英语词汇学知识点总结

Word-formation

Word-formation or word-building is that branch of lexicology which studies the patterns on which a language, in this case, the English language, coins new words.

Percentage of new words coined by the different word-formation processes after World War The three major processes of word formation:

Composition or Compounding

Definition : Compounding is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to form a new unit, a compound word. Compounding is the most productive word-formation process in contemporary English.

Identity crisis 个性危机 stand-up collar 竖领

hit-and-run tactics 打了就跑的战术 spoon-feed 填鸭式灌输， 娇养 糊里糊涂 muddle-headed/minded 笨嘴笨舌 heavy-tongued

无忧无虑 carefree 饱经风霜weather-beaten/worn

令人心碎 heart-breaking 半死不活dead-alive/dead-and-alive 不合时宜 ill-timed/badly-timed 批量生产 mass-produce

Compounds are very often used because of their brevity and vividness. For example,

A schoolboy is more concise than “a boy attending school ”;

“U p-to-the-minute information ” is more vivid than “the latest information” ;

“The old man would sit for hours, thinking sadly of all the might-have-beens ” is more compact and expressive than “„thinking sadly of the desirable things that could have happened in the past. ”

The relative criteria of a compound word

Orthographic criterion(书写标准) : Compounds are written in three ways, e.g.

solid: airmail ;

hyphenated: air-conditioning ; open: air force, air raid.

Phonological criterion(语音标准) :

Compound accent: a single stress on the first element; or a main stress on the first element and a secondary stress on the second element. E.g. 'blackboard, 'blue ‘ bottle (a large buzzing fly with blue body)

Normal phrase accent : a secondary stress on the first element and a main stress on the second element. E.g. ‘ blue 'bottle (a bottle which is blue)

Semantic criterion(语义标准) : A compound is a combination forming a unit expressing

a single idea. The lexical meaning of the components are closely joined together to create a compound with a meaning which one can easily recognize, e.g. backdoor, sunset, workday. However, the meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts, e.g. dog days, flatfoot ( a policeman), greenhouse, greenback (美钞) ，green-hand(生手), greenroom（演员休息室）, mother wit（天生的智力）, Indian paper（字典纸）. More examples: home letters(家信), home voyage（归程）, home life（家庭生活）, home affairs（家庭事务），home bird（不爱外出的人）, home economics（家政学）, home front（大后方）, home games（在本地举行的比赛）, home help（家务女佣）, homemaker（主妇）, home plate

（棒球的本垒打）, home sickness（思家病）. Word order:

A flower pot (花盆) a pot flower (盆花) tiptoe(脚尖) deaf-mute （聋哑者） Some of them were influenced by French: court martial(军事法庭) ; president elect（当选总统）; ambassador designate（尚未上任的大使）

Classification of compounds

Compounds can be classified according to parts of speech of the compounds.

noun compounds : airplane , flower pot

adjective compounds: weather-beaten , snowwhite verb compounds: proof-read, baby-sit

proposition compounds: notwithstanding, alongside of conjunction compounds: whenever ,whereas pronoun compounds: another , myself

The three commonest types are noun compounds, adjective compounds, and verb compounds.

noun compounds

• Noun + noun

rainwater 雨水; springwater 泉水; houseplants 室内植物;fireball 火球 ; firecracker 鞭炮 ; spacecraft/spaceship 太空船；spacesuits 太空服；mousemat ； 鼠标垫 Dream Team；bar code 条形码； lip service 口头上说得好听的话； information highway 信息高速公路； science fiction 科幻小说； sugar cane 甘蔗；gaslight 煤气灯；

• Noun + verb

daybreak 拂晓； nightfall 夜幕降临；sunset/sunrise 日落， earthquake 地震；

landslip/landslide (山体滑坡) ； headache toothache ；stomachache ；heartbeat drumbeat ； footbeat 脚步节拍 ； wingbeat 翅翼振动 ； window-dress 布置橱窗； water-supply 自来水 ； snowfall 降雪量； toothpick 牙签； haircut ； pickpocket ； scarecrow 稻草人 ( scare the crow)

• V erb + noun

cry baby (爱哭的婴儿) ； playboy (花花公子) ；glowworm (发光虫) ； watch-dog (看家狗), swearword（骂人话）, breakwater（防波提）, driveway（车道）, jump suit（伞兵跳伞服，连衣裤工作服）；rattle snake(响尾蛇)

• V erb + adv / prep

changeover (转变进程) ； setback (挫折) ； breakdown (崩溃) ， show-off(炫耀), slip-up（疏忽，不幸事故）, put-off（推迟，搪塞）, follow-up（连续广告法）sit-in, dropout, breakdown, walk-on, walkout, setback, take-off

• Adjective + noun

clear-way(超速道路), easy-chair, deadline, hard disk, soft disk，red tape(官样文章)

• adverb + noun

under-clothes(内衣), after-effect（后效，副作用）, upgrade（升级）, overburden

• V+ing + noun

chewing gum(口香糖), baking powder（发酵粉）, reading lamp（台灯）, lodging house（分间出租供人休息用的房屋），leading article(社论), working party（作业队）

• Adverb + verb

outlet(出口), upset（颠覆）, downfall（垮台，陷落）, upstart（暴发户）, onflow（滚滚向前）

adjective compounds

• Pre-modifier VS. Post-modifier ( describe a noun phrase or restrict its meaning in

some way) • Compound modifiers, because of their expressiveness and brevity, are used quite flexibly

in current English, especially in journalistic writings.

• noun + adjective

• skin-hungry, power-hungry, news-hungry, career-hungry (急于成名的) , bloodthirsty • duty-free, tax-free, fat-free, toll-free, maintenance-free, dust-free, interest-free, care-free,

ice-free, danger-free, nuclear-weapon-free • • • • • • • • • •

water-proof, fire-proof, bullet-proof, rain-proof, bomb-proof, vibration-proof air-sick, seasick, car-sick, home-sick, heartsick (沮丧的) user-friendly, reader-friendly profit-conscious,time-conscious, class-conscious, environment-conscious, security-conscious

slap-happy(被打得晕头转向的) boxer ， trigger-happy (嗜杀成性的)gangster ， travel-happy(对旅游入迷的)

accident-prone, crisis-prone (危机四伏的) ，error-prone,

air-tight(不透气的) ，water-tight, light-tight(不透光的), rain-tight

work-shy(不愿工作的) ，camera-shy(怕上镜头的) ， publicity-shy (不愿出头露面的) color-blind, night-blind

blood-weary (厌战的) ，travel-weary(旅途劳累的)

• stone-deaf, skin-deep, snow-white, ice-cold, knee-deep, paper-thin, mirror-bright,

feather-light, fire-hot, crystal-clear, waist-high, shoulder-high, life-long, grass-green, dog-tired, threadbare（穿旧的）

• college-bound/preparatory (准备考大学的) ，labor-short (缺乏劳动力的) ，top-heavy(头

重脚轻的) ，penny-wise(小事聪明的) ， oven-fresh (刚出炉的) line-dry(一晾就干的) ，world-famous

• adjective + adjective

wet-cold, icy-cold, red-hot, white-hot, bitter-sweet, deaf-mute, shabby-genteel(穷酸的) ，dead-alive(半死不活的) ，dark-blue, deep-blue, light-blue, pale-blue, bright-red, bloody-red, yellow-green, yellowish-green，social-political

• V+ing + adjective

steaming-hot/smoking-hot (滚烫的，热气腾腾的) ，soaking-wet/wringing-wet(湿淋淋的，湿得可拧出水来的) ，biting-cold/freezing-cold (冷得刺骨的，冰冷的)

• Adverb/Prep + adjective

ever-victorious (战无不胜的) ，over-cautious, all-round (全面的) ， far-reaching (深远的，广泛的) ，evergreen (tree), wide-awake (机警的) ，over-sensitive, over-anxious, under-ripe (不成熟的) ，too-rapid

• noun +V+ing

peace-loving, time/space/energy/labor-saving, time-consuming, summer-flowering(夏季开花

的), ocean-going (远洋的) ， fault-finding, record-breaking, heart-breaking, hair-raising, side-splitting (令人捧腹的) ，thirst-quenching (解渴的) ，man-eating

• noun + V+ed

heart-felt(衷心的), air-born（空降的，空运的）, home-made, travel-worn（旅行得疲乏的）, hen-pecked, book-filled, poverty-stricken, weather-beaten, thunder-struck, suntanned

• adjective/adverb + V+ing

fresh-frozen(速冻的), easy-going(随和的), familiar-sounding (听起来熟悉的) ，hard-working, ever-lasting (永恒的)

• adjective/adverb + V+ed

newly-developed, well-balanced, far-fetched (牵强附会的) ，half-baked(烤得半生不熟的，肤浅的), hard-won (来之不易的) ，quick-frozen (速冻的), new-laid (eggs), so-called, fresh-caught, newly-built, well-informed, well-organized

• noun + Noun+ed

hot-tempered(急性子的) ，chicken-hearted (胆怯的，软弱的) ，honey-mouthed, paper-backed (平装本的) ， eagle-eyed(目光尖锐地)

• adjective/adv. + Noun+ed

short-sighted, tender-hearted, sweet-hearted(性情温和的), green-fingered(擅长园艺的) ，open-handed, single-handed, bald-headed, empty-headed, hot-headed, kind-hearted, light-hearted, whole/half-hearted, absent-minded, narrow/broad-minded, double-faced, straight-faced, blue-eyed, muddle-minded/headed (糊里糊涂) , commercially-minded, heavy-tongued (笨嘴笨舌的) ，middle-aged, cold-blooded, strong-bodied, rosy-cheeked, apple-cheeked, close/tight-fisted(吝啬的) ， bare-footed, white-haired, high-heeled, ill-intentioned, weak-kneed (易屈服的) ，long-legged, close/tight-lipped (嘴紧的), ill-mannered, thick/thin-skinned (脸皮厚/薄) ，high-spirited, iron-willed, quick/short/slow/bad-tempered, glib-tongued (油嘴滑舌的) ，loose-tongued(嘴不严的)

• adjective + Noun

long-distance, full-length（未删节的），white-collar, red-letter(喜庆的), ，full-time, first-rate, high-speed, high-level, low-frequency, left-hand, real-time(实时的) ， long-range, deep-sea (fish)

• Verb + Noun

break-neck (危险的) ， telltale(搬弄是非的) ， cut-rate (减价的，次等的)

• Phrases or sentences

at-risk （处境危险的）, in-your-face （明目张胆的）, devil-may-care(不顾一切的), dog-eat-dog （狗咬狗的）, round-the-clock, on-the-spot, cards-on-the-table, matter-of-fact, never-to-be-forgotten, once-in-a-life-time, off-the-cuff (临时想起的意见)opinion, back-up (备用) a stand-up collar (竖领), a walk-in closet (走入式大壁橱) ，a see-through shirt （透明的衬衫） take-home pay，cross-border raid，a keep-fit class（保健班）

verb compounds

The common way to form a compound verb is by means of back-formation. The back-formation is a process of word formation by which a word is created by dropping the supposed or imagined affixes

Housekeeping → housekeep, test-drive(试车) ，machine-gun, nickname, spotlight, honeymoon, outline, speed-read, soft-land, vacuum-clean, mass-produce, sight-see, proof-read, tape-record, chain-smoke, ghost-write, air-condition, baby-sit, window-shop, spoon-feed,

hen-peck, snowball, middle-road(走中间道路), chain-react, face-harden(使表面硬化), wire-pull (幕后操纵) ，daydream, skyrocket, sleepwalk, highlight, safeguard, whitewash, sweet-talk ， job-hop

A compound verb can also be formed by means of analogy 1.chain-drink: from chain-smoke

2.bottle-feed: feed from a bottle. from breast-feed:• feed from a mother's breast A compound verb can also be formed by means of verb phrases

overwork, withhold(扣留), cross-question(盘问) ，upbuild (建立), uplift, uproot, fast-talk(花言巧语地企图说服) ，off-load(卸货) ， outeat(吃得比……多) ， outgo, outgrow , ill-treat, overhear, overtake, undergo, underline, undermine, undertake,

Affixation or Derivation

It is a process of forming new words by the addition of a word element, such as a prefix, suffix, or combining form, to an already existing word.

A combining form is a bound morpheme, which was originally a full word in Latin or Greek, such as auto-（from GK autos self）.

Number-related prefixes from Latin

Number-related prefixes from Latin

Number-related prefixes from Greek

I.Prefixation

Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding prefixes to stems. Prefixes do not generally change the word-class of the stem but only modify its meaning. However, there is an insignificant number of class-changing prefixes

Non-class-changing prefixes: natural-unnatural, like-dislike, fair-unfair

Class-changing prefixes: force-enforce, danger-endanger, form-deform, little-belittle, war-postwar, college-intercollege In some reference books, prefixes (and suffixes) are classified according to their source, but this does not seem to help from a practical point of view. It seems

The most productive prefixes

1.Negative prefix

2.Reversative or privative prefix含“消除”意思

3.Pejorative prefix

4) Prefixes of degree or size

5) Prefixes of orientation and attitude

6) Locative prefixes

U.S. intercontinental missile

洲际导弹 是指射程在8000千米以上的导弹。是战略核武器的重要组成部分。拥有这种导弹的国家，不必远涉重洋就能直接对敌国实施战略性攻击。

7) Prefixes of time and order

8) Number prefixes

9) Conversion prefixes

10) Miscellaneous prefixe s

II. Suffixation

Suffixation is the formation of new words by adding suffixes to stems. Unlike prefixes which primarily change the meaning of the stem, suffixes have only a small semantic role, their primary function being to change the grammatical function of stems. In other words, they mainly change the word class. However, they may also add attached meaning to the stem