Introduction to Affixation and Lexical Constituents

Affixation and Lexical Constituents

• Affixation is a derivational process where one or more affixes are attached to a base to form a new word.
• Affixes can be classified into three types: prefixes, suffixes, and infixes.
• Prefixes are attached to the beginning of a base, suffixes follow the base, and infixes are inserted within the base.
• Examples of prefixes: h(a)emo- (related to blood), hypo- (below, lower than normal), hyper- (above, higher than normal), eu- (well, good), thermo- (heat), auto- (self, same).
• Examples of suffixes: -itis (inflammatory disease), -oma (tumour), -ase (enzyme), -ide (chloride), -ite (hypochlorite).

Affixoids and Compounding

• Affixoids are hybrid elements that have a semantic content of their own and are used to create new words similar to compounds.
• Compounding is the combination of lexemes into larger words, which can be solid (bloodstream), hyphenated (flash-guard), or open (blood stream).
• Compounds can be nouns (heartbeat), adjectives (lead-free), or verbs (to brainwash).
• Examples of prefixoids: psich- (concerning the psyche), pseudo- (false), self- (oneself, itself), cyclo- (occurring in a circle).
• Examples of suffixoids: -phagia (eating), -logy (science, discipline), -pathy (disease), -form (having the form of).

Non-Transparent Lexical Items

• Eponyms are denominations derived from proper names and can be created through conversion, derivation, or noun groups.
• Abbreviations can be initialisms (HIV), acronyms (laser), clippings (ad for advertisement), or blends (stagnation + inflation = stagflation).
• Compounding is common in English due to its prestige and prevalent use as a lingua franca.

Mechanisms of Word Formation

• Word formation is a branch of linguistics that studies the patterns of creating new lexical units.
• Morphemes are the minimal linguistic units with a lexical or grammatical meaning.
• Lexical morphemes can combine with each other to produce new lexemes.
• The main mechanisms of word formation are:
  • Semantic redetermination (attribution of a new meaning to an existing word)
  • Conversion (assigning a base to a different word class)
  • Affixation (adding a prefix or suffix to a base)
  • Borrowing from foreign languages (generating loanwords and loan translations or calques)
  • Compounding (adding a base to another base)

Affixes and Affixoids

• The suffix -ism is added to nouns or adjectives to obtain an abstract noun (e.g., chimerism, liberalism).
• The suffix -ation is added to a verb to obtain an abstract or collective noun (e.g., globalization, organization).
• Lexical constituents derived from Latin and Greek are frequently used.
• Prefixes:
  • h(a)emo- means "having to do with blood" (e.g., hematology).
  • hypo- means "below" or "lower than normal" (e.g., hypoglycemia).
  • hyper- means "above" or "higher than normal" (e.g., hyperbaric, hyperglycemia).
  • eu- means "well" or "good" (e.g., euthanasia).
  • thermo- means "heat" (e.g., thermocouple, thermoelectric).
  • auto- means "self" or "same" (e.g., autointoxication).
• Suffixes:
  • -itis means "inflammatory disease" (e.g., bronchitis).
  • -oma means "tumor" (e.g., melanoma).
  • -ase means "enzyme" (e.g., lactase).
  • -ide means "chloride" (e.g., chloruro).
  • -ite means "hypochlorite" (e.g., iposolfito).
• Affixoids:
  • psich- means "concerning the psyche" (e.g., psychology).
  • pseudo- means "false" or "pretend" (e.g., pseudoconcept).
  • self- means "oneself" or "itself" (e.g., self-blocking, self-immune).
  • cyclo- means "occurring in a circle" (e.g., cyclomorphosis).
  • -phagia means "eating" (e.g., aerophagia).
  • -logy means "science" or "discipline" (e.g., gerontology, paleontology).
  • -pathy means "disease" (e.g., gastropathy).
  • -form means "having the form of" (e.g., fusiform).
  • -graphy means "process or style of writing, drawing, or graphic representation" (e.g., astrography, cryptography).

Genres and Genre Systems

• Genres should not be seen in isolation, but rather in interaction with other genres.
• Devitt introduces the concept of genre sets, which are part of the total genre network that an individual engages.
• Bazerman introduces the notion of genre systems, which include genre sets, genre chains, genre hierarchies, and genre networks.
• Devitt also introduces the concept of genre repertoire, which refers to all the genres available to a professional group.

Research Articles and Popularization

• Research articles are the main vehicle for disseminating specialist knowledge within and across disciplinary communities.
• Research articles are published in specialized journals and have a complex conventional schema.
• The macrostructure of research articles consists of premises and conclusions.
• Research articles have a binary structure, with a focus on argumentation.
• Popularization involves a change in register and purpose, with a focus on informing rather than arguing.

Case Study: From Specialist Knowledge to Popularization

• The original research article is published in Nature.
• The news release provides a simplified version of the findings, with quotations and a focus on the backstory.
• The news article in The Guardian uses everyday language, similes, and metaphors, with a focus on the significance of the research.
• The web text on Science Alert has an inverted-pyramid structure, with a focus on spreading news and using evaluative language.

General Considerations and Wikipedia

• The process of popularization involves a biased selection of information, with a focus on aspects that interest the general public.
• Journalists try to make the information as newsworthy as possible.
• The internet plays a crucial role in disseminating specialist knowledge, favoring a more systematic and timely circulation of scientific and technological information.
• Wikipedia is an important platform for disseminating specialist knowledge.

New Prefixoids and Suffixoids

• The prefix "-cyber" relates to computers, information, technology, virtual reality, and cyberspace.

Non-Transparent Lexical Items

• Eponyms are denominations based on proper names, created through conversion, derivation, or noun groups (e.g. ampère, watt, Pythagorean theorem).
• Abbreviations include initialisms (HIV, human immunodeficiency virus) and acronyms (laser, light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation).
• Clippings reduce longer forms, removing parts of the beginning or end of the word (e.g. ad for advertisement, plane for airplane).
• Blends combine parts of two words (e.g. stagflation, smoke + fog = smog).

Compounding

• Compounds combine two or more bases or stems into a single word.
• Compounds can be solid (bloodstream), hyphenated (flash-guard), or open (blood stream).
• Compounds can be nouns (heartbeat), adjectives (lead-free), or verbs (brainwash, fireproof).

Nominalization

• Nominalization transforms verbs into nouns, making them entities rather than actions.
• This syntactic choice contributes to objectivity and universality in scientific texts.
• Nominalization reduces explicit illocutionary commitment, making the utterance less assertive.

Translation of Nominal Constructions

• In scientific and technical translation, nominalization requires special attention.
• Nominalizations function as grammatical metaphors, re-construing processes as nouns.

Research Article Structure

• The typical structure of a scientific research paper is Introduction - Problem - Solution - Conclusion.
• Variations of this sequence exist, such as the IMRAD pattern (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion).
• Research article introductions typically follow a four-move structure: Establishing field, Summarizing previous research, Preparing for present research, and Introducing present research.

Popularization of Science

• Popular science texts are more expositive than argumentative, with lower frequencies of metadiscourse markers.
• Popularization techniques include denomination, definition, and explanation.
• Web-mediated communication offers interactivity options, allowing users to participate and contribute to the transmission of information.
• Wikipedia is a notable example of collaborative writing and user-generated content.