Word Formation 1

Structure of this document:

General introduction to why English vocabulary in particular is so quirky.
Why are there so many exceptions in English? Why is its lexicon so full of strange
cases? A bit of History.
Vocabulary, word formation, multiword verbs, etc. English as a problem. Possible
solutions.
What can I do apart from the exercises?
An introductory exercise.
Notes
Negative and reversative suffixes
Pejorative prefixes
Exercise Time!
Keys*
*The Keys do not include the answers or the main exercise: you should send this to your teacher. The solution will
be on PoliformaT

Many students complain that the first two or three years of studying English are easy, its
grammar is quite simple, it doesnt have any of the complicated verb endings of Romance
languages, it doesnt have gender, it has a very simple case system limited to pronouns. But
suddenly they find that they start studying lots of exceptions to rules and lots of problems with
vocabulary and set expressions. In this little introduction we try to explain why that is so and to
suggest some ways to overcome the problem.

Introduction
Why are there so many exceptions in English? Why is its lexicon so full of strange cases? A
bit of History.
When the Anglo-Saxons arrived in Britain with their Germanic language, there was already a
predominantly Celtic population who had interacted with Roman occupiers and incorporated
Latin words. Many of the Latin troops spoke Germanic languages and they too contributed to
the language spoken in Roman Britain. The country was subsequently invaded by Germanic
tribes Angles, Saxons and Jutes and their different Germanic dialects, influenced by the
languages of the original natives of Britain, formed Anglo-Saxon (apart from place names there
are surprisingly few vestiges of Celtic languages in Anglo-Saxon and modern English). Later
there were various invasions by Scandinavian peoples, which influenced the language and
Anglo-Saxon was still receiving Latin words from the Church.

Then, in 1066, the Anglo-Saxon speaking country was invaded by French speaking Normans
and for many centuries French and Anglo-Saxon existed side by side, with the ruling classes
speaking Anglo-French and the conquered people speaking Anglo-Saxon (one consequence,
which you will find in may text books, is that the words for animals like pig, cow are of AngloSaxon origin, while the prepared food is of French origin pork, beef)..
In most European languages, the invention of the printing press eventually led to a process of
standardization of the language. But whereas in countries with absolutist monarchies, like
Spain or France, this gave rise to Language Academies designed to establish rules of correctness
by royal decree, in the case of English it was left to society. The first English equivalent to El
Diccionario de la Real Academia was the result of a capitalist enterprise. Dr. Johnson, one of
the greatest and most reactionary English writers, received 1,500 to compile the dictionary 1.
In the XVIII century there was a general movement towards the standardization of English
grammar and style. Once again, this was characterized by the norms of social taste.
Grammarians began to describe the English language as if it were Latin and a number of rules
were invented that many people today still take very seriously2.
At the same time, England was also in the process of becoming a very successful and ruthless
imperial power and many words from the colonies were incorporated into English (in the same
that patata came into Spanish from South America, while words like calaix or prestatge entered
Catalan from Greek during Catalonias medieval military and commercial incursions into
Greece).
Currently English is a lingua franca so that many non-native speakers use English as the
language of literature, science and technology. This is probably also modifying English and
word formation (for example in the use of nouns to premodify other nouns).
English then is an exceptionally mongrel language, which may explain why there are so many
exceptions to rules and so many strange constraints on how words are collocated or formed. As
a language of Empire, be it British or of the USA, it also aspires to purity as a superior
language.

Vocabulary, word formation, multiword verbs etc. English as a problem. Possible

solutions
Perfecting your vocabulary in a second language is a problem common to all languages: one
French specialist in second language teaching-learning remarked that teachers cant teach
vocabulary, students have to learn it.

You can find out more about Johnsons Dictionary on Wikipedia, for example his definition of a
lexicographer as a harmless drudge. His melancholy Preface to the Dictionary is considered one of the
greatest examples of humanist pessimism in English: it begins lamenting the fact that his task can not
obtain glory and only seek to avoid censure, it ends with the words I have protracted my work till most of
those whom I wished to please have sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty sounds:
I therefore dismiss it with frigid tranquillity, having little to fear or hope from censure or from praise.
2
One of the more amusing rules prohibited the split infinitive. In English the infinitive form is often
marked by to; the XVIII grammarians argued that, in Latin, it was impossible to insert adverbs into the
infinitive (it was only one word in Latin), therefore it was impossible to insert an adverb between to and
the infinitive form. When the television series Star Trek was first shown on the BBC, there was a national
uproar as each episode begins with a split infinitive (To boldly go where no man has gone before). Not
many people at the time noticed that, among the crew of the Starship Enterprise, there were both men and
women, so the use of man was clearly sexist.

The problem is that there are a lot of words in comparison with, for instance, grammar rules.
Moreover, in the case of English, many languages have contributed to its vocabulary at early
stages of its history:
The Anglo-Saxon word for beautiful was loflic, the origin of our Modern English lovely. The
word beauty came into English from Anglo-French , in the 1520s, the Anglo-Saxon suffix ful
was added to this Latinate word to form beautiful (curiously, its use mainly as an adjective for
women or children seems to date back to Classical Latin). The opposite process also occurs so
the Latinate suffix able was added to the Anglo-Saxon word know to form knowable. Later the
Latinate prefix un- was added to form unknowable.
Mixing words of Latin and Anglo-Saxon origin is a stylistic device used by many of the greatest
English writers. It was also especially usual in legal terminology to clarify meanings and many
such doublets have become set expressions Everything went to wrack and ruin, If you
consider it fit and proper; sometimes we find French and Latin doublets I just want a bit
of peace and quiet.
Multiword verbs also form doublets they are usually considered more colloquial than their
Latinate synonyms, e.g. put out a fire vs. extinguish a fire). Multiword verbs did not exist in Old
English and began to be used in Middle English, as a result of changes in basic sentence
structure and the influence of old-Norse (again a mongrel language!). One of the first important
writers to use multiword verbs was Shakespeare, they had previously been considered too
informal for literature; since then, many poets have used them creatively because of their
potential ambiguity and this tradition has continued into modern rock lyrics.
In what follows you will find notes and exercises on word-formation and multiword verbs. They
are by no means an exhaustive study and in the case of suffixes, emphasis is given to suffixes
which are specifically English, as opposed to Latinate suffixes.

What can I do apart from the exercises?

Well, first of all, you can do more exercises; you can find lots of interactive web pages using
Google or other search engines. Similarly there are very good on-line dictionaries and many
web pages devoted to curiosities of English vocabulary.
Dictionaries
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/SearchByQueryLoad.do?method=load
IATE (= Inter-Active Terminology for Europe) is the EU inter-institutional terminology
database. IATE has been used in the EU institutions and agencies since summer 2004 for the
collection, dissemination and shared management of EU-specific terminology. The IATE
web site is administered by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union
http://www.etymonline.com/
An online etymological dictionary, knowing a words etymology can be interesting.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm
An interesting look at interesting words of International English from a British point of view.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
Probably the best online dictionary of modern slang. Some people might find some of the
expressions and explanations offensive.
http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_toc.html

The New Hacker's Dictionary, a really important dictionary of hackerish and techspeak.
Another thing is that these language points are easier to pick up casually than to learn
formally, so the more English you read and listen to, the better.
Finally it is a good idea to compile your own dictionary of words and expressions. Its a good
idea to record both the expression and examples. The more you make your personal dictionary
meaningful for you, the better.
Exercises (just a few of the many that exist)
http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/vocabulary/vocabulary-word_formation.asp
http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/p3pt5a.htm
Word formation for the Cambridge First certificate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/quizzes/quiznet/quiznet_archive.shtml
Lots of quizzes from the Beeb, Auntie or "Auntie Beeb" a.k.a. The BBC.
Before reading the notes and doing the exercises, do this introductory exercise:
Classify the prefixes in the words written in bold type as negative, reversative, degree or
pejorative:
1) I badly misjudged the situation. pejorative
(juzgar errneamente, calcular mal)
2) They are all militant non-smokers. negative
3) They were ridiculously overdressed. degree
(demasiado arreglado, demasiado elegante)
4) She stood firmly against any kind of wrongdoing. pejorative
(a bad or illegal action)
5) Well have to unscrew all the nuts or are they bolts? reversative
(desatornillar, desenroscar)
6) Its important to decentralize decision-taking. reversative
7) The children were obviously undernourished. degree
(not eating enough food to continue to be in good health)
8) Some people have an unfair advantage over others. negative
9) Hes a pseudosocialist, because, besides not believing in free love, he doesnt want to
socialize the means of production. pejorative
10) It can be very painful to wear ill-fitting shoes. pejorative
(ill-fitting clothes do not fit well)
11) They cynically called this process dehousing the German workers. reversative
12) He thought he looked irresistible in his second hand Lacoste sweater. negative
13) Everybody has certain immovable convictions, even Descartes was certain of the
meaning of the word doubt. negative
14) We shouldnt underestimate our blindness to our own fundamentalisms. degree
15) Who are those people working in the field?
Theyre probably the dispossessed reclaiming what is theirs. reversative

(dispossessed people have had their property taken away from them)
16) The article utterly misrepresents the Diggers ideas. pejorative
(tergiversar)
17) He wants to be an archbishop when he grows up. degree
(arzobispo)
18) She was unwilling to accept my apologies. negative
(no dispuesto, reacio)
19) In the course of evolution there have been many cases of asexual reproduction.
negative
20) The book cleverly demystifies his psycholinguistic theory by showing that it is utter
(total, completo) nonsense. reversative, negative
(demystify, to make something easier to understand)
21) Many governments are making ill-judged cuts on their science and technology budgets.
pejorative
(imprudente, desacertado)
22) Although the expression is sexist, Brechts idea of Mans inhumanity to man is
important to bear in mind. negative

Notes
Negative and reversative suffixes
unThe prefix un- is the most productive* negative and reversative prefixes.
It is mainly used with adjectives** and has negative meaning:
unfair, unhappy, uncomfortable, uninteresting, unclear, unwise
It s used with some verbs, mainly verbs that seem Anglo-Saxon***. With verbs its meaning is
reversative:
Undo, unfasten, unzip, undress
It is used with a few abstract nouns with the meaning of lack of (falta de algo):
Untruth, unease (inquietud, malestar, insatisfaccin)
___________________
* It is so productive that native speakers sometimes use it to replace other negative prefixes to
give emphasis to the negative. Thus instead of immoveable, irreparable, irreplaceable, we can
hear unmoveable, unrepairable, unreplaceable (N.B., if you use these forms in an exam they
would probably be considered incorrect).3 The illustration shows Humpty Dumpty wearing the
3

Its productivity was used by the cell phone company Boost Mobile for a controversial advertising
campaign in which people or animals performing disagreeable things say that what theyre doing is not
wrong compared with the hidden fees of other cell phone companies. You can view the least unpleasant of
the ads here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGObGID6Cr4

cravat he received as an unbirthday present from the White King and Queen. From Through the
Looking-Glass, illustration by John Tenniel.
** It is mainly used with gradable4 adjectives (so we cant say *unred, unpossible). Although is
the adjective is a deverbal adjective this restriction does not apply, so we can say unmarried,
unavailable, unpublished. We can also say uncertain.
*** Verbs with a Latin origin usually take de- or dis- as a reversative prefix: disassemble,
disenable, desterilize, dehydrate etc. The only important exception to this Saxon preference of
un- is unmask, but notice that although the word mask came to English from French, it may
have originally had a Germanic origin
deThe prefix de- combines with many verbs and nouns, especially nouns derived from verbs, with
reversative or privative meaning:
reversative: defrost, defreeze, deselect, decentralize, demagnetize, decolonization, dethrone;
debug
privative: decapitate, deforestation
disThe main use of dis- is as a reversative prefix with Latinate verbs or nouns derived from verbs:
disassemble, disconnect, disprove, disproof, disorganization, dissatisfaction, discontent
It is used with a few verbs and adjectives and abstract nouns as a negative prefix, equivalent to
negation of the verb or adjective:
disagree, dislike, disobey; disloyal; disadvantage
It may also be used as a negative prefix with certain lexicalized adjectives:
dishonest, disproportional
Finally it is used with a few nouns as a pejorative prefix meaning faulty or lack of:

- I like a nice ham. Do you think thats wrong? Were just enjoying the flavours of a fallen friend
- True
- Ill tell you whats wrong: a cell phone company that charges hidden fees. Thats why I got Boost
Mobile. Their fifty dollar monthly unlimited plan has no hidden fees
- $50 unlimited nation-wide talk, text web and walkie-talkie. Unoveraged, unlimited, unwrong. Boost
Mobile.
For an interesting linguistic discussion of the companys use of the prefix visit:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1326
4

A gradable adjective allows a comparative form. Thus we can say more ill, but not more dead. This
difference is also important for the meaning of the adverb quite: with gradable adjectives it means high
on a scale, but not the highest, but with non-gradable and extreme adjectives it means completely
(quite ill vs. quite dead, quite angry vs. quite furious.

disinformation, disanalogy.
inThis negative prefix is used with Latinate adjectives:
inaccurate, irresponsible, illegal, impossible
As you can see its spelling varies depending on the initial consonant of the adjective
aThis is a learned prefix is used only with Latinate adjectives (and a few nouns) 5
:
amoral, achromatic, anarchy
nonWith adjectives and nouns this is a negative prefix:
non-commercial, non returnable
It is also used as a negative prefix with nouns, sometimes meaning absence of or not having the
characteristics of
non-stop, non-profit, non-person
-less
The negative suffix less transforms nouns into verbs with the meaning lack of:
useless, selfless, helpless, speechless, managerless
It is sometimes presented as the opposite of ful, thus useful is the opposite of useless. However
less is far more productive, we cant really consider *managerful a word, although it could be
a humorous coinage. Moreover a word may use less as a negative suffix, but use a suffix other
than -ful as a positive suffix (selfless and selfish and sometimes the idea expressed by the
negative suffix is different to that of the positive affix, thus helpless means unable to receive
help while helpful means willing to give help

Pejorative prefixes
malThis prefix indicates wrong or wrongly, or badly:
malnutrition, malware

There was an Old English affix a-, which was related to the preposition on and indicated a temporary
state. It is now unproductive but is still found in some words afloat, asleep, afraid, away. It is popular
with school kids because of the joke -When is a door not a door? When its ajar.

Malfunction Junction

mismistext
A text message containing information (usually
unflattering or damaging) about a third party which
is sent to the individual it concerns rather than the
person for whom the communication is intended.
Text written for secret lover is inadvertently sent to
partner, making it a mistext:
"On my way home, partner name suspicious, don't
call."
http://www.urbandictionary.com/

This prefix indicates the same idea as mal-. It can used more freely with Saxon words:
mistake, misfire, mistreat, mislead

illThis is used mainly in formal English with nouns and adjectives and means bad or badly:
ill-behaved, ill-fated, ill-health
pseudoThis prefix is used with nouns and adjectives with the meaning of false, imitation, fake.

dysThis is a very formal prefix used with words of Latin and Greek origin and meaning bad/badly
dystopia, dystopic, dysfunctional, dysacusis

Prefixes of degree
overThis prefix indicates excessive or excessively:
Overeating, overdress, overestimate, overweight, overcharge, overtake

Adam and Eve a bit overdressed

underThis prefix indicates too little, insufficient, insufficiently:
undernourished, underestimate, underprivileged
archThis prefix means supreme or most. It sometimes has a pejorative sense. It sounds old fashioned
and, if used with new words, it can sound humorous:
archbishop, archbishopric, arch-fiend, arch-enemy, Arch-Ex-Friend
outThis prefix is used with nouns and verbs with the meaning of surpassing, more than, better
than, longer than (in the sense of time):
outnumbered, outstay (your welcome), outlast (its use), outclass, outgrow, outwit

Exercise time!
1) When I get down after a hard days work I really need to unwind (wind). relajarse
2) I really dislike (like) being beaten up.

3) After reading Wittgensteins Tractatus I was lost for words, it left me quite speechless
(speech) sin palabras
4) People from England usually think that people in the posh parts of Valencia are
overdressed (dressed).
5) I used to be like Harry Houdini, now Im the invisible (visible) man.
6) She showed her discontent (content) by punching me in the face. descontento
7) The verb defenestrate (fenestrate) means to throw out of a window and to uninstall
software from a Microsoft operating system, usually in frustration.
8) I see that I have been misinformed (inform).
9) Its not clear whether David Hume was a(n) atheist (theist) or a(n) agnostic.
10) A stylish Real Sociedad side clearly outclassed (class) a clumsy (torpe, manazas, patoso)
Real Madrid
11) Even the most sophisticated machinery sometimes malfunctions (function).
12) Oscar was said The English country gentleman galloping after a fox--the unspeakable
(speakable) in full pursuit of the uneatable (eatable).
13) On a more positive note, Joan Fuster said that we are all unrepeatable (repeatable).
14) He was an ugly, ill-mannered (mannered) brute.
15) The undeveloped (developed) countries have been systematically underdeveloped
(developed).
16) After a night at the casino I was quite penniless (penny).
17) Humpty Dumpty resoned that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might
get unbirthday (birthday) presents, that is of course without counting leap years.
18) It really is time that we defrosted (frost) the fridge.
19) Many parts of the world are suffering severe deforestation (forestation).
20) Rachel Corrie practiced non-violent (violent) resistance. After her death a play based on her
writings was cancelled by the director of a New York theatre in an attempt to turn her into a
non-person (person) like the people she was defending.
21) The family has a lot of problems and is clearly dysfunctional (functional).
22) Its cruel to maltreat/mistreat (treat) animals.
23) She carefully unwrapped (wrap) the present.
24) As they were yawning so much, I thought I might have outstayed/overstayed (stay)
welcome.
25) They hate each other: theyre arch-enemies (enemies)6.
26) Anns really exhausted shes been badly overworked (work) and they pay a miserable wage
shes badly underpaid (paid).

Keys
Introductory exercise
1) mis- pejorative 2) non- negative 3)over- degree 4) wrong- pejorative 5) un- (here)
reversative 6) de- reversative 7) under- degree 8) un- (here) negative 9) pseudopejorative 10) ill- pejorative 11) de- - reversative 12) in- negative 13) in- negative 14)
under- degree 15) dis- reversative 16) mis- pejorative 17) arch- degree 18) un- (here)
negative 19) a- negative 20) de- reversative/ non- negative 21) ill- pejorative 22) innegative
6

Theyre something similar to ex-best friends.

Unwronged transcript
- I like a nice ham. Do you think thats wrong? Were just enjoying the flavours of a
fallen friend.
- True
-Ill tell you whats wrong a cell phone company that charges hidden fees. Thats why I
got Boost Mobile. Their fifty dollar monthly unlimited plan has no hidden fees.
- $50 unlimited nation-wide talk, text web and walkie-talkie. Unoveraged, unlimited,
unwrong. Boost Mobile
Exercise time!
1)

When I get down after a hard days work I really need to unwind.

2) I really dislike being beaten up.

3) After reading Wittgensteins Tractatus I was lost for words, it left me quite speechless.
4) People from England usually think that people in the posh parts of Valencia are
overdressed.
5) I used to be like Harry Houdini, now Im the invisible man.
6) She showed her discontent by punching me in the face.
7) The verb defenestrate means to throw out of a window and to uninstall software from
a Microsoft operating system, usually in frustration.
8) I see that I have been misinformed.
9) Its not clear whether David Hume was an atheist or an agnostic.
10) A stylish Real Sociedad side clearly outclassed a clumsy Real Madrid
11) Even the most sophisticated machinery sometimes malfunctions.
12) Oscar was said The English country gentleman galloping after a fox--the unspeakable in
full pursuit of the uneatable.
13) On a more positive note, Joan Fuster said that we are all unrepeatable.
14) He was an ugly, ill-mannered brute.
15) The undeveloped countries have been systematically underdeveloped.
16) After a night at the casino I was quite penniless.
17) Humpty Dumpty resoned that there are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might
get unbirthday presents, that is of course without counting leap years.
18) It really is time that we defrosted the fridge.
19) Many parts of the world are suffering severe deforestation.
20) Rachel Corrie practiced non-violent resistance. After her death a play based on her writings
was cancelled by the director of a New York theatre in an attempt to turn her into a nonperson like the people she was defending.
21) The family has a lot of problems and is clearly dysfunctional.
22) Its cruel to mistreat animals.
23) She carefully unwrapped the present.
24) As they were yawning so much, I thought I might have outstayed/overstayed welcome.
25) They hate each other: theyre archenemies 7.
7

Theyre something similar to ex-best friends.

26) Anns really exhausted shes been badly overworked and they pay a miserable wage shes
badly underpaid.