Word-formation Analysis of English New Words In Science and Technology

Abstract：Language changes when changes are taking place in social life. New words and expressions emerge once new things and new concepts appear in social life. Science and technology can be the main supplier of those new things and concepts that whenever a subject steps into a new stage， large numbers of new words arise in company. However， no matter what kind of factors contribute to the emergence of new words， the generation and formation of those words must follow the specific word-formation rules. This paper aims to use the word-formation analysis as the main method to study the new words appeared in science and technology area so as to find out the general word-formation rules of those neologisms.

Key words: word-formation process; science and technology English; new words;analysis;

1. Introduction

English as one of the universal communication languages witnesses constant development and changes along the history. Contemporarily， new words and expressions come into being everyday at soaring speed and this is because languages are dynamic and living things with words constantly coming and going. Generally， the rapid development of science and technology is the driving force of generating new vocabulary endlessly such as in today’s computer and medical science as well as the network English.

Fast-developing technologies such as biotechnology， computing， the internet and mobile phones are always generating new vocabulary. Under these circumstances， a comprehensive study on word-formation processes whereby new words are created will be very helpful to English learners who are eager to have a better command of the English vocabulary.

2. The Sources of English Neologisms in Science and Technology

Present years， technical English neologisms are not only increased endlessly in volume but also changed in the ways of formation. Traditionally， three ways constitute the sources of those neologisms. The first group is the words borrowed from ordinary English vocabulary but then are endowed with the new technological meaning， thus the original meanings of the words evolved to the new ones. For example， we refer to the word salt as the substance that can be eaten by humans but the meaning changes into any chemical substance contains salt when used in the chemical industry. Another group contains the words borrowed and transferred from other languages， mainly the Latin and Greek such as the word pollen. The third group includes the new words created by the English word-formation processes based on Latin and Greek morphemes such as television， microscope and informationize， etc.

3. Rules of Word-formation

New words are being made up all the time. The shapes of words we know lead us to shape new words. John Algeo， a leading scholar of new words， has demonstrated that almost all new words have familiar origins. The expansion of vocabulary in modern English depends chiefly on word-formation. While English neologism is mainly composed of affixation， composition， conversion and shortening (Tian， Haiying).

3.1 Some Basic Concepts of Word-formation

To study the word-formation rules requires us to understand some basic terminology and concepts. Word-formation rules is a subfield of morphology used for speakers to establish some certain knowledge of the composition and inner structure of the words. Zhang Yunfei in his book An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology proposed that “the rules of word-formation define the scope and methods whereby speakers of a language may create new words，” for instance， according to the word-formation rules， the suffix –ize can be added to English adjectives and nouns giving the meaning “to cause to be”， “to make”， or to “treat in the way of”. And due to today’s development of science and technology， a great many new formations in –ize are found in present-day technical English， such as computerize， denuclearize， satellize， etc.

3.2 Derivation

Derivation， can also be called affixation， is generally defined as a word-formation process by which new words are created by adding a prefix， or suffix， or both， to the base. Derivation is an effective way to increase English new words and plenty of new English words of science and technology are formed by this type of word-formation. According to the positions which affixes occupy in words， derivation falls into two subclasses: 1) prefixation and 2) suffixation.

3.2.1 Prefixation

Prefixation is the formation of new words by adding a prefix or combining form to the base. Prefixes do not generally change the word-class of the base but only modify its meaning. Numerous technical new words can be found formed by this formation. For example， supersonic is formed by the prefix super- (means above， beyond) and the root sonic (means about the sound speed)， thus the formed word means “beyond the sound speed”. Likewise， the word transrapid is formed by the prefix trans- (means beyond， change) plus the core rapid (means fast)， thus the meaning of the word can guessed as the “magnetically levitated train” ( 磁懸浮列車) with super speed. Other examples are microwave (micro- + wave)， polysynthesis (poly- + synthesis)， hyperlink (hyper- + link).

3.2.2 Suffixation

Suffixation is the formation of a new word by adding a suffix or a combing form to the base. Unlike prefixes which primarily change the meaning of the stem， suffixes have only a small semantic role， their primary function is to change the grammatical function of the bases. In other words， they mainly change the word class. Studying from the new words appeared in science and technology， the word periphonic is formed by the morpheme peri and the suffix –phonic (means related to sound)， thus the meaning of the word is “with multi-channel sound”. The word holography combines the morpheme holo and the suffix –graphy (about the photography) together and means a kind of photography that makes the objects look dimensional. Some other examples are ecocide (eco + -cide)， internaut (inter + -naut).

3.3 Compounding

Compounding is one of the oldest and the most often used word-formation methods that after the World WarⅡit had developed into a new and unprecedented stage. Compounding is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to form a new unit， a compound word. English now makes use of compounding than at any previous time in its history， therefore it plays an important role in today’s English new words of science and technology. Here are some common compound words that use the method of combining two or more words together in which the last word act as the core and the former as the modifier: current steering; current steering transfer; current steering transfer circuit. These words are not only accurate but also economic and convenient. They are interpreted in a simple and clear way and can be easily understood by people so that they are very frequently used among technical English.

3.4 Shortening

Shortening is another kind of word-formation that involves the cutting of one or more syllables or the combination of the initial letters of words to compress the original ones and make them simplified. Additionally， the fast tempo of the modern society requires us to shorten and simplify our speeches and writings. Shortening contains several types: initialism， acronym and clipping.

Initialism is a type of shortening， using the first letters of words to form a proper name， a technical term， or a phrase and an initialism is pronounced letter by letter. In science and technology field， initialisms are quite useful and convenient to express meaning， such as WWW (World Wide Wed)， CAD (Computer Assisted Design)， DDT (Digital Data Transmitter)， and VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing).

Acronyms are words formed from the initial letters of the name of an organization or a scientific term， etc. Acronyms differ from initialisms in that they are pronounced as words rather than as sequences of letters， such as BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)， referring to a simplified language for programming and interacting with a computer， and GASP (Group Against Smog and Pollution) and also CALL (Computer-aided Language Learning). Besides， some acronyms become very common in use， they are usually spelled in small letters， for example the word radar (radio detecting and ranging).

The process of clipping involves the deletion of one or more syllables from a word (usually a noun)， which is also available in its full form. Generally， clipped words are used in less formal situations than their full-length equivalents. Comparatively， clipping is actually not so widely used in technical English and here are some examples， auto (comes from automobile)， copter (comes from helicopter)， chemo (comes from chemotherapy).

4. The Roles of Technical Words in English

When people are embracing the era of knowledge and information explosion， the language， as a tool to record and transmit the information， is also experiencing the “vocabulary big bang”. Any new discoveries， inventions and theories emerged in science and technology need the relevant words to describe and demonstrate them. Therefore， on one hand， numerous neologisms came into existence and are accepted by people; on the other hand， the original meanings of some words are replaced by the new technical meanings.

On the whole， a very important aspect of contemporary society is the popularization of science and technology. The technical English thereupon has multiplied its influence in today’s globalized society and has actually entered into people’s everyday speaking language.

5. Conclusion

The emerging of English neologisms is influenced by many factors， but the most important aspect comes from the development of science and technology. The appearing of these English neologisms is not free and arbitrary. Most of them are subject to one of the ways， such as borrowing， word-formation processes， or semantic change and so on. Viewing from the aspect of word-formation process， the number of compound words in science and technology surpasses all the other types by a large scale. The reason might be that the inherited vocabulary is very limited compared with the unlimited complexity of things and the new ideas we have to discuss. Besides， shortening is also another important word-formation method contribute to the increase of technical neologisms especially acronym and blending.

Conclusively， it is of great importance for English learners to study English neologisms through the study of word-formation for we are able to recognize a complex word as a unit made up of organic parts and know how different parts are put together to form new words. Besides， English vocabularies changes along with society's development， and we must study English neologisms to catch up with the times in order to improve our English abilities.

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