‘paper’) muas (‘buy’) tshuaj (‘medicine’) = ‘prescription’