Content:

Affixations:

 Prefixation
 Suffixation
 compounding
 conversion

Word-shortening
 clipping
 blending
 backformation
 acronymy

Regional varieties of English language

 accent
 dialect
 creoles
 pidgin
 mutual intelligibility
 different regional varieties of English

Temporal varieties
 borrowing
 reasons of borrowing
 direct and indirect borrowing
 calques

Functional speech varieties: Registers

 field
 jargon
 tenor
 mode

Social Speech Varieties: Sociolects

 Affixation-
Prefixation – is the foundation of words by means of adding a prefix to the stem (main word)
The prefixes are borrowed from Greek and Latin languages. The vast majority of prefixes in English never
change the word class of the base (they are class- maintaining).

1. As I said only some of them change the word class and they are:From verb to adv
a- ( on) aboard, adrift, amend, arise, asleep, awake for instance: sleep-verb=asleep-adv

From noun to verb-

Be (cause to become x) - befriend, bewitch, besiege

En – (em – in ) {turn/put into x)– embody, imprison endanger

En- ( make X)- enable, enlarge, ensure.

For instance: friend-noun=befriend-verb; witch-noun=bewitch-verb

2. Class – maintaining prefixes in English

2.1.a. negative
A (not X)- alogical, amoral, atypical abnormal
Dis (not X)- disorganized, discomfortable, dishonest, disadvantage
in- inaccurate, inactive, inadequate
non (not X)- nonmember, nonsense, nonsmoker, nonstop
un (not X)- unfair, unhappy, unkind, unhelpful, unwise
2.1.b. reversal
De (remove X)- decode, dehumanize, decentralize
Dis (opposite of X)- disagree, disconnect, disarm,
Un (opposite of X)- uncover, unmask, unroll
2.1.c. disparaging
Mal (badly X)- maladjust, malfunction, malnutrition
Mis(badly, wrongly X)- mishear, mislead, misread, mismanage
Pseudo (falsely X)- pseudoclassical, pseudointellectual
2.2 Prefixes of orientation in English
Anti(against X)- antiaircraft, antipollution,
Auto (self X)- autobiography, automobile, autosuggestion
Contra(opposite of X)- contrabass, contraindicate, contraflow
Counter(against of X)- counterattack, counterbalance
Pro (for X)- pro-albanian, pro- europian, Pronoun
2.3 Prefixes of time and space
Ante(before X)-antedate, antenatal, antechamber
Co(X with)-co-appear, co-author, co-pilot, co-write
Ex (former X)- ex-husband, ex-pilot, ex-president-
Exra (out of X)- extraordinary, extramarital
Fore (before X)- forearm, foreleg, forename, forward
Hyper(beyond, over X)- hyperactive, hyperextend
Hypo(under X)- hypogene, hypotension, hypotonic
Inter(between X)- international, interview, interweave
Intra(within X)- intramolecular, intranationl, intracellular
Neo(new X)- neoclassical, neofasict
Out(exceed X)- outbox, output, outside
Over(excessivdely X)- overbook, overcome, overreal
Pal (ancient X)- paleo-indian, palaeoclimate, palaeobiological
Pan(all X)- pan-african, pan-america, pan-slavism
Pos(afer, behid X)t- postmodernism, postdate,
Pre (before X)- prehistory, premarital, premature, preschool
Proto (first X)- proto-germanic, protoplasm, protozoa
Re (X again)- react, rebuild, recycle, redo
Sub(under X)- subconscious, subnormal sublanguage
Super (above, beyond X)- superman, superstar, supercharge
Sur(over X)- surpass, surprise, surreal
Tele (distance X)- telefax, telemarketing,
Trans (across X)- transatlantic, transnational, transpiant
Ultra (beyond, extreme X)- ultramodern, ultrasound,
Under (under X)-understimate, undercharge, underplay
Vice(in place of X)- vice-president, vise-chancellor
2.4 Number and size prefixes in English
Arch (chief X)- archenemy, archduke
Bi(two X)- biannual, bicycle, bilingual, biceps
Demi(half X)- demi-pension, demirep
Di (two X)- digraph, dioxide
Mega (great X)- megabyte, megadeath, megalomania
mini(very small X)- minibus, minicomputer, minidisc, minigolf
mono(only one X)- monodrama, monoblock
multi(much/many X)- multibuy, multicullture
poly (much/many X)- polyclinic, polymorph, polygon
semi(half X) - semicircle, semicolon, semitone
tri(three X’s)- triangle, tricolor, tricycle,
uni(one X)- uniface, uniform, unipolar,

Suffixation- the process of word formation/ a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem
of a word
Unlike English prefixes, which were generally class-maintaining, English suffixes are generally
class- changing.
 As I said, only some are class maintaining and those are:
……… pg 150-156
Compounding- are two or more words that stand by itself. It is very productive way of
formation. E.g room-mate, sunglasses, bathroom.

The properties of compounds- the stress in the first element; tense and plural never attached to the first
element

Types of compounds-

endocentric compound- the head in the center / the element in the right that identifies the class of the
word, eg. Airfield – ‘a field where airplanes land’; hairbrush-‘a brush for hair.’

Exocentric compound- it means head is outside / the opposite of endocentric / - cut-throat –‘a
murderer or a violent criminal’, lazybones-lazy person.

Copulative’ compounds – two words that are both important by itself / so both of the heads are
important, e.g. Austro – Hungary; black and white; Bosnia and Herzegovina; boyfriend.

Appositional compounds- two heads that act simultaneously, eg. North-west, woman-doctor,
manservant.

Neo-classical compounds- have their suffixes and prefixes in Greek or Latin languages-

Bio- biography, biology, biotechnology

Agri- agriculture, agrobiology, agronomy.

Tele- telephone, telescope, television

crat: aristocrat, autocrat, democrat, eurocrat

Reduplicative compound- words whose bases have been repeated in part or in their entirety are called
reduplicative compound / the same root twice eg. Bye-bye, knock-knock, ding-ding

Fully- repeated bases: bye-bye, knock-knock

Rhyme motivated bases: Black-jack, flower-power

Ablaut motivated bases: ding-dong, dilly-dally.

Conversion – is a process of word-formation, changing the grammatical class with no adding

prefixes or suffixes. It is very productive process, e.g. stab the man with the knife- knife the man

Conversion has three restrictions:

a. You cannot use conversion with one morpheme

 b. You cannot create a new word by using the already existing word
c. You cannot create time expressions

Sources are old English and borrowing from French language

Types of conversion:

a. Between class conversion – conversion words between the major classes (nouns, verbs)
Bottle- to bottle
Catalogue- to catalogue
b. Within class conversion- within the same class

A cake-some cake

A pencil-some pencil

c. From minor to major conversion – from preposition to noun

She has used an (an)n where should be a (the)n

d. From major to minor

e. Full partial conversion-
f. Marginal conversion- when the stress shifts

Word-shortening –
The action or process of making or becoming short specifically: the dropping of the latter part of a word
so as to produce a new and shorter word of the same meaning: clipping, blending, acronym and
backformation.

Clipping- is a word formation were a long word is shortened to one or more syllables without changing
its meaning or word class. There are three kinds of clipping:

Back-clipping- when the end of the word is clipped: auto-automobile; exam-examination, extra-
extraordinary, mac-macintosh, ref-referee.

Fore-clipping-when the front of the word is clipped: beth-Elizabeth, bus-omnibus, plane-airplane,

varisity-university etc.

And both-end-clipping- when only the middle word is preserved like: fridge-refridgerator, liz-elizabeth,
script-prescription- tec-detective etc.

Another form of clipping is irregular clipping that forming a way that it sound like the original word for
instance: Aussie-Australian, betty-Elizabeth, bill-William, bike-bicycle, fries-french-fries potatoes, mike-
microphone etc.
Blending- is a process of word formation when a word is formed from parts of two or more other
words /mixing everything eg: Oxbridge- oxford+Cambridge, heliport-helicopter+airport, motel-
motor+hotel etc

Blending or compounding- it is like a borderline between blending, clipping and compounding. Examples
of this is English are below:

Medicare- medical-care, phys-ed- physical education

Slanguage- slang+language etc

Backformation- is a process that creates a new word by removing an affix ,like: babysit-baby-sitting,
housekeep-housekeeper, televise-television, typewrite-typewriter etc.

Acronymy- is a process by taking the initial letters of (some or all) the words in a phrase or title and
reading them as a word, eg: WHO- world health organization, us-united states, UK-united kingdom, GB-
great Britain, etc.

Regional Varieties
Accent- phonetic features - pronunciation

Dialect - part of dialect – syntax, phonetic, morphological it has all the grammatical features

We have gegnisht and toskerisht

We in Kosovo talk gegnish psh qike, qysh,

mutual intelligibility- the line or the board when the same language is not understood in other country
so the language is not mutual intelligibility

idiolect ˈɪdiəlekt - is the language that the family uses or one particular individual

uja- for water

regional varieties- british, American, African, Australian and Indian

Peagons- lingua franca- two people who one is African the other Japanese

creole- a language which is not their native language but speaks the language perfectly

___________________________________

registers- are the adjustments of the speech that we do according to whom we talk and the features of
this are:

field- that is the topic that we communicate

tenor- the relationship that you have with the speaker ,

mode-the way we talk in face to face or in the written form

body language, gestures and articulated signs, letters, drums – the communication in the past

pc, phones- the communication nowadays

Q. which is easier: writing or speaking? Your opinion.

The professor: writing is more difficult than speaking- you cannot write “and” “and” but writing you
cannot use explicit vocabulary, punctuation rules,

Carefully for what you are saying

You should not use empty words

05/12

What is a Calque?

Calque are borrowings that are translated part by part into another language, without any formal
resemblance:

En principe- in principle

Sans ceremonie- without ceremony.

What is a jargon?

Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is
normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that
context. The context is usually a particular occupation (that is, a certain trade, profession, vernacular, or
academic field), but any ingroup can have jargon. The main trait that distinguishes jargon from the rest
of a language is special vocabulary—including some words specific to it, and often different senses or
meanings of words, that outgroups would tend to take in another sense—therefore misunderstanding
that communication attempt.

E.g. police jargon:

Suspect- a person whom the police think may have committed a crime

Code eight – the officer needs an immediate help

10-4 radio jargon that means Okay or I understand

What is diglossia?
Diglossia - from Greek language that means “a state of being bilingual.” It is a situation in which a
community uses two different languages or varieties of a language for different situations.

Low variety - in family, with friends. It does not need to learn a grammar

High variety- - a formal one, which is used in school and has grammar…

An example of this is in the state of Italy.

What is a code-switching?

Some people are monolingual (are able to speak only one language) some are bilingual or multilingual
and speak more language.

Bilingual or multilingual people sometimes switch back and forth between two or more different
languages. This is called code-switching. E.g. this happens to the immigrant families: an Albanian family
moves from Kosovo to Swiss and the children grow up speaking Albanian as their native language but
they learn French outside of their home. When the children of that family speak with their sibling, they
might code switch between Albanian and French “eja- viens” etc.

Sociolects
Language varieties spoken by a class or a group of people who share a particular social characteristic are
called sociolects.

Slang: “spoken, non-standard informal language variety associated with various, often highly localized
subgroups within a society”

Slang vs jargon: although slang has much in common with jargon they differ in so far as slang is used in
spoken, colloquial, non-technical environments, whereas jargon is typically found in written, formal and
technical language use.

This is why , they say, one generation’s slang is another generation’s standard vocabulary.

e.g. cool- fashionably impressive

dig- understand etc.