This is to bring our classes to an end for the year, after all, even schools go on holiday-lol.
A great festivity to all my tutees!
Lecture starts on January 5, 2016.
Bamgbose G.A.
B.Ed English (LASU), M.A. (Ibadan)
Tutor

English for Today
WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
6. Compounding: This entails the combination of two or more independent words to form another word with an entirely different meaning.
earth+quake= earthquake
water+bed= water bed
black+berry= blackberry
down+grade= down-grade
break+fast= breakfast
7. Conversion: This is a process of converting a word from its original word class to function as another word class in structure.
I take much water(noun)
They water the flowers daily(verb)
There is a bottle on the table(noun)
You can bottle the water(verb).

English for Today
WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
5. CLIPPING: It refers to the shortening of a polysyllabic word to a one or two-syllable word. The reduced form usually has the same meaning as the complex word which it represents. The reduction or deletion can be at the beginning, the end or at both positions of the word.
Deletion at the beginning
1. bus- omnibus...
2. phone- telephone
3. van- caravan
Deletion at the end
4. cab- cabriolet
5. bra- brassiere
6. exam- examination
Deletion at both ends
7. fridge- refrigerator
8. flu- influenza

English for Today
WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
4. Borrowing: This has to do with taking new words from other languages. English has borrowed from so many languages and this explains why it has a very wide vocabulary. These are some borrowed words in English:
1. kudos(Greek)
2. lilac(Persian)
3. tycoon(Japanese)
4. en masse(French)
5. agbada( Yoruba)
6. fufu( Yoruba)
7. knife( Scandinavian)
8. piano( Italian)
9. mullah(Arabic)
10. bishop(Latin)
11. ketchup(Chinese)
12. banana(Portuguese)
13. smuggler(Dutch)
14. kiosk(Turkish)
15. Pyjamas(Indian)

English for Today
WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
2.Backformation: This process involves subtraction or reduction of a word to form another word of a different word class. It is a case of reducing a structure in the class of a noun to a verb:
emote- emotion, liaise-liaison, edit-editor.
3. Blending: blending refers to the process of forming a new word from parts of existing words. In other words, two separate forms are combined to produce a single new term with a different meaning:
1. mo(tor) + (ho)tel= motel
2. br(eakfast)+(l)unch= brunch
3. sm(oke)+ (f)og= smog
4. Span(ish) + (En)glish= Spanglish
5. tele(vision) + (broad)cast= telecast

English for Today
WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
This is concerned with the study of the patterns on which a language forms new words. Like every other language, new words are formed virtually on daily basis in the English language. This lecture series will discuss ten ways through which new words emerge in English.
1. ACRONYMS: They are formed from the initial letters of words, which may constitute the names of some organizations. While some acronyms may retain capital letters, others are reduced to small letters and are pronounced as words. We can categorize acronyms into two:
a) Acronyms pronounced as sequences of letters(otherwise known as alphabetism), e.g.: CD(compact disc), COD(cash on delivery) FBI(Federal Bureau of Investigations)
b) Acronyms pronounced as words:
radar(radio detecting and ranging)
UNESCO(United Nations Educational Scientific and cultural Organizations)
LASU(Lagos State University)

English for Today
AFFIXES
SUFFIXES: They are added to base words at the end.
1. -er: taller, smarter, worker
2. -ess: hostess, princess, waitress
3. -ist: artist, socialist, violinist
4. -ette: cigarette, kitchenette, statuette
5. - al: refusal, normal, national
6. -ce: arrogance, elegance
7. -ness: gladness, happiness
8. -hood: boyhood, motherhood
9. -ing: going, dancing
10. -ster: gangster, fraudster
11. -ment: employment, enjoyment
12. -age: breakage, coinage
13. -cy: constituency, primacy
14. -ity: continuity, feasibility
15. -ful: careful, joyful
16. -less: careless, regardless
17. -ic: graphic, historic
18. -ish: childish, sheepish
19. -ly: godly, orderly
20. -ent: adherent, abhorrent

English for Today
AFFIXES
PREFIXES
16. ex: ex-convict, ex-husband
17. re: re-balance, reestablish,
18. ir: irresponsible, irrelevant
19. im: imbalance, immodest
20. tri: triangle, tripartite
21. bi: bilingual, bisexual
22. di: dipole, dicotyledon
23. neo: neoclassical, neo-colonialism
24: pan: pan-african, pan-hellenic
25. en: enslave, endanger
26. arch: archbishop, arch-enemy
27. anti: anti-social, antibacterial
28. il: illegal, illicit
29. ante: ante-room, ante-natal
30. ill: ill-fated, ill-fitting

English for Today
AFFIXES
Affixes are morphemes that are added to a word to derive a new word. The affixes that are added at the beginning are called prefixes while those that are added at the end are called suffixes.
We can have instances of prefixes and the examples of words in which they feature as follows:
1. un- unsafe, unfair, untie
2. non- non-standard, non-smoke
3. in- insane, in-built, invalid
4. dis- disconnect, disloyal
5. a- amoral, asymmetry, afloat
6. ab- abnormal
7. de- defrost, deform, depopulate
8. mis- misguide, misinform, mislead
9. mal- malfunction, malpractice
10. sur- surpass, surtax, surcharge
11. sub- subtitle, substandard, subhuman
12. co- co-pilot, co-tenant, co-operate
13. pro- pro-active, pro-democracy
14. trans- transnational, transplant
15. pre- pre-marital, prenatal

English for Today
LINKING OR COPULA VERBS
These are verbs that connect subjects to their complements( words that complete the meaning of the subjects).
The man IS a teacher(a teacher tells you about 'the man', so IS is a copula verb)
The interesting thing about this class of verbs is that they can be both main and auxiliary verbs. All the finite forms of the auxiliary verb TO BE are linking verbs: is, am, are, was, were.
Certain main verbs like 'turn' and 'grow' can either be linking or main:
He turned right(main)
He turned pale(linking)
In the first, 'turned' shows an action; in the second, it links the complement 'pale' to the subject it describes 'He'.
Now, try using 'grow' as both a main verb and a linking verb.

English for Today
STATIVE AND DYNAMIC VERBS
Verbs have stative and dynamic uses. A stative verb does not  take the -ing form and as such can not be used for the continuous tense whereas dynamic verb can take -ing and be used in the progressive. However, some verbs have both stative and dynamic uses. In the English language, verbs of the sense(feel, hear, ..), links(seem, appear ...). emotion(admire, adore ...) and verbs of mental activity(agree, assume...)  are not normally used in the continuous tense except when they denote some other meanings in structure.
I understand you(right).
I am understanding you(wrong).
We can see the tower from afar(right).
We are seeing the tower from afar(wrong).

English for Today
FINITE AND NON-FINITE VERBS
A verb is considered to be in the finite form when it can function alone as verb in structure and is capable of indicating tense, mood and voice whereas it is in the non-finite form if it cannot occur independently in clause structure or indicate tense distinctions. There are six forms of verbs; three are finite and three are non-finite:
Finite forms: x+ o= sing, x+s= sings, x+d= sang
Non-finite forms= x+g= singing, x+n= sung, to+x= to sing
An attempt to generate examples for them will show that the finite forms can occur alone and reflect changes in number, person and tense while the non-finite forms will need an auxiliary verb or another main verb which will serve as the finite element, e.g., Gani teaches(x+s=finite) English. Gani is(x+s finite auxiliary) teaching(x+g non-finite main verb) English.

English for Today
MAIN OR LEXICAL VERBS
These are verbs that can be meaningful without the support of any other verb. It will suffice to discuss the three major characteristics of lexical verbs: regular and irregular, finite and non-finite, stative and dynamic verbs.
Regular and Irregular
Verbs are either regular or irregular in relation to how the past tense and the past participle are formed. A regular verb forms the past tense and past participle by adding the suffix -ed or -d to the base word, e.g.,
walk walked walked
kill killed killed
refer referred referred
Irregular verbs do not form the past tense and past participle in the regular way but rather vary in forms, e.g.,
go went gone
beat beat beaten
drive drove driven
sing sang sung
split split split

English for Today
PRIMARY AUXILIARY VERBS
There are just three primary auxiliaries: BE, DO and HAVE. These three have various conjugational forms:
BE: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been.
DO- do, does, did, done, doing
HAVE- have, has, had, having
Importantly, when using 'been' and 'being', it should be noted that the HAVE family goes with 'been' to show the perfective aspect while the BE family goes with 'being' to mark the progressive aspect. Examples:
She has been here(present perfect)
She is being here for a while(present continuous)

English for Today
THE 'NICE' PROPERTY OF AUXILIARY VERBS
N- Negator: Auxiliary verbs are used to negate utterances. I came- I DID not come.
I- Interrogation: Auxiliary verbs can be used to change the form of a sentence from statements to questions. Kunle likes rice- DOES Kunle like rice?
C- Code: By code we mean that auxiliary verbs can be used to shorten expressions, especially when the expression can be understood in the light of an earlier expression. Tunde can drive very well. I think Femi also CAN.
E- Emphasis: Auxiliary verbs can be used to emphasize a speaker's point. Kunle: Does Femi drive? Bisi: Yes, he drives. Kunle: Are you sure? Bisi: He DOES drive.