1. The subject of Lexicology and the main lexicological problems

12. Word formation .Conversion.
Word-formation is the system of derivative types of words and the process of creating new words from material, available in the language after certain structural and semantic formulas and patterns. A distinction is made between two principal types of word-formation: word-derivation and word-composition. The basic ways of forming words in word derivation are affixation and conversion. Affixation is the formation of a new word with the help of affixes (f.e. heartless; overdo). Conversion is the formation of a new word by bringing a stem of this word into a different formal paradigm (f.e. a private, to paper). The basic form of the original and the basic form of the derived words are homonymous.
Conversion is one of the principal ways of forming words in Modern English. It is highly productive in replenishing the English word-stock with new words. Conversion consists in making a new word from some existing word by changing the category of a part of speech; the morphemic shape of the original word remains unchanged (f.e. paper – to paper).
The new word acquires a meaning, which differs from that of the original one but it can be easily associated with it. The converted word acquires also a new paradigm and a new syntactical function which are peculiar to its new category as a part of speech.
Among the main varieties of conversion are: 1 – verbalization (f.e. the verb to ape from the noun ape); 2 – substantivation (f.e. the noun a private from the adj. private); 3 – adjectivation (f.e. the adj. down from the adverb down); 4 - adverbalization (f.e. the adverb home from the noun home);
The 2 categories of parts of speech especially affected by conversion are nouns and verbs. Verbs made from nouns are the most numerous among the words produced by conversion. (f.e. to eye, to monkey). Nouns are frequently made from verbs. Verbs can also be made from adjectives. (f.e. to yellow). Other parts of speech are not entirely unsusceptible to conversion (f.e. to down, to out). In case of polysemantic words one and the same member of a conversion pair may belong to several groups.