Backformation creating new words from "summary" of What is Morphology? by Mark Aronoff,Kirsten Fudeman
Backformation is a process of creating new words by removing a suffix or an affix from an existing word. It is an important concept in linguistics, and is becoming increasingly common in modern language usage.- Have you ever wondered why some words exist but mean the exact opposite of what we would expect? Thanks to linguists, this has been solved - backformation! It's a process that creates new words by removing affixes from longer ones, resulting in novel terms with unexpected – yet precise meanings.
- What was once known as "reversed derivation" is now more commonly referred to as backformation. This method can sometimes be used to create words whose original form is unknown or nonexistent, or to add clarity to existing words by stripping away any excess elements.
- We see examples of backformation all the time in everyday life - think words like "edit," "burgle," and "acciaccatura." All were created by reversing an existing suffix or prefix from a pre-existing term (editor, burglar, and acciaccatura, respectively).
- Backformation isn't limited to English; it happens in most languages as a way of generating new language elements from old ones. Of course, backformed words don't always make sense logically, and sometimes require additional context clues to help us interpret them properly.
- Backformations may appear deceptively complicated, but they are actually quite straightforward once you understand the anatomy of name generation. By taking affixes away – we are basically “forming” the word backward to come up with something entirely new.
- While not always intuitively logical, backformation is nonetheless a powerful tool when used judiciously. As long as it makes linguistic sense (and doesn't upset the grammar gods), why not let someone have at it? Who knows - maybe your next great invention will be a result of clever backformation work.
