linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either: * the processes through which words can change (i.e.

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

), or * the creation of new

lexemes A lexeme () is a unit of lexical meaning that underlies a set of words that are related through inflection. It is a basic abstract unit of meaning, a unit of morphological analysis in linguistics that roughly corresponds to a set of forms taken ...

in a particular language

Morphological

A common method of word formation is the attachment of inflectional or derivational affixes.

Derivation

Examples include: * the words ''governor'', ''government'', ''governable'', ''misgovern'', ''ex-governor'', and ''ungovernable'' are all derived from the base word ''(to) govern''

Inflection

Inflection is modifying a word for the purpose of fitting it into the grammatical structure of a sentence. For example: * ''manages'' and ''managed'' are inflected from the base word ''(to) manage'' * ''worked'' is inflected from the verb ''(to) work'' * ''talks'', ''talked'', and ''talking'' are inflected from the base ''(to) talk''

Nonmorphological

Abbreviation

Examples includes: * ''etc.'' from et caetera

Acronyms & Initialisms

An acronym is a word formed from the first letters of other words. For example: * ''

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

'' is the acronym for ''National Aeronautics and Space Administration * '' IJAL'' (pronounced /aidʒæl/) is the acronym for ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' Acronyms are usually written entirely in capital letters, though some words originating as acronyms, like ''

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

'', are now treated as common nouns. Initialisms are similar to acronyms, but where the letters are pronounced as a series of letters. For example: * '' ATM'' for ''Automated Teller Machine'' * ''

SIA Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...

'' for ''Singapore International Airlines''

Back-formation

In linguistics, back-formation is the process of forming a new word by removing actual affixes, or parts of the word that is re-analyzed as an affix, from other words to create a base. Examples include: * the verb ''headhunt'' is a back-formation of ''headhunter'' * the verb ''edit'' is formed from the noun ''editor'' * the word ''televise'' is a back-formation of ''television'' The process is motivated by

analogy Analogy (from Greek ''analogia'', "proportion", from ''ana-'' "upon, according to" lso "against", "anew"+ ''logos'' "ratio" lso "word, speech, reckoning" is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject ( ...

: ''edit'' is to ''editor'' as ''act'' is to ''actor''. This process leads to a lot of

denominal verbs In grammar, denominal verbs are verbs derived from nouns. Many languages have regular morphological indicators to create denominal verbs. English English examples are ''to school'', from ''school'', meaning to instruct; ''to shelve'', from ''she ...

. The

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

of back-formation is limited, with the most productive forms of back-formation being hypocoristics.

Blending

A lexical blend is a complex word typically made of two word fragments. For example: * ''smog'' is a blend of ''smoke'' and ''fog'' * ''brunch'' is a blend of ''breakfast'' and ''lunch''. * ''stagflation'' is a blend of ''stagnation'' and ''inflation'' * ''chunnel'' is a blend of ''channel'' and ''tunnel'', referring to the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...

Although blending is listed under the Nonmorphological heading, there are debates as to how far blending is a matter of morphology.

Compounding

Compounding is the processing of combining two bases, where each base may be a fully-fledged word. For example: * ''desktop'' is formed by combining ''desk'' and ''top'' * ''railway'' is formed by combining ''rail'' and ''way'' * ''firefighter'' is formed by combining ''fire'' and ''fighter'' Compounding is a topic relevant to syntax, semantics, and morphology.

Word formation vs. Semantic change

There are processes for forming new dictionary items which are not considered under the umbrella of word formation. One specific example is

semantic change Semantic change (also semantic shift, semantic progression, semantic development, or semantic drift) is a form of language change regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from ...

, which is a change in a single word's meaning. The boundary between word formation and semantic change can be difficult to define as a new use of an old word can be seen as a new word derived from an old one and identical to it in form.