4a05 le truong my loc word formation in english and vietnamese
TRANSCRIPT
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 0
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
WORD FORMATION IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
Instructor : Nguyen Ngoc Vu
Student : Le Truong My Loc
HCMC, 30/12/2008
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 1
ABSTRACT
Language is obviously a vital tool. We use language to serve our demands and activities in every
minute, every second such as communicating, studying, and trading. Language is one of the key
factors, which helps us to improve our life. However, to be frank, language is something very
vague, not concrete and unspecific. What we use every day in every field of life is our words -
more precise and specific than language. No matter language we are speakingmother tongue or
any foreign languages, words we are using come from what we have been heard, seen or taught
before. As a result, we use them instinctively. In fact, everything has its origin. And words do,
too. Every noun, verb, adjective or adverb we use to make up sentences in our speech has its own
ways from which they were formed. As a Vietnamese student, a learner of English and a teacher-
to-be of English, I find that there are some similarities and differences between word formation
in Vietnamese and English. Correspondingly, I do this research and I hope that it will make my
readers clear about all the similarities and differences of word formation in English and
Vietnamese so that they can avoid making mistakes in their translation between these two
languages.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Words are among the most important and powerful things in the universe. No matter
where we are, what we do, people have to use words to communicate every day. According to
many assumptions, words are rule-governed. Every word we use has its own formation which is
based on a particular way. Similarly, English and Vietnamese have their own ways of forming
words. According to many researches of this kind, there are some similarities and differences of
word formation in English and Vietnamese.
What is a word? As for the Longman dictionary, a word is simply a smallest unit of
language that people can understand if it is said or written on its own. This is just a very simple
definition of a word. However, a word has its own more academic definition. That is a word is a
unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked
more or less tightly together, and has a phonetic value (Wikipedia). According to this definition,
words in English or Vietnamese are formed from morphemes. To some extends, it seems likely
that word formation in English and Vietnamese are alike. In Nguyen Luong Ngocs research, she
supposes there are two kinds of morphemes in English and Vietnamese words: free morphemes
and bound morphemes. Free morphemes can occur alone, form words by themselves and are
found in the central place of word structure. Bound morphemes can not occur by themselves.
However, there are some differences between bound morphemes in English and Vietnamese. In
English, bound morphemes cannot appear alone as separate words and they are prefixes likepre-,
in-, un-, and suffixes like ly, -s, -able, etc.. Meanwhile, bound morphemes in Vietnamese
cannot occur alone but they are separate words and can function as either compounding or
reduplicative elements. As a result, words in English can be formed by one free morpheme only,
such as picture, book, film, cinema, or can be a combination of one free morpheme and two or
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 3
more bound morphemes like readable, unluckily, etc. Words in Vietnamese can consist of one
single morpheme such as my, xe, nh, ca or two free morphemes like nh my, my in ton,
two or more bound morphemes, for example, thi s, quc k, ra-i-, one free and one bound
morpheme such as lm, xanh l.
In short, although both English and Vietnamese words are formed by morphemes, word
structures in these two languages are completely different. In English, in some cases we can add
prefixes or suffixes, which are considered bound morphemes, into a word to form a new word
having the relation of meaning of the origin word, but we cannot do this in Vietnamese cases. In
Vietnamese, when we want to form a new word having the relationship with the origin word, for
most of the cases we have to add another separate word.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 4
Word Formation in English
English word structure consists of two places: one central place, which is obligatory and
considered the basic part- the root, and some peripheral places which are optional. Many English
words originated from Latin, which uses prefixes and suffixes quite extensively. Therefore, most
of English words are formed by adding prefixes or suffixes. In fact, there are three processes by
which new words in English are formed. They are affixation, compounding, conversion and
other devices such as reduplication, clipping, blending and acronyms.
Affixation
Affixation is the morphological process whereby an affix is attached to a root (SIL
International).
Let us look at some following examples: meaningfulorinability. We find that these two
words are composed by putting together smaller elements to form larger words with more
complex meaning. Obviously, the word meaningful can be analyzed as a combination of the
root noun meaning and the ending ful. Or, the word inability can be analyzed as being
derived from the adjective able by the attachment of the two elements in- and ity. Using
Latin-influenced terminology, -fulority is called suffix and in- is called prefix. Affix is used to
refer either a prefix or a suffix. Even the words prefix, suffix and affix are all formed from fix
by the use of prefixes (u Ottawa):
ad- + fix(attached) = affix
pre- + fix (attached)= prefix
sub- + fix (attached) = suffix
For this reason, a prefix is a type of affix which is attached to the base so that it can
modify or change the meaning of the base. Generally, prefixes do not alter the word class of a
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 5
base and are normally written together at the beginning of a base to form a new single word.
There are many groups of prefixes according to their own meaning, e.g. negative prefixes,
reversible prefixes, pejorative prefixes, prefixes of degree and size, prefixes of attitude, prefixes
of time and order, number prefixes and conversion prefixes (see Appendix).
Another type of affix is suffixes. In contrast with prefixes, a suffix is placed after the base
of a word. Suffixes normally can alter the word class of the base. There are two types of suffixes:
inflectional suffixes which carry grammatical information such as s, -ed, -ingand derivational
suffixes which carry lexical information like ly, -ize, -ess. Like prefixes, suffixes can be
grouped into four categories according to the word class. They are noun suffixes, verb suffixes,
adjective suffixes and adverb suffixes (see Appendix).
With the help of affixation, people can form more and more new words, which has
diversified the treasure of English words.
Compounding
The second process to form a new word in English is compounding. A compound word is
made up of two or more words that together express a single idea. In English, words are
combined into compound structures in a variety of ways.
There are three types of compounds. A solid or closed compound consists of two words
that are written together as one word, for example, childlike, softball, secondhand. A hyphenated
compound has words connected with a hyphen, e.g. brother-in-law, two-year-old, mass-produced.
An open compound consists of words that are written separately such as post office, middle class.
In term of function, compounds are classified as permanent or temporary. A permanent
compound is accepted in ordinary usage and can be found in the dictionary, e.g. workshop,
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 6
fieldwork, whereas a temporary compound is once created for a specific purpose in a particular
context (The American Heritage Book of English Usage).
Based on the word class, compound words can be categorized into three sections:
compound nouns, compound verbs and compound adjectives. Compound nouns are words which
have two parts: the second part identifies the person or the object, the first part tells us what type
of person or subject is or what its purpose is. In addition, the first part must modify or describe
the second part. For example, in the word police man, the first part is police which give
information about the type of the person and the second part is man. Compound nouns often
have a different meaning from the two separate words (edufind.com). There are some ways form
compound nouns:
Patterns Examples
noun + verb haircut, waterfall
noun + adverb hanger-on, passer-by
verb + noun pickpocket
verb + verb make-believe, make-do
verb + adverb press down, runaway
adjective + noun fast-food, new generation
adverb + noun overkill, over king
Compound nouns can be countable, uncountable, singular or plural (see some common
compound nouns in Appendix).
Compound adjectives are made up of two or more words, usually written with hyphen
between them to avoid ambiguity and confusion. For example, it is incorrect to write: The black
and blue mark suggested that he had been involved in an altercation . To be correct, we should
rewrite: The black-and-blue mark suggested that he had been involved in an altercation.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 7
However, in some cases, we do not use hyphen in a compound adjective when the adjectives are
capitalized and when they are a part of a title like in th is example, His book was entitled,
Gender Neutral Language in English Usage,and it revolutionized the way people think about
sex roles. In brief, compound adjectives are often written with hyphens when they are used in
front of nouns and without hyphens when they are used as the complement of a link verb.
Ex: It was free-and-easy relationship.
This book is out of date.
Some common patterns to make compound adjectives are:
Patterns Examples
adjective + noun_ed red-haired, old-fashioned, fair-skinned, absent-minded
adjective + past participle low-paid, high-bred, little-known
adjective + present participle good-looking, beautiful-sounding, easy-going
noun + adjective nation-wide, noteworthy, duty-free
noun + present participle time-consuming, breath-taking
noun + past participle heart-broken, handmade
adverb + past participle outspoken, ill-equipped, well-behaved
adverb + present participle high-sounding, low-flying, well-becoming
There are also some groups of compound adjectives like compound qualitative adjectives,
compound classifying adjectives, and compound color adjectives (see Appendix).
Compound verbs consist of two or more words and they are usually written with hyphens.
Sometimes we often misunderstand between compound verbs and phrasal verbs. So how to
recognize the differences between these two types of verb? Obviously, if we can insert an object
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 8
between the two words, then it is a phrasal verb, otherwise it is a compound verb. For example,
we can say pick something up but we cannot say spoon something feed. Therefore, pick up is a
phrasal verb and spoon feed is a compound verb. Another difference is that the last word of a
phrasal verb is a preposition; meanwhile, it is a verb or a noun for a compound verb. Some
patterns of compound verb formation are:
Patterns Examples
noun + verb sky-dive, spoon-feed, water-ski, baby-sit, tape-record, window-shop
verb + noun do-time, dry-salt
verb + verb kick-start
adjective + verb double-book, dry-clean, ill-treat
adverb + verb overbook, overdo, undergo
Conversion
So far, we have known two ways of forming a new word in English by linking bases and
bases or linking bases and affixes. However, there are some ways to form a new word without
adding or linking. That is conversion.
Conversion zero derivation- is the creation of a word from an existing word without
any change in form (Wikipedia). For instance, we can turn nouns into verbs without adding
anything into the base. Take this for an example, water is a noun, but we can use it as a verb with
the meaning provide water.
In English, conversion is fairly used.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 9
Other devices: reduplication, clipping, blending
Reduplication is the use of a repeated sound segment in a lexeme (The phrase finder), e.g.
chock-a-block, chit-chat, mumbo jumbo. It plays a small role in English word formation.
Clipping is the abbreviation of a word, and it is a mark of informal language. For
example, instead of saying pantaloons we can use pants, or taxi for taximeter, phone for
telephone.
Blending is the use of a word formed from parts of two other words. For example, smog
is the word formed from two words smoke and frog. There are some methods for forming blends.
The first is the beginning of one word is added to the end of other.
Ex: broccoli + cauliflower broccoflower
Breakfast + lunch brunch
Education + entertainment edutainment
Another way, we can combine the beginning of the two words.
Ex: cybernetic + organism cyborg
Word Formation in Vietnamese
Words in Vietnamese are single units and the largest units in the language system. In
contrast with English, words in Vietnamese are not formed by adding affixes but there are three
methods of word formation: conversion, compounding, and reduplication.
Conversion
According to professor Do Huu Chau, conversion is the method used to change the
meaning of a word without changing its form. The new word and the original word have the
same spelling and pronunciation but they have completely different meaning.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 10
The method conversion happens based on the two basic methods: metaphor and
metonymy. Let us take the word leg (chn) for example. The original meaning is a part of a
body. However, we can use the word chn to refer to other meanings such as the position in
an organization (c chn trong ban gim hiu), or a job of a person (chn th k). Another
example, we can use some words which means the state of fruit like non, gi, chn to
imply the degree of measurements such as non mt cn, gi mt cn, orsuy ngh cn non,
suy ngh gi dn.
In short, by conversion, the form of a word remains but the meaning has been changed
through metaphor and metonymy.
Compounding
Another method of word formation in Vietnamese is compounding. Compared to English,
compounding in Vietnamese and English are similar to some extends.
Compound words are made up from two or more single words, which have relationship
of meaning. There are two types of compound words in Vietnamese: coordinated compound
words (tghp ng lp) and principal-and-accessory compound words (t ghp chnh ph).
Coordinated compound words are words in which components have equal meanings. For
example, n and are the two words which have the meaning when they are alone, and
they have equal meaning to some extends. Therefore, when we compound these two words, we
have a new word n . Principal-and-accessory compound words are words in which one
component depends on another component. The accessory component has the role of modifying
the principal component. Let us take tu ha for example. Ha is the accessory component
which tells us the function of this machine.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 11
Similar to English words, compound words in Vietnamese are also divided into three
groups according to word class: compound nouns, compound verbs, and compound adjectives.
As you know, Vietnam used to be dominated by Chinese. Therefore, Vietnamese
language has been influenced by Chinese. For this reason, compound nouns in Vietnamese are
mostly created based on Chinese words. Compound nouns can be two Han-Viet words which are
in the same category and the meanings of the two words are interdependent.
Ex: t tng (t: ngh, tng: ngh ngi)
y phc (y: o, phc: trang phc)
Compound nouns in Vietnamese can consist of two or more Han-Viet words, in which one word
has the main meaning and others modify the main component.
Ex: n nhn (nhnis the major word, n is the modifier fornhn)
hng khng mu hm (hm is the major word, mu is the modifier for
hm, and hng khng is the modifier formu hm)
Not only are Han-Viet words used in noun compounding, Nm can be used. Therefore,
compound nouns can be made up from two Nm words to have a new word which has a general
meaning, e.g. qun o, bt da, nh ca, rung vn. Another way of forming compound nouns
is to combine one noun and one idiomatic phrase, such as phng gi o ti cm, kry y
mai , bn mi quc cu vinh(Vn phm Vit Nam 1992).
Another type of compound words is compound adjectives. Like compound nouns,
compound adjectives are mostly formed by the same methods. Here are some patterns
Patterns Examples
Han-Viet + Han-Viet anh hng, thanh nh, chnh trc, lch duyt
Han-Viet (major) + Han-Viet (minor) i quc, hiu ha
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 12
Han-Viet (minor) + Han-Viet (major) v l, phi ngha, bt hiu
Nm + Nm
(equal meaning)
Ti tt, m du, khe mnh
Han-Viet idiomatic phrases (thi ) mc h v nhn
Nm idiomatic phrases (cu ni) hng tm hng c
nouns (t tng) quc gia, (hot ng) vn ha
verbs (t tng) tin b, (hnh ng)phn bi
(Bi c Tnh 1992: 87-89)
Vietnamese compound verbs has no exception, they are influenced by Chinese words.
Here are some common patterns by which compound verbs are formed:
Patterns Examples
Han-Viet + Han-Viet khch l, quan st
Han-Viet adjective/ noun + ha gin d ha, qun sha, n l ha
Nm verb + Nm verb bun bn, thng yu, n , n ung
Nm verb (major) + Nm verb (minor) nh la, ni thch, n xin
verb + noun nh bc, hnh ti, bit n
verb + adjective lm giu, lm kiu
verb + adverb vo trong, i ra, n ngoi
verb phrase Ni i ni li, dn i dn li
nouns Cbc, ru ch
adjectives Ln, ngc
idiomatic phrases Ging ng kch ty, ry y mai
(Bi c Tnh 1992: 98-100)
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 13
In brief, compounding is totally different from conversion. The conversion just impacts
on one words, whereas the compounding impacts on the two words so that we have a new word
which has not been existed before.
Reduplication
Reduplication in Vietnamese is somehow similar to reduplication in English. This
method impacts on one component and produces minor component. There is a relationship
between the root component and the minor component. The combination of these two words is
called reduplicative word.
According to the information of the Net Ngon Ngu website, the length of reduplicative
words is two words for minimum and four words for maximum. There are types of reduplication
words. In the first type, the two components are completely the same, such as ba ba, co
co, khng khng. The second type is the reduplication of the rhythm. The components of
the two words are totally similar, but the rhythm is different, e.g o , phi phi, thoang
thong. The last one reduplicates the rhyme. In this type, the first rhyme or the second rhyme of
the two components is repeated, e.g. cm cp, hm hp.
By reduplication, new words which have never been existed before are formed.
Reduplicative words are used in literature and music at most.
Common Errors
Because we are native Vietnamese people and we are learners of English, making errors
when transforming our ideas in native language into foreign language is common and obvious.
The most common error we meet is using wrong words, although we have been clear about the
word formation of each language.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 14
Errors with nouns
Firstly, Vietnamese students have problems with nouns when they translate from
Vietnamese to English and vice versa. When the Vietnamese students study English nouns, they
tend to focus on the lexical meaning of the nouns and they ignore their potential grammatical
meaning, such as count nouns, non-count nouns, singular or plural nouns. Besides, the
occurrence of English nouns and determiners is obligatory, whereas that of Vietnamese is
optional. Therefore, Vietnamese students tend to produce nouns alone, without any determiners.
For instance, in Vietnamese we say Ti mun bnh and Vietnamese students translate this
sentence into English like this I want cake (instead ofI want a cake), or another example,
in Vietnamese: Con ch ang sa, in English sentence of Vietnamese students: Dog is
sparking. (instead of The dog is sparking.). More seriously, they may also misunderstand
and using wrong determiners for nouns. For example, they tend to use many for money
(instead of much money), or much for people (instead of many people) . Another mistake
is that, the Vietnamese learners may place English nouns in wrong position. Some students will
say a house new in English to express their thinking mt ngi nh mi. Similarly, when
Vietnamese students translate from English to Vietnamese, they also face some problems. They
cannot find the equivalent determiners in Vietnamese. Let us take these comparisons as example:
English Vietnamese
book sch
a book mt sch
five books nm sch
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 15
Moreover, some English nouns are considered to be count but they turn into non-count nouns in
Vietnamese and vice versa. For instance, nouns of animals, fruits, trees are count nouns in
English but non-count nouns in Vietnamese. Some nouns are countable in Vietnamese but
uncountable in English, for example, work, news, advice, thought, and hope. In
Vietnamese, it is grammatically right to say mt li khuyn hay mt tin tc. However, it is
completely wrong if we say one advice or one news.
Errors with adjectives
The second error that Vietnamese learners of English often face is about adjectives. The
function of adjectives in English and Vietnamese is sometimes different. In Vietnamese,
adjectives can occur alone to become the subject of a sentence, but it is not grammatically right
in English cases. In Vietnamese, it is safe to say Bun ru c hi cho sc khe. However, this
sentence Sad is harmful for health cannot be found in English. More importantly, it is very
dangerous if Vietnamese students translate word by word for cases of adjectives. For example,
we say Hc sinh ny rt thng minh v chm ch orC ca sny ht hay and they will
translate these sentences into English: This student very intelligent and studious, This singer
sings beautiful (instead of writing This student is very intelligent and studious, This singer
sings beautifully). Translating word by word is completely harmful in negative forms. In
Vietnamese language, we put negators, such as khng, cha, chng after the verb. For
example, we can say C y khng p orC y ca khng hay. As a habit, they will rewrite
these sentences: She not beautiful or She sings not beautiful. Another error that we should
pay attention to is comparative and superlative. In English, we have to attach suffixerinto the
base and Vietnamese learners may forget to attach these suffixes.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 16
Errors with verbs
Both Vietnamese and English verbs share the same function in the sentence. However,
Vietnamese verbs have more freedom than English verbs. Vietnamese verbs are not governed by
auxiliary and modal verbs. In English we have to pay attention to suffixes such as s, -ed, -ing
and in Vietnamese language we are free to say. For example, we can say C y khng i hc
but we cannot say She not go to school, which is completely wrong. In the cases of tense
aspect, Vietnamese language allows to use modifying words such as , s, which is
quite different from English language. Besides, some verbs in English require prepositions to go
with, whereas in Vietnamese we do not need. For example, in Vietnamese it is common to say
Ti th sch, Ti nghe i. However, if Vietnamese students transform these sentences
word by word into English like I am scared dogs or I listen the radio, it is totally wrong and
confused. In some cases, both English and Vietnamese verbs can be the subject of a sentence.
Vietnamese verbs can be placed in the subject position without changing their forms. But it is
incorrect if we remain the base of verbs in English. For instance, Nghe nhc l sthch ca ti,
this sentence is very grammatical in Vietnamese, but if we translate it into English Listen to
music is my hobby, it has no sense of grammar.
All in all, Vietnamese and English are completely different in the way of using forms of
word. To use English successfully, we have to master the word formation in English carefully
and the way to use it.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 17
CONCLUSION
English and Vietnamese are the two different cultures. For this reason, the word
formation of English and Vietnamese are not the same at all. In general there are some
similarities between word formations of these two languages; however, there are still some
differences. The most invisible difference between English and Vietnamese is that English can
be formed by adding affix, meanwhile this situation cannot be found in Vietnamese. Most of
words in English and Vietnamese words are formed by compounding, conversion (more in
Vietnamese), and reduplication. To master a language, a learner must acknowledge how the new
words are formed and how they are used in sentence.
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 18
REFERENCES CITED
(1996). The American Heritage Book of English Usage. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Bi c Tnh. (1991). ng t. Vn phm Vit Nam (98-100). Vietnam: Hochiminh City.
Bi c Tnh. (1991). Tnh t. Vn phm Vit Nam (87-9). Vietnam: Hochiminh City.
Compound Adjectives. Nov 19, 2008, fromhttp://www.sohoavn.com.
Conversion.Nov 19, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.
Hu Chu. (2004). Gio trnh tvng hc Ting Vit. Vietnam: University of Education.
Nguyn Lng Ngc. (1997).A Contrastive Study of Vietnamese and English. India
Nouns. Nov 19, 2008, fromhttp://www.edufind.com.
Reduplication. Dec 20, 2008, fromhttp://www.phrases.org.uk.
Word Formation.Nov 19, 2008, fromhttp://www.arts.uottawa.ca.
Word. Oct 29, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.
http://www.sohoavn.com/http://www.sohoavn.com/http://www.sohoavn.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://www.edufind.com/http://www.edufind.com/http://www.edufind.com/http://www.phrases.org.uk/http://www.phrases.org.uk/http://www.phrases.org.uk/http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/http://www.phrases.org.uk/http://www.edufind.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.http://www.sohoavn.com/ -
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APPENDIX
PREFIXES
1. Negative Prefixes un- unfair, unadorned non- non-confomist, non-existence in- invisible, illogical a(n)- amoral, atheist dis- disloyal, disobey
2. Reversible Prefixes un- undo, undress, unhorse de- defrost, depoliticize dis- discouraging, disheartened, disinterested
3. Pejorative Prefixes
mis- mishear, misconduct, misleading, misrepresentation
mal- maltreat, malformed, malfunction pseudo- pseudo-scientific, pseudo-classicism
4. Prefixes of Degree and Size arch- archduke, archenemy super- supermarket, superman out- outlive, outdo, outrun sur- surcharge sub- subnormal, substandard over-/ under- overdo, undertook
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 20
hyper-/ ultra- hypersensitive mini-/ macro-/ micro- microwave
5. Prefixes of Attitude co- cooperative, co-director counter- counter-espionage, counter-attack anti-/ pro- anti-nuclear, anti-democracy
6. Locative Prefixes super- superstructure,
sub- subway, subconscious, subdivide
inter- international, intermarry, interweave, interplay trans- transatlantic, transplant
7. Prefixes of Time and Order fore- foretell, foreman, forewarn pre-/ post- pre-historical, pre-marital ex- ex-minister, ex-wife, ex-husband re- rebuild, relocation, re-eligible
8. Number Prefixes uni-/ mono- monosyllable, unilateral bi-/ di- dichotomy, bifocal multi-/ poly-/ pluri- multiracial
9. Conversion Prefixes be- bewigged, bewitch, bedazzle, befriend en-/ em- endanger, empower
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Word Formation in English and Vietnamese 21
a- afloatSUFFIXES
A. NOUN SUFFIXES1. Occupational Suffixes
-eer engineer -ster gangster, gamester, trickster -er Londoner, banker
2. Diminution and Feminine Suffixes -let booklet, owlet, piglet -ette cigarette, kitchenette -ess countess, hostess -y Johnny, daddy, pussy
3. Status, Domain Suffixes -hood boyhood, brotherhood, falsehood, likelihood -ship friendship, companionship -dom, -ocracy, -ery, -ry seldom
4. Quantity Suffixes -ful handful, spoonful
5. Noun/ Adjective Suffixes
-ite Israelite, Raphaelite
-(i)an Shakespearian, Elizabethan -ese Japanese, Chinese -ist novelist, violinist, typist
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-ism Communism, Imperialism6. De-verbal Suffixes
-er worker, onlooker, drinker -ant inhabitant, occupant -ation operation, exploration -ment arrangement, argument -al approval, refusal -ing swimming, shopping, living, painting
-age package, shortage, peerage
-ee trainee, employee7. De-adjectival Suffixes
-ness: goodness, happiness, selfishness -ity/ -able/ -ible/ -al readable, readability, sentimental, sentimentality
B. VERB SUFFIXES -ify certify, indentify -ize scandalize, organize -en blacken, widen, sadden
C. ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES -able readable, drinkable -al chemical, criminal, special -ful beautiful, plentiful -ed blue-eyed, odd-shaped -en wooden, leaden
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-ic Germanic, specific -ish foolish, boyish, snobbish -less helpless, hopeless -like childlike
D. ADVERB SUFFIXES -ly happily, freely, instantly -wards onwards, eastwards
COMPOUND NOUNS
1. Countable Compound Nounsaddress book
air conditioner
air-raid
baby-sitter
bank-account
brother-in-law
bus-stop
heart attack
high school
human being
letter-box
passer-by
pen-friend
polar bear
police station
2. Uncountable Compound NounsBritish control
Central heating
Common sense
Dry-cleaning
Family planning
Fancy dress
Fast-food
Income tax
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Lost property
Mail order
Make up
Old age
Remote control
Social security
First aid
Water-skiing
3. Singular Compound Nounscost of living
fire brigade
generation gap
human race
mother-tongue
public sector
solar system
welfare state
4. Plural Compound Nounsarmed forces
civil rights
high heels
human rights
luxury goods
road works
social services
winter sports
yellow pages
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COMPOUND ADJECTIVES
1. Compound Qualitative Adjectivesabsent minded
easy-going
low-paid
nice-looking
old fashion
open-minded
second class
starry-eyed
tender-hearted
well-behaved
well-dressed
well-known
2. Compound Classifying Adjectivesaudio-visual
brand-new
built-up
deep-sea
duty-free
long-distance
made-up
north-east
one-way
second-hand
tax-free
top-secret
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3. Compound Color Adjectivesblood-red
bottle-green
nut-brown
royal-blue
sky-blue
snow-white