Language Change Terminology

Question	Answer
Affixation	The addition of bound morphemes to an existing word. e.g., bird → birds e.g. 'UNacceptABILITY'
Conversion	A word that changes its word class without adding a suffix e.g. Text (noun and verb)
Acronym	A word made up from the initial letters of a phrase e.g. RADAR
Clipping	A new word produced by shortening an existing word. e.g. Edit
Blend	Two words fusing to make a new word e.g. Smog (smoke & fog)
Prefix	Addition of a bound morpheme to the beginning of a root word e.g. mega
Back formation	The removal of an imagined affix from an existing word e.g. Editor became edit
Initialism	Word made from initial letters each being pronounced e.g. CD
Suffix	Addition of a bound morpheme to the end of a root word e.g. Radical (ising)
Compound	Combining of separate words to create a new word e.g. Manflu

Resource summary

	Created by Libby Shaw about 9 years ago