Lexicon: The Methods of Adding New Words to a Language - Research Paper Example

Abstract Lexical knowledge is a multi-dimensional concept whose importance in language development has been adequately documented by researchers and linguistics. Apart from the commonly known aspects of lexical knowledge such as orthography, semantics, morphology, parts of speech and syntax, lexical knowledge also encompasses word formation. The morphological structures of different languages favour the different mechanisms of word formation to used to grow their lexicons and, in turn, stay relevant in today’s rapidly changing world. Some of the common mechanisms include derivation, borrowing, clipping, extension, transliteration, coinage, Arabicization and conversion. This paper examines these word formation mechanisms as an aspect of lexical knowledge. Lexicon: The methods of adding new words to a language Lexicon is the aggregation of all the words and phrases that are used in a specific language (McGregor 80). A person’s lexicon refers to the range of words or phrases that a person knows in a particular language and varies from one person to another (Nordquist). Lexical knowledge is, therefore, the knowledge of one’s lexicon in a language and may involve mastering the different meanings of words and phrases, their different lexical categorisation and the relationship between the different lexical categories (Al Jarf 160). In linguistics, the individual words are known as lexemes and their collection is known as lexicon. It is like a wordstock. According to Plag, it is important to master one’s language lexicon as it allows for more flexibility in terms of communication, understanding and interpretation of a message (Plag 62). Combining lexical knowledge and grammar, which are the rules governing word use in a language, leads to proficiency in a language. Most importantly, lexical knowledge has aided in the formation of new words languages. A growing language is essential in this globalisation era. To facilitate communication between people from different geographical locations, it may become imperative to coin, borrow and even assimilate some foreign words into the native language (Plag 40). This paper investigates the various mechanisms that are used by linguists to add new words to a language. The paper will be loosely based on the Arabic and English languages. Literature Review A lot of research has been conducted on word formation and the importance of lexical knowledge in expanding a language (Elmgrab 491). Presently, there are a lot of scientific and technological developments. These developments are global and so are their effects. With each passing day it becomes harder to live without these scientific and technological advancements. It, therefore, becomes necessary to adapt to the changing circumstances so as to remain relevant in the economical and political world. One of the ways of adapting is by not only borrowing the new science and technology but also their names and language use (Nordquist). For instance, an Arabic country using satellites may need to Arabicize the word satellite once it becomes a neology. Neologisms are words that have gained a considerable use in a certain language and context and can be considered as lexeme candidates (Al Jarf 162). Linguists suppose that they are the ones who are supposed to determine whether a word remains neology or should be considered a lexeme. However, as the world rapidly develops, every person is at the liberty of forming their own lexicon and collectively develop the language’s lexicon (Plag 70). Therefore, unlike in the pre-industrialization era where the scientists and other scholars were the drivers of a language lexicon, the masses today are the developers of a language lexicon (Nordquist). In the past, the scholars and scientists were privileged with interacting with people from other parts of the world. They were more susceptible to borrowing, coining, deriving, inflecting or otherwise coming up with usage of foreign words in the native language (Al Jarf 162). Right now, the world has been reduced into a global village. There is a lot of content being disseminated and foreign words being borrowed into languages. English and Arabic English has become the lingua franca in more than a third of the world’s countries and an official language in more than two thirds of the countries (Plag 5). It is also the official language for detailing scientific and technological issues. It has a rich history of utilizing the various forms of word formation to grow its lexicon. Some of the commonly used mechanisms of introducing new words to English include derivation, blending, acronyming and abbreviation, borrowing, coinage, back formation, clipping, extension and conversion (Al Jarf 165). English is one of the languages that employ the most mechanisms to grow its lexicon. It also has a robust grammar, syntax, and morphology that ensure that only the most relevant and useful words are generated and used (McGregor 82). Arabic language, unlike English, is a little bit restricted in terms of mechanisms that can be used for word formation. This is because its word formation processes are different from English (Elmgrab 491). The two languages are incongruent and largely mismatched. Therefore, some mechanisms such as conversion and clipping or shortening are not used in Arabic as mechanisms of word formation. However, most of the other mechanisms are employed to grow the Arabic lexicon. The following are some of the commonly used mechanisms used to grow languages’ lexicons. Mechanisms of Word Formation The most commonly used mechanisms used to grow a language’s lexicon are derivation, blending, acronyming, abbreviation, Arabicization, borrowing, coinage, back formation, clipping, extension and conversion. Derivation Derivation involves modifying lexical items to form new words (McGregor 92). This may involve adding affixes and prefixes to lexical terms to form new lexemes. The root of the word, the radical consonant, is maintained when the other parts of the word are altered (McGregor 92). Derivation is the major word formation mechanism in Arabic is known as al-ishtiqaq (Elmgrab 493). There are three types of derivation; simple derivation, metathesis and circumlocution. Of the three, the simple derivation mechanism is the most popular as it is less demanding to master and use. Examples of derived words in Arabic include qur’aniyah meaning Quranic which is derived from Qur’an. Another example is mizaniyah meaning a budget which has been derived from the Arabic word mizan which means a scale and mas’uliyah meaning responsibility which is derived from mas’ul which means responsible (Elmgrab 494). Some of the examples in English include words like televise from the word television, scholarship from the word scholar, productivity from product, and enlarge from large among many others. As is evident, the radicals are, in most instances, not altered. However, in other instances some derivatives are paraphrased instead of altering the word (Al Jarf 174). The whole word changes but the meaning is retained, this technique is known as circumlocution. In most instances, circumlocution is used to denote the meaning of words that have proved to be a challenge in translating or absorbing them into a language’s lexicon. An example of circumlocution in Arabic is the English term burglar (lis yastu ala al-manazil laylan) that is loosely translated as a thief breaking in at night instead of giving the term a single word (Elmgrab 495). Blending According to McGregor (88), blending is the process of forming new words through merging two or more different words into one. It is one of the mechanisms that are used to form compound words (McGregor 88). An example of a blended word in English is smog which is a combination of smoke and fog and brunch which is a combination of breakfast and lunch. Other examples of blending include bathroom, walking stick, rainfall, geography and many others. Blending is also a major word formation mechanism in growing the Arabic lexicon. For example, the word electromagnetic is an English blended word from electric and magnetic. The same technique has been used in Arabic where the word kahrumaghnaTisi which means electromagnetic has been blended from kahrabai which means electric and maghnaTisi which means magnetic (Elmgrab 497). Another Arabic example is ghibmadrasa which means post-school and which is blended from the two words ghib (after) and madrasa (school) (Elmgrab 497). Transliteration Transliteration is a process of forming new words in a language by aligning foreign words with the alphabetical systems of the native language (Plag 75). Elmgrab defined transliteration as “the process of rendering the letters of one alphabet in the letters of another with different alphabetical systems” (Elmgrab 492). An example is the word satellite which is transliterated in Arabic as satalayit. Semantically, the same word, satellite, is translated as qamar Sinai. Another example is the word mobile which is transliterated as sililur, naqqal and even jawwal. Transliterated words often are devoid of equivalents hence necessitating transliteration (Elmgrab 492). Other Arabic words formed as a result of transliteration include biliyunir from billionaire, juhgrafiyah from geography and dimuqratiyah from the word democracy. Acronyming and Abbreviation Acronyming refers to the process of forming new words through aggregating the first letters of the compound word or phrase (McGregor 87). Acronyming, as a word formation process, has been widely used in English and Arabic languages. Examples of acronymed words in English include RAM (random access memory), AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome), PR (Public Relations) and EU (European Union) (McGregor 87). Some of the English words have gained global usage such that they are not considered as acronyms anymore but as words on their own. For example, ok (okay), scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) and radar (radio detection and ranging) among many others. Acronyming is also a popular mechanism in Arabic as detailed by Elmgrab citing the words Hamas and Wafa. Hamas is an acronym of Harakah musalaHa Islamiya whereas Wafa is an acronymed Wakalat as-Anba’ al filisTiniyah (Palestinian News Agency) (Elmgrab 499). Some words have also been formed through abbreviation. Some examples here include e.g., a.m., p.m., kg, and many others. Arabicization Arabicization is a common word formation mechanism in Arabic language and comes second to derivation as the most used mechanism in Arabic (Elmgrab 496). Arabicization involves adapting non-Arabic words into the Arabic language. The morphological and phonological rules of the language from which the words are sourced from are usually observed and maintained (Elmgrab 496). Arabicization is, therefore, simply assimilating foreign words to grow the Arabic lexicon (Al Jarf 165). Examples here include words like falsafah from the word philosophy, Habil from the name Abel and mu’aksid from the word oxidant. One of the reasons why Arabicization as a word formation mechanism is popular among Arabs is it preserves the purity of the Arabic language unlike most of the other mechanisms (Elmgrab 496). Borrowing Borrowing is a word formation process that involves incorporating foreign words into the native language without changing its morphology, semantics and orthography (Al Jarf 170). The phonological and morphological patterns that are being are considered during borrowing are those of the language that is borrowing (McGregor 88). The lexemes that are borrowed are referred to as loaned words. Borrowing has been used extensively in the English language to grow its lexicon. It is arguably the most popular method of word formation and has been used since time for centuries up to date (Plag 20). Some of the English words that have been borrowed include words like thing, egg and sister all which were borrowed from the Danes. Words like cost and labour which are largely used in economics and business set ups were borrowed from the French while scientific terms such as gravity and solar were borrowed from the Greeks (McGregor 89). Coinage Coinage is a word forming process where a non-existent word is invented (McGregor 90). For a word to be considered as a coinage, it must not have existed in any known form in the native language or in any foreign language (McGregor 90). Coinage, as a word forming mechanism, is very rare since it is difficult to find a word that is completely novel to the whole citizenry or a community. Most of the coined words are those that are identifying new concepts or represent brand names. Examples of coined words that have formed English lexemes include user-friendly, ubiquitous, blogosphere (Al-Jarf 165) and brand names like Exxon and Kodak (McGregor 90). Clipping Clipping is a word formation mechanism which uses subtraction as a way of forming new words (McGregor 87). Here, some syllables are subtracted from a word to from new words. It is, however, important to note that the newly formed word does not acquire a different meaning from the main word (Al Jarf 168). An example here includes the use of the word phone to mean mobile phone or plane to mean aeroplane. Another popular example is the use of the word fax, a clipped form of the word facsimile and other forms of shortened names such as Mike for Michael, Sue for Susan and Liz for Elizabeth among others (McGregor 87). Back formation Back formation is similar to clipping in that some syllable are removed but differs in the sense that the shortened word actually takes a different meaning altogether (McGregor 94). For example, the word editor can be shortened to the word edit. The two words are related but do not carry the same meaning because while one is a noun the other is a verb. Extension Extension is a word formation mechanism that adds prefixes and suffixes to form new words with different meanings (Al Jarf 170). An example of extended words in English include nationalize, spiritual, and generalize among others. In Arabic, the prefix qabla which means after can be added to the word Islam to form qabislam which means pre-Islam ((Elmgrab 498). Conversion The last word formation mechanism is conversion. Here, the spelling of the word remains the same but the semantics and the morphology of a word changes (Plag 45). In this mechanism, a word changes from one part of speech to another without changing its form. For example, the words love and laugh can be used as nouns and at the same time as verbs. Another example of converted lexemes is the words calm and empty which can be used as adjectives and verbs at the same time. Conclusion It is evident that language is an integral part of development. It is an essential tool for globalisation and partnership across the globe (Nordquist). It is, therefore, critical to grow the lexicon of a language to be in sync with the common words being used even if they are foreign. Lexical knowledge fosters language development through promoting the various mechanisms of word formation (Al Jarf 161). Some of these mechanisms include derivation, blending, acronyming, borrowing, clipping, transliteration, coinage, extension and conversion. The use of these mechanisms varies depending on the morphological structure, grammar and syntax of a language. They are essential for growing the lexicons of any language. Works Cited Al Jarf, Reima. “Teaching English word-formation processes to translation students.” Komunikacija i kultura Online 2.2 (2011): 160-174. Print. Plag, Ingo. Word formation in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. McGregor, William. Linguistics: An introduction. London: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2009. Print. Elmgrab, Ramadan. Methods of creating and introducing new terms in Arabic contributions from English-Arabic translation. Singapore: IACSIT Press, 2011. Print. Nordquist, Richard. “Lexicon.” About.com. 22 Dec 2013. Web. 19 May 2014. Read More