Summary
Highlights
The video introduces vocabulary development as integral to language learning and proficiency. It highlights that a major difficulty for English language learners is the lack of knowledge about how words are formed. The unit aims to explore the internal structure of complex words and the mechanisms behind their creation.
The video provides examples of recently added words, such as 'chillax' (from chill and relax) and 'whatevs' (from whatever), which entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2019. It explains that language is constantly growing with new words being added annually, like 'blog', 'Vlog', 'self-isolate', and 'dark web'.
The Global Language Monitor announced 'covid' as the top word of 2020. The video then lists the top 10 words, including 'covid-19', 'coronavirus', 'Corona', 'face mask', 'progress', 'choose', 'social distancing', 'trade war', and 'sustainability', reflecting global events and concerns of that year.
The video discusses historical figures known for inventing a significant number of English words. John Milton is credited with 630 words, Ben Johnson with 558, and Shakespeare with 229 words. Despite this, the inventors of most English words remain unknown.
Derivation is explained as a word formation mechanism involving the addition of a prefix or suffix to an existing word. Examples include 'realization' (realize + action) and 'hyperlink' (hyper + link).
Repurposing involves taking a word from one context and applying it to another, such as 'mouse' referring to a computer device, derived from the animal. Conversion is the process of transplanting a word from one word class to another, like 'friend' being used as both a noun and a verb, or 'giant' as a noun and an adjective.
Eponyms are words named after a person. An example provided is 'Alzheimer's disease', named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, who first identified the brain tissue changes associated with the illness in 1906.
Abbreviation has three main subtypes: clippings, acronyms, and initialisms. Clipping involves cutting off the beginning, end, or both parts of a word. Examples of back-clipping include 'exam' for examination and 'lab' for laboratory. Front-clipping examples are 'plane' for airplane and 'phone' for telephone. Middle clipping is exemplified by 'flu' from influenza. Complex clipping involves multiple words, like 'sitcom' from situation comedy.
Nonce words are defined as words pulled out of thin air, having little relation to existing forms. Examples include 'quark'. These words, though seemingly meaningless or disposable, serve a useful purpose for immediate communication.
The video concludes by assigning practice exercises for students to identify types of word formation and use words in parentheses to form new, appropriate words for given blanks, to be discussed in the next meeting.