Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Morphology and Word Formation
Derivation
Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples
/ˌderɪˈveɪʃn/nounCore term
In linguistics & grammar, derivation means: The process of making a new word from an existing one, usually by adding an affix, as when teach becomes teacher or happy becomes unhappy.
In Turkish: türetme, yapım
How it is used
Contrasted with inflection: derivation creates a new dictionary entry and often changes the part of speech. Other word-formation processes include compounding, conversion (email as a verb) and blending (brunch).
Example sentences
Derivation turns the verb 'employ' into employer, employee and employment.
Turkish derivation mostly uses suffixes such as -lik and -ci.
Common collocations
word derivation
derivational suffix
derivational morphology
word formation
Related terms
inflectionA change in the form of a word, usually by adding an ending, to show grammatical information such as tense, number, person or case, without making a new word.
affixA piece added to a word to change its meaning or grammatical form, such as a prefix at the start (re-) or a suffix at the end (-ed).
prefixA letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning, such as un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite.
suffixA letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to change its meaning, its word class or its grammatical form, such as -ness, -ful or -ed.
compoundA word made by joining two or more words, such as classroom, mother-in-law or bus stop; it can be written as one word, with hyphens or as separate words.
