Лексичні та синтактико-стилістичні зміни в сучасній англійській мові: вплив комп’ютерних технологій

un- + Participle I or II,

e.g.: unguarded, unheard-of;

un- + adverb,

e.g.: unsouled, uncool.

Conversion, or zero- inflection, is a special non-affixal type of transforming a word into another part of speech.»

(Marchand : 293)

The most frequently used patterns of conversion are:

Noun - verb

E.g.: a butcher – to butcher, a boss – to boss

Verb - noun

E.g.: to know how – the know-how, to catch – the catch

Adjective – noun

E.g.: intellectual – the intellectual, progressive – the progressive

Noun – adjective

E.g.: a maiden – maiden, a sidelong - sidelong

Composition of words is compounding a word of smaller words.

E.g.: fish-in, laugh-in etc.

The second component of compound nouns often becomes centers of inventions by analogy. For instance, the component sick in seasick and homesick led to invention of space-sick, airsick, carsick etc. Quake in earthquake led to birthquake (population explosion); scraper in skyscraper led to thighscraper (mini-scirt).

New words may be coined in a non-patterned way. There are two types of non-patterned way of word creation:

Lexicalization as a transformation of a word-form

Shortening which consists in substituting a part for a whole. It involves 1. transformation of a word-group into a word and 2. a change of the word-structure resulting in a new lexical item.

Due to various semantic and syntactic reasons a form that originally expressed grammatical meaning, for example, the plural of nouns, becomes a basis for a new lexical meaning. This process is called lexicalization.

E.g.: the nouns arms, customs lost their grammatical meaning and became isolated from the paradigm of the words arm, custom, and develop a different lexical meaning of «weapons and «import duties».

Occasional lexicalization of phrases is an effective linguistic device used for stylistic purposes.

E.g.: a happy-go-lucky man; these how-do-you-do’s are annoying etc.