Question

Word Building.

(a) Reduplication: The root/stem of a word is repeated exactly the same or with a slight change.

For example, tweet-tweet, pitter-patter, chit-chat, bang-bang, riff-raff

(b) Blending: Parts of two or more words combine to form a new one.

For example, 

• breakfast + lunch = brunch
• smoke + fog = smog
• motor + hotel = motel

(c) Clipping: Reducing a word to one of its syllables or a part of it.

For example, 

• Mathematics - Maths
• Advertisement - Ad
• Laboratory - Lab

(d) Acronym: Words formed from the first letter of each of the words involved.

For example, 

• radar, scuba, Unicef, Nasa
• BBC, CID, USA, ATM, VIP
• DOB, KYC, PM, GN, TY, etc.

In your notebook, write five examples of each of the above types of word-building devices. (You may take the help of a Dictionary/Internet)

Answer 1

1. Reduplication: bow-wow; hee-haw; cheep cheep: chomp-chomp: ping-pong
2. Blending: bionic, carjack, Chunnel, cineplex, cyborg, emoticon, infotainment, internet, liger (lion + tiger), netizen, telethon, vidiot, workaholic
3. Clipping: exam, gym (gymnasium), 'flu (influenza), gas (gasoline), memo (memorandum)
4. Acronym: laser, CD-ROM, IOU, K9, PIN