Word - Formation In English

This book is an introduction to the study o f word-formation, that is, the ways in
which new words are built on the bases of other words (e.g. happy – happy-ness),
focusing on English. The book’s didactic aim is to enable students with little
or no prior linguistic knowledge to do their own practical analyses ofcomple x
words. Readers are familiarized with the necessary methodological tools to obtain
and analyze relevant data and are shown how to relate their findings to theoretical
problems and debates. The book is not written in the perspective ofa particular
theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions,
reflecting important methodological and theoretical developments in the field. It
is a textbook directed towards university students ofEnglish and Linguistics at
all levels. It can also serve as a source book for teachers and advanced students,
and as an up-to-date reference concerning many word-formation processes in
English.
ingo plag is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Siegen. He
has published extensively in various linguistics journals and is a member ofthe
editorial board ofthe Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages. His most recent
books include Morphological Productivity: Structural Constraints in English
Derivation (1999) and Phonology and Morphology of Creole Languages (ed.,
2003).
Cambridge University Press