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endocentric (Gr. ένδο- = in, within; /ˈɛnðɒ/): rightmost element generally determines meaning & word class, unless a preposition is the right-hand morpheme, as in e.g. breakdown; meaning is transparent from the parts.
exocentric (Gr. έξω- = out, outside; /ˈɛksɒ/): rightmost element doesn’t determine meaning; combination is opaque, i.e results in a complete ‘redefinition of meaning’ of the individual elements for the resulting word form, as in e.g. walkman, paperback.
copulative: two equally important elements are co-ordinated to create a composite meaning, as in e.g. actor-manager; result shares properties of both original meanings.
Endocentric compounds can be sub-divided into two different categories, those where the first element specifies a particular quality, instrument or ‘producer’ of the second element (e.g. olive oil = ‘oil made from olives’), or those where the first element specifies a particular usage or ‘recipient’ or purpose (e.g. baby oil = ‘oil made for babies’). Further examples are blackbird (noun+noun), spoonfeed (noun+verb) or nationwide (noun+adjective/adverb).
Analyse the compounds listed in the box below in terms of their composition, i.e. according to original and resulting word classes, as well as type or sub-type, as applicable.
Also try to explain their exact meaning & how they may have come into existence.
As before, if you don’t know a particular word, look it up.
Save your results.
Backformation is a process in which an existing, or sometimes only presumed, suffix is ‘removed’ in order to change the word class. It thus involves a (presumed) shortening of an original word, which may itself have been the process of an earlier shortening word-formation process. Examples for the removal of genuine existing suffixes would be (to) babysit←babysitter (‘someone who sits and keeps an eye on the baby’), (Am. En.) (to) housekeep←housekeeper (‘someone who keeps the house in order’), both originally derived from complex noun phrases, or mass-produce←mass production, derived from a compound. Instances that involve the deletion of presumed suffixes, because the endings are seen as analogous to existing suffixes, such as the -{er} or -{or} suffix that creates agentive nouns, are (to) edit←editor, (to) word process←word processor, (to) beg←beggar.
Although backformation is a still a productive process – as we can see in the relatively recent coinage of (to) word process –, it’s important to understand that not all such ‘coinages’ may be generally acceptable, so it may be best to check and see whether an assumed backformation actually exists before using it, especially in more formal writing, and that, in some cases, we have the same problem as with zero-derivations, in that it may be difficult to see which form may have existed first.
The two processes of clipping and blending are very similar word-formation processes. Clipping is achieved by reducing a polysyllabic word to a monosyllabic one, as in lab←la.bo.ra.tory/la.bo.ra.to.ry (1←4 or 5, depending on pronunciation), gym←gym.na.si.um (1←4) or flu←in.flu.en.za (1←4). It thus only affects single word forms.
Blending, on the other hand, is similar to compounding in the sense that parts of two existing word forms are combined. Both of the original word forms undergo a reduction process similar to clipping, only that the remaining parts may be significantly shorter than whole syllables (e.g. brunch←breakfast + lunch, sometimes as short as a single letter that is not equal to a syllable (e.g. in blog←web + log). Some parts may also be shared by both words, and it then becomes impossible to say which word form contributed the element (e.g. smog←smoke + fog).
Acronyms are words that are formed by taking individual letters – usually, but not always the initials – from multiple words and combining them into a new word, generally in all upper-case (capital) letters. Examples for commonly known acronyms are: NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), UNO (United Nations Organization), WHO (World Health Organization), IMF (International Monetary Fund), HTML
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